Puck — September 24, 1879 — page 9: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Puck cartoon satirizes the influence of sensational literature on children. The main panel shows an "Art Gallery Upstairs" displaying what's labeled "Satan's Collection"—lurid dime novel covers with titles like "The Boy Sharpshooter," "Boy Burglar," "The Child Suicide," and "The Murder" (appearing to reference crime and violence). Below, lower-class children and adults eagerly consume these publications. The satire critiques how cheap, sensationalistic literature—widely available and affordable to working-class families—was corrupting youth morality. This reflects genuine late-19th/early-20th-century concerns about "penny dreadfuls" and pulp fiction's moral impact on vulnerable young readers.