Puck, 1878-06-26 · page 8 of 16
Puck — June 26, 1878 — page 8: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains anti-religious satirical content criticizing churches in Brooklyn. The top cartoon shows a church being choked by weeds, illustrating the caption "The people planted churches, but the weeds came and choked them." The middle illustration depicts women kneeling in prayer, apparently in conflict or desperation about church matters. The bottom section contains a "Notice" (text unclear in reproduction) and concludes with text about Satan dumping "crimes and scandals" in Brooklyn, suggesting the satire equates the city's moral problems with religious hypocrisy or institutional failure. The overall message appears to be that despite Brooklyn's numerous churches, the city remains morally corrupt—a critique of organized religion's ineffectiveness in actually improving society rather than its visible prominence.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
— ON ¥ RUN Y Wi The people planted churches, but the weeds came and choked them, There iss legend that one: day: satan Keeded: Nowselt with all atets of crimes and the face of the ; but in his spite and malice he over-loaded himself; his apron-string bro were dumped down in one place. This spot must have been Brooklyn.