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Frederick Opper Signed Original Cover Print from Puck Magazine, February 6, 1884

Currency:USD Category:Memorabilia / Autographs - Historical Start Price:50.00 USD Estimated At:50.00 - 100.00 USD
Frederick Opper Signed Original Cover Print from Puck Magazine, February 6, 1884
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OPPER, Frederick Burr (1857-1937) One of the pioneers of American newspaper comic strips, best known for his comic strip Happy Hooligan. His comic characters were featured in magazine gag cartoons, covers, political cartoons and comic strips for six decades. Puck magazine was America's first successful humor magazine of colorful cartoons, caricatures and political satire of the issues of the day. Opper worked for Puck for 18 years, drawing everything from spot illustrations to chromolithograph covers. Original cover print for the February 6, 1884 issue featuring Opper's cover illustration, titled "The Tammany Fagin and his Pupils," that depicts John Kelly at the far end of a room, as Charles Dickens' character Fagin, wearing a robe with a "Tammany Fund" money bag in a pocket, rubbing his hands together as a show of satisfaction. In the center of the room hangs an effigy labeled "N.Y. Tax-Payer" with three men labeled "Register," "County Clerk," and "Sheriff" who are learning to be pickpockets and have their hands in pockets filled with money. A notice hangs on the wall on the left, "Graduates of this School are sure to make from $50,000 to $80,000 a Year." Measures 10 in. x 13.5 in. Signed by Opper in black ink at the lower left, "F. Opper 1934." Tears at the top center, with archival repair tape on the verso. Otherwise, in very good condition.