Puck — April 17, 1878 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# PUCK Magazine Page Analysis This page from *Puck* magazine (page 3) contains primarily text articles rather than cartoons. The main piece, "Official Grief," is a satirical commentary on Brooklyn aldermen's expenses related to Alderman Shannon's funeral. The satire attacks the aldermen for billing the city for various funeral-related costs—carriages, gloves, draping chairs—claiming these were legitimate municipal expenses. The author argues these charges are excessive and questions whether dying aldermen should cost taxpayers money through inflated "official grief" expenses. The smaller sections ("Puckerings") are brief humorous quips about contemporary topics like spring, theater, and romance—typical of *Puck's* miscellaneous satirical humor. The overall thrust critiques municipal corruption and wasteful government spending disguised as solemn ceremony.