Primary Source
Pro-Suffrage Illustration: The Mascot, 1915
Rolf Armstrong. "The Mascot." Puck: February 20, 1915.
Era: Suffrage Era | Media: Cartoons, Illustration, Magazines
This Puck magazine cover by Rolf Armstrong, later one of the most famous American pin-up artists, depicts a woman suffragist alongside the publication’s namesake mascot, Puck, who holds a pencil. Both sport a “Votes for Women” sash, an emblem of the suffrage movement that readers of the day would instantly have recognized.
The title of the work, which graced the cover of the magazine’s February 20, 1915 suffrage issue, is “The Mascot,” an apparent reference to the strong pro-suffrage stance the influential satirical magazine was taking: Puck was now a mascot not only for the magazine but also for the fight for women’s enfranchisement.
You can learn more about Puck‘s seminal suffrage issue here, and you can view a free digitized version of the issue here, via the HathiTrust Digital Library.
You can also browse decades’ worth of archived Puck issues here, via the HathiTrust Digital Library.
