Puck cartoons were different from the traditional American sedated black and white cartoons. Puck was the first magazine in America to publish chromolithograph plates on a weekly basis. This paved the way for an explosion of color printing in America during the end of the 19th century.
“It is hard to overestimate the political influence of Puck [...] during the last two decades of the 19th Century. It was greater than all newspapers combined.”
~STEPHEN HESS
Why Not Go the Limit? (March 18th, 1908): Anti-Suffrage cartoon directed to men [Source: Puck]
COVID’S Happy Hour (December 19, 2020): Cartoon about spread of COVID-19 inspired by Puck [Source: Star Tribune]
Although Puck was very popular during its time, after the death of many dedicated editors, its influence waned. In 1917, Puck was sold to Hearst Magazines, which tried to brighten its appearance and contents but failed. Hearst then stopped publishing Puck cartoons after 1918. While the Puck brand was discontinued, other magazines continued to publish cartoons inspired by Puck, and to this day, most political cartoons resemble those of Puck.