Visual Arguments in Popular Culture
Puck Magazine
Puck was America's first successful humor magazine. Published from 1871 to 1918, it printed color illustrations in the form of cartoons, caricatures and political satire. Puck’s illustrations provided society with an entertaining view of the issues of the time period. They include comment on politics relating to woman suffrage and woman's proper place in society.
Postcards
As a popular culture form, postcards enjoyed a Golden Age from 1893-1918. They circulated visually evocative images about woman's proper place in society. Postcard publishers produced pro- and anti-suffrage messages commercially. Their humorous messages used popular images and did not necessarily reflect the views of suffrage organizations. Postcards used satire to make fun of and, for the most part, oppose woman suffrage.
Photographs
Still photographs record a moment in time. They are evidence. They prove someone was somewhere, doing something . . . some when. In the early twentieth century, photographs were thought to be especially truthful images. They were reproduced and circulated in newspapers, magazines, and postcards.
However, what a photograph means can be influenced. It can mean different things to different people depending on the text it is combined with, the context it is presented in, who is doing the viewing, and what they believe. The same photograph of suffrage activity, then, could be used to support pro- or anti-suffrage viewpoints.
Still photographs record a moment in time. They are evidence. They prove someone was somewhere, doing something . . . some when. In the early twentieth century, photographs were thought to be especially truthful images. They were reproduced and circulated in newspapers, magazines, and postcards.
However, what a photograph means can be influenced. It can mean different things to different people depending on the text it is combined with, the context it is presented in, who is doing the viewing, and what they believe. The same photograph of suffrage activity, then, could be used to support pro- or anti-suffrage viewpoints.
