Search this website for information about collecting stocks and bonds.
Known Lithographic Caricatures of Major 19th Century Millionaires
Notes on Artists' names:
If images are shown below, "artists" represent the names that appear on lithographs. If no pictures are shown, then reports of artists' names should be considered conjectural.
Many published artist attributions have proven erroneous. In many cases, artist's names attributed to double-page artwork has proven to be the name that appears on the cover art.
Notes on names attributed to caricatured Personalities:
There are a large number of errors in published references relative to whose faces appear in caricature.
Jay Gould was the most reviled man on Wall Street, so references to Jay Gould's image have (so far) proven 100% correct.
On the other hand, both web and print references to "Cornelius Vanderbilt" have proven 100% incorrect, even among scholorly works. All images seen so far actually represent William Henry Vanderbilt, Cornelius' son. Cornelius Vanderbilt died in 1877, several years before the most virulent satire of the mid 1880s.
Both Puck and Judge commonly drew Gould, Vanderbilt, and Cyrus Field as a triumvirate of monopolistic evil. However, many web references mis-identify Field as "Sage," and sometimes as "Drew." Field can usually be identified with a very long nose and a mid-length beard that was often shorter in the middle than at the edges.
The smooth-faced Chauncey Depew appears in many Puck caricatures, normally situated among prominent New York politicians. Although connected with the Vanderbilts, Depew was never portrayed as a scoundrel and, consequently, is seldom mentioned in published references.
![]() | Puck magazine Caption: A Very Dull Race-Meeting -- No Public Interest in the Contest Artist: Personalities include: Description: Gould on a fat horse and Tilden on a skinny horse at the race course on a rainy day; no one is in the stands |
Puck magazine Caption: Jay Gould's Detective Monopoly. Chorus of ALL the Detectives and Postmen in the City Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: | |
![]() | Leslie's magazine Feb 1, 1873 Caption: Injured Innocents Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: Uncle Sam scolds numerous children with the faces of Senators. On the table is the Credit Mobilier pie. Everyone has been in the pie, but everyone pleads innocent. |
![]() | Puck magazine Apr 16, 1879 Caption: Vanderbilt's Seban Artist: Personalities include: Description: German language edition; Vanderbilt flattened by Board of Aldermen on large marble tablet |
![]() | Puck (German) magazine Jul 6, 1879 Caption: WHV Getting Rich From Railroad Franchises of New York Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: Vanderbilt grabs the entire pie that represents the street railways and rail access to the city of New York. |
![]() | Puck magazine Jun 6, 1880 Caption: Our National Dog Show Artist: Personalities include: Description: |
Puck magazine Jan 26, 1881 Caption: Consolidirt Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: A cartoon showing Jay Gould sitting on a swing made from the wires of the telegraph monopoly, which strangle two statues representing the press and commerce. | |
![]() | Puck magazine Feb 23, 1881 Caption: The Two Philanthropists. Don't fret Uncle Sam, we only want to make a bigger man of you. Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: Gould and Vanderbilt hoist Uncle Sam to the top of a telegraph pole. Tied to his feet are locomotives. Other poles support a cable that reads "Atlantic Pacific" and "Western Union." |
![]() | Puck magazine Oct 5, 1881 Caption: A Grand Shakesperian Revival (Which We Have But Little Hope of Seeing on the Stage of the National Capital) Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: Major politicos including Grant, Arthur and Conkling in Shakesperian garb. Gould and Vanderbilt hold Chester Arthur's regal train. |
![]() | Puck magazine Oct 12, 1881 Caption: Puck's Perplexing Position--Between Two Evils, Well, I want to be an Anti-Monopolist; but not if that is one. Artist: Personalities include: Description: |
