Warren Rockwell - 1911 Cartoon from Puck - Meta Funnies!

Ah, I do love good meta humor, especially in early cartoons like this one. This Warren Rockwell cartoon appeared in the October 11, 1911 edition of Puck magazine, and is titled "Cleaning up the Office". The piece is subtitled, "Willie, the Boy, is Entrusted With the Task and Gets Away With it". Rockwell clearly had some fun with this one, with Willie cleaning up after himself. Here's a panel-by-panel breakdown:

1) "O, Gee, What a Job!"
2) "Well, I Suppose I Got to Make a Start!"
3) "T'ain't So Bad, After All!"
4) "These Vacuum Cleaners Don't Leave Nothin'!"
5) "Not Much Left!"
6) "Done a' Gee!"

Maxwell Warren Rockwell (1887-1911) was a book illustrator and cartoonist, doing work for Puck and LIFE magazines. He died after a brief illness of typhoid pneumonia at St. Vincent's Hospital, New York City, October 17, 1911. He was 34 years of age.

Rockwell didn't use any White-out on the piece, but carefully planned where the vacuumed areas would not be. A wonderful piece by an illustrator/cartoonist who passed away at far too young an age.