Punchinello, Volume 2, No. 32, November 5, 1870

In Short

Published in late 1870, this installment of a short-lived New York weekly offers an energetic showcase of Gilded Age satire. Opening with the dramatic finale of Orpheus C. Kerr’s serialized literary parody, the issue moves swiftly through lampoons of famous public figures, mock sporting reports, political manual entries, and satirical sketches of Manhattan churchgoers and rural life. It reflects a turbulent era through urban wit, targeting everything from newspaper rivalries and local elections to European geopolitics. The issue survives as a vivid, unvarnished artifact of post-Civil War American popular humor, period advertising, and magazine culture.

The Story

The issue unfolds as a multi-act revue of American comic journalism, balancing structured narrative parodies with fragmented topical commentary. It opens with the climactic conclusion of "The Mystery of Mr. E. Drood," an American adaptation of Charles Dickens’s unfinished novel written under the pseudonym Orpheus C. Kerr. In this final chapter, the courtship of Flora Potts and her Southern suitor, Montgomery Pendragon, reaches a triumphant resolution. Flora’s guardian, Mr. Dibble, gives his blessing and bestows upon her a solemn keepsake—the stay-lace of her late mother, who perished from excessive tight-lacing. The party then gathers at night near Gospeler's Gulch, where a tar-barrel bonfire reveals the missing Edwin Drood alive and well, having been rescued after a heavy night of drinking by John McLaughlin. As rain begins to fall, Mr. Bumstead, the ritualistic organist, produces his beloved lost umbrella, "Allie," and opens it overhead. The entire cast of seventeen characters squeezes under its canopy in a chaotic, crowd-filled finale.

Following the conclusion of the serial narrative, the periodical shifts to a barrage of journalistic satire and short-form humor. A "Sporting Special" provides a bogus report of a yacht race between the Dauntless and the Cambria off Sandy Hook, claiming the reporter’s rowboat outpaced both yachts, leading the famed owners to concede defeat and hand over a silver trophy. Brief satirical paragraphs mock contemporary headlines, including Prussian foreign policy, local New York Democratic machine politics, and the street-cries of newsboys hawking rival papers like the Sun.

In "The Plays and Shows," an urban narrator attends a fashionable city church service with a country relative named Margaret, describing the rector’s comforting sermon as "more soothing than the average syrup" and framing the entire liturgy as a theatrical performance designed to keep high-society parishioners comfortably untroubled. A humorous fable follows, recasting a village dispute between a butcher, a baker, and a candlestick-maker into a modern business rivalry driven by jealousy.

Personalities of the day face equal mockery. A epistolary dispatch from "Hiram Green, Esq., Lait Gustise of the Peece" narrates a visit to the farm of prominent editor Horace Greeley, poking fun at the statesman's costly, failed agricultural experiments with borers, burdocks, and vitriol. A poetic eclogue, "Venus and Adonis," lampoons the contemporary free-love movement and pantarchy. Later, a contributor named Sarsfield Young offers absurd, fabricated reminiscences of Charles Dickens, alleging that the famous author walked thirty miles without speaking, advised him to write with blue ink, and complimented his aunt's tough boarding-house steaks. Framed by commercial advertisements for steel pens, railway routes, and patent bookbinders, the issue concludes on a note of collective, chaotic merriment.

How It Unfolds

The romance resolves In the parlor of her new home, Flora Potts accepts a marriage proposal from Montgomery Pendragon, a self-described impoverished Southern gentleman. Her guardian, Mr. Dibble, heartily approves of the match, handing Flora a sentimental parcel containing her late mother's fatal stay-lace before inviting the couple on a walk toward Central Park.

The mystery unravels Under the cover of night, a bonfire lit by local townspeople reveals that Edwin Drood is alive and unharmed. He explains that he was rescued from a drunken stupor on Christmas night by John McLaughlin, while the organist Mr. Bumstead is joyfully reunited with his long-lost alpaca umbrella.

The press competes A roving sports columnist claims victory over famous yachting figures off Sandy Hook in his small editorial rowboat. Meanwhile, brief satirical items poke fun at rival publications, European wars, and New York political candidates.

The church satirized A worldly city narrator attends a high-church service, viewing the rector, choir, and