![]() | Puck magazine Oct 19, 1881 Caption: Puck's Own Yorktown Celebration: His Army of Contributors Passing in Review Before Our Foreign Guests. Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: A parade of prominent American politicians passes a reviewing stand of French and German visitors in a sendup of overdone celebrations at the Yorktown Centennial. Among the crowd is Jay Gould, Cyrus Field, and William Henry Vanderbilt. The current Army and Navy sit in tatters at the edge of the parade. |
![]() | Puck magazine 1882 Caption: The Monster Monopoly Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: Puck and ordinary men ready to spear a great whale on the ocean. The back of the whale has the face of Jay Gould and the flukes of the tail are shared like the faces of Field and Vanderbilt. |
![]() | Puck magazine 1882 Caption: Discrimination--The selfish millionaire, How he is taken care of, and how he takes care of his patrons Artist: Personalities include: Description: Four people attend to two people laying injured on tracks, while eveyone else attends to William Henry Vanderbilt |
Puck magazine 1882 Caption: When Jay Gould Owns the Associated Press -- Puck Will Still Keep His Independent News-Stand Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: | |
![]() | Puck magazine 1882 Caption: First annual picnic of the 'Knights of Labor'---More fun for the spectators than for the performers. Artist: Personalities include: Description: Gould, Vanderbilt and Field watch from coach as poor people try to climb pole to get food, hungry multitudes beyond |
![]() | Puck magazine Jun 14, 1882 Caption: Our Robber Barons Artist: Gillam Personalities include: Description: Cyrus Field, Russell Sage and Congress, rob the tax-payer. Vanderbilt directs men to carry the plunder up the mountain to "Castle Monopoly" on stairs made of lobbyism, firendly judges, and land grants. A huge chain of protectionism blocks the bay while factories lay closed beyond. Jay Gould overlooks the whole scene. |
![]() | Puck magazine Sep 20, 1882 Caption: The Garden Party of the Monopolists - Louis XV Style; Wile the Court "Beauties are Wooed, the People are Discontented and Threatening Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: Millionaires are seen flirting and cavorting with major politicians (in female form) dressed in French finery. Beyond the iron fence is a view of a crowd of ordinary people. |
Puck magazine Oct 18, 1882 Caption: The public be damned! Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: William Henry Vanderbilt, wearing jewelry, leans back in his chair, one foot resting on a table, the other on an eagle dressed as Uncle Sam. Two dogs, representing Congress and Legislature, are tied to the chair. | |
![]() | Puck magazine 1883 Caption: The New Member Of Monopoly Lodge Has Taken The "First Degree." Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: New York Governor Grover Cleveland has just vetoed A bill that would have created a 5ยข fare. Field, Sage, Gould, and Vanderbilt are welcoming him into their club. |
Puck magazine Jan 10, 1883 Caption: The Gould Game, Kick him out the front door and he comes in at the back Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: | |
![]() | Puck magazine Feb 7, 1883 Caption: The Protectors of Our Industries Artist: Gillam Personalities include: Description: Gould, Field and Vanderbilt ride a barge carried above the waves on the shoulders of lesser men. |
Puck magazine Feb 28, 1883 Caption: Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: | |
Puck magazine Jul 18, 1883 Caption: Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: | |
Puck magazine Aug 29, 1883 Caption: Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: | |
Puck magazine Sep 19, 1883 Caption: Monopoly in Hades--How the place will be run, two years after Jay Gould's arrival Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: Cartoon showing Jay Gould as the Devil, presiding over little devils who string wire cables, while telegraph operators work at desks below them. Above them a train-load of anti-monopolists is brought to a terminus. Below the scene, Thurber, Puck, and anti-monopolist editors are tortured in effigy. | |
Puck magazine Dec 12, 1883 Caption: Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: | |
![]() | Puck magazine 1884 Caption: Yesterday an Infuriated Mob Almost Lynched a Man Who Looked Like Jay Gould: Probable effect of this announcement upon timid people who think they resemble him. Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: A crown of bearded men in a barber shop, most of who resemble Jay Gould. Even a bald man is comparing himself to Gould. |
