Entitled: "1895 Puck Christmas" chromolithograph showing Puck holding mistletoe over the head of a young woman who is reading a magazine or newspaper. Puck was America's first successful humor magazine of colorful cartoons, caricatures and political satir
Entitled: "1895 Puck Christmas" chromolithograph showing Puck holding mistletoe over the head of a young woman who is reading a magazine or newspaper. Puck was America's first successful humor magazine of colorful cartoons, caricatures and political satire of the issues of the day. It was published from 1871 until 1918. It was the first magazine to carry illustrated advertising and the first to successfully adopt full-color lithography printing for a weekly publication. In English folklore, Puck is a mischievous nature sprite, demon, or fairy. The tradition of hanging mistletoe in the house goes back to the times of the ancient Druids. It is supposed to possess mystical powers which bring good luck to the household and wards off evil spirits. It was also used as a sign of love and friendship in Norse mythology and that's where the custom of kissing under Mistletoe comes from. When the first Christians came to Western Europe, some tried to ban the use of Mistletoe as a decoration in Churches, but many still continued to use it. The custom of kissing under Mistletoe comes from England. The original custom was that a berry was picked from the sprig of Mistletoe before the person could be kissed and when all the berries had gone, there could be no more kissing. Illustrated by Charles Jay Taylor for Puck and published by Keppler & Schwarzmann, December 4, 1895.
Size: 3091px × 4200px
Photo credit: © Photo Researchers / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -mas, 19th, 4, 1895, 4th, america, american, art, artwork, cartoon, century, charles, christmas, christmastide, christmastime, chromolithograph, civil, cover, cultural, days, december, drawing, front, historic, historical, history, holiday, illustration, jay, lithograph, magazine, mistletoe, noel, puck, religious, satire, satirical, season, states, taylor, tradition, traditional, twelve, united, usa, xmas, yule, yuletide
