Gillam is best known for his cartoon of presidential candidate James Blaine, "Phryne before the Chicago Tribunal", shown below which has Blaine tattooed with his various indiscretions. It is commonly credited with helping Blain lose the election of 1884 and is often reproduced in history books covering the time. According to my wife, the exaggerated Irish costuming was one way that anti-Tammany cartoonists communicated that the person was a Tammany operative. The description of the brothel as “Cornel Institute” etc. is consistent with the practice of many brothels of the time describing themselves as colleges and the like.

As soon as I bought this piece on Ebay, I had, to put it mildly, severe doubts about its authenticity. The reasons included:

1. The signature didn’t match the Gillam signatures I saw.

2. Gillam quit Puck before 1887.

3. John Kelly died in 1886.

I am now certain that it is a genuine Gillam piece published in Puck circa September 1887.
This is definitely a cartoon for Puck. The publisher’s form on the back is identical to that from my Frederick Opper piece, whose authenticity is unquestioned. The signature is not Gilliam’s usual, but it is consistent with that on the cover of the September 20, 1882 issue, where he used the small letters after G, including the footless l’s, round a, dotted i and round top m’s. The line at the end of the m was a common Gillam florish. The vertical cross on the G was not in the September 20 cover but was used by Gillam elsewhere. Writing the signature in perspective when it is on a feature of the picture is characteristically Gillam. The clincher is the lack of anyone else’s signature on it. The artists in these magazines of the time always or virtually always signed their works.

The 1887 date is very easily explained. This picture of Kelly leering at these working girls could give the message that John Kelly consorted with prostitutes. This would be libelous. Saying that that was not what they meant would not be a defense in the 1880’s nor would Kelly’s celebrity nor were there retraction statutes to protect the press. The New York courts were dominated by Tammany types. Satirizing corruption was fair game, but seeming to allege this kind of immorality was legally dangerous. I think their legal department kiboshed this before it saw print. Then, years later, when Kelly was safely dead (You can’t be sued for defaming a dead person), they pulled this from their file and published it, probably as part of a retrospective. They already owned it, Gillam was popular and the legal threat was gone.

The “Cartoon Museum” stamped on the back is, according to the seller, Jim Ivey’s personal cartoon museum, which I imagine is more like Forest Ackerman’s house than an actual museum. I’m certain that every mark on the back outside the publisher’s form is recent as is the caption on the bottom of the cartoon itself. I would be surprised if this was published as a full page. If I can ever get my hands on the issue this appeared in, we’d know for sure.

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