![]() | Puck-German magazine 1884 Caption: Shylock's Bad Bargain:Thou sticketh a dagger in me--I shall never see my gold again. Artist: Personalities include: Description: Bankers, German, Irish and independent voters chase Gould down the street after Blaine loses |
![]() | Puck magazine 1884 Caption: Passing Everything on the Road Artist: Personalities include: Description: Winter scene of Gould and William Henry Vanderbilt racing horse-drawn sleighs, passing politicians and other celebrities |
Puck magazine Jan 22, 1884 Caption: The Slave Market of Today Artist: Gillam Personalities include: Description: | |
Puck magazine Feb 6, 1884 Caption: Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: | |
![]() | Judge magazine Feb 9, 1884 Caption: A Cold Day on Wall Street Artist: Personalities include: Description: Three millionaires fishing on a frozen lake. The weather looks foul and the millionaires are disconsolate. Jay Gould holds a string of tiny fish. |
![]() | Puck magazine Jun 18, 1884 Caption: The "Three Honest Men" of Wall Street Declare for Blaine Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: Sage, Gould, and Field cross their swords in Wall Street after announcing their support for Blaine. |
![]() | Puck magazine Jun 18, 1884 Caption: The Writing on the Wall Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: Several millionaires and Republican journalists hide or shield themselves from a light on the wall that reads, "Republican Revolt." |
![]() | Puck magazine Oct 29, 1884 Caption: Our Merciless Millionaire: Vanderbilt - "The Public Be Doctored." Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: Puck is tugging on the coattails of Vanderbilt as he approaches a stage to be congratulated for giving money to a hospital |
![]() | Puck magazine 1885 Caption: The Monopolist's May-Pole Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: Several millionaires, dressed in farm garb, dance around a May Pole in a happy scene in "Snug Harbor." Field sits on a safe. |
![]() | Puck magazine Jan 14, 1885 Caption: Puck's Political Hunting Ground - How He Has Made Game of the Politicans Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: or politicians lay slain after the 1884 election. Puck stands amid the carcasses (as animals) of Blaine, Butler, Dorsey, Kelly, Grant, Conkling, Robeson and Platt. Jay Gould flies away with a lamb in his talons. |
![]() | Puck magazine Aug 12, 1885 Caption: The Two Gobblers: We do not wish to suggest any analogy to the subject of a famous picture representing two Roman Augurs laughing over the Imposition they are practicing on the public. Artist: Gillam Personalities include: Description: Gould and Vanderbilt, dressed as Roman senators laugh. Beyond are cages of lambs. Vanderbilt holds a scroll that reads "West Shore R.R. Grab". At Gould's feet is a bag with three scrolls labeled "B&M Telegraph Grab," "N.Y. 'L' Roads Grab," and "W.U. Grab" |
![]() | Puck magazine Aug 12, 1885 Caption: The Resistless March of Reform. - The "Hostiles" Must Go!" Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: Large parade of politicians dressed as Indians being marched away from an advancing tracks labeled "Reform R.R." Hidden among the politicians are Gould and Field. Holding a club labeled "Bossism" is another skinny Indian labeled as Mahone. |
Thomas Durant died Oct 5, 1885 | |
![]() | Puck magazine 1886 Caption: Taxing the Millionaires. A Few Scenes from the Roaring Farce that is Played Every Year in New York City. Artist: Opper Personalities include: Description: 4-panel scene concerning millionaires in New York complaining and evading tax assessments.The top scene shows eight Vanderbilt heirs talking to the tax man after the death of William Henry Vanderbilt the previous year. The first two heirs are identifiable as the sons of William Henry. The caption says: "Chorus of Vanderbilt Heirs - We'll pay taxes on $8,000,000 of personal property; but if you ask for any more, we'll move out of town." The bottom left panel shows Jay Gould telling the tax collector how much he will pay, with the caption, "Jay Gould - I can not tell a lie; by close economy and strict attention to business I have scraped together $100,000; now go ahead an assess. " |
![]() | Puck magazine Nov 3, 1886 Caption: The Mephistopheles of To-Day - Honest Labor's Temptation Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: The Devil is asking a worker to sign a "Pledge to Anarchy." Beyond is a vision of Henry George pouring a huge variety of promises from a cornucopia. Crawling out from a hole at George's feet is Jay Gould. |
![]() | Puck magazine May 18, 1887 Caption: The Poverty Problem Solved; George & McGlyn's Great Millenial Show - They will Promise Anything and Everything for One Dollar Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: Rev. Edward McGlynn and Henry George (failed Labor candidate for New York Mayor )gather money in a street show. McGlynn points over his head to a Puck cartoon of Gould, Field and Sage in poverty. |
![]() | Puck magazine Apr 18, 1888 Caption: Quality Counts Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: Cleveland as a male lion looks down on other lesser animals. A female "Democratic Party"lion holds off a pack of miscellaneous animals, all with heads of famous Republican politicians. Among them is a cat with the face of Chauncey Depew. |
![]() | Puck magazine Aug 22, 1888 Caption: A New Version of an Old Story. Don't shoot...I'll come down for $80 million. Artist: Personalities include: Description: Jay Gould is portrayed as a racoon in a tree. Uncle Sam is a hunter, but Gould negotiates a settlement. This is a reference to behavior in the Western Union monopoly. |
![]() | Puck magazine Mar 12, 1890 Caption: None but Millionaires Need Apply; The coming style of presidential election Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: Two men ( William Dudley and Matthew Quay) are auctioning the presidential and vice-presidential chairs. In the audience are prominent millionaires. On the stage is a piece of paper indicating that included is a set of eight pieces of presidential furniture including Secretary of State, Secretary of War, Secretary of Navy, Secretary of Interior, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of Agriculture, Postmaster General, and Attorney General. |
![]() | Puck magazine Jan 22, 1892 Caption: The Little Man's Triumph Artist: Keppler Personalities include: Description: Chauncey Depew is the Master of Ceremonies, leading a GOP parade from Minneapolis. Atop the GOP elephant is Harrison holding a huge Republican party hat that reads "second nomination." |
Cyrus Field died Jun 12, 1892 | |
Sidney Dillon died Jun 17, 1892 | |
Jay Gould died Dec 2, 1892 | |
Leland Stanford died Jun 21, 1893 | |
Oliver Ames died Oct 22, 1895 | |
Austin Corbin died Mar 4, 1896 | |
Collis P. Huntington died Aug 13, 1900 | |
![]() | Puck magazine 1904 Caption: Puck's Mid-Summer Outing at Harmony Park Artist: Personalities include: Description: Major politicians and financiers cavort in a happy park scene. |
![]() | Puck magazine Jan 13, 1904 Caption: Jack and the Wall Street Giants Artist: KepplerU Personalities include: Description: |
![]() | Puck magazine Mar 22, 1904 Caption: A Kansas David in the Field Artist: Puche Personalities include: Description: The state of Kansas gets ready to fight Goliath in the form of an elderly Rockefeller carrying a club that reads "Standard Oil." |
![]() | Puck magazine Sep 9, 1907 Caption: He Bobs Up Serenely Artist: KepplerU Personalities include: Description: Theodore Roosevelt as a heavy-bottomed doll that keeps bouncing back, no matter how he is knocked down by the major financial powers. |
Double-page spreads = 300 px, covers = 200 px
Listings arranged in date order
I strongly recommend buying the Cox Catalog from your favorite
SCRIPOPHILY DEALERS.
If they do not yet carry, or are out of stock, you may buy directly from the author.
$49.95+post
Help support this free site! Please visit my eBay store called Papermental by Terry Cox. My inventory includes railroad passes, railroad ephemera, newspapers, magazines, engravings, and all sorts of paper collectibles.
Please contact me if you have certificates not yet listed. (See How You Can Help.)
I suggest using WeTransfer or similar file transfer sites when sending large files or large numbers of files.
PLEASE contact the many fine dealers listed on my dealers page to buy certificates.