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The budget, political cartoon - An old book with a drawing of a man in a blue suit
Summary
Print shows three headless men riding on the back of a two-headed beast which says, "I will support my friends, I have head enough for them all"; with one arm it devours a paper labeled "20 millions more" and with the other arm it claws at the breast of Britannia; at the tail end of the beast is a head that resembles a tiger disgorging empty purses; in the foreground, is a table set for a meal with an infant on a platter, demons and human figures with claws partake of the meal; boxes of sugar, salt, and barrels of alcoholic beverages are to the right and left of the table. Printed between two columns of letterpress text which presents reasons for the state of the budget.
It wasn't really until the 1700s that caricature truly blossomed as a form of political criticism. In the late 1750s, a man named Thomas Townshend began using the techniques employed by earlier engravers and applying them towards a political model. This gave Thompson's cartoons a much greater feeling of propaganda than previous artistic critiques of the time. The intense political climate of the period, and often accusatory nature of most political cartoons forced many artists to use pseudonyms in order to avoid accusations of libel. Other artists took it a step farther, and left their cartoons completely unsigned, foregoing any credit they may have received. Political higher-ups were notoriously touchy about their reputations and were not afraid to make examples of offenders. Puck was the first successful humor magazine in the United States of colorful cartoons, caricatures and political satire of the issues of the day. It was published from 1871 until 1918.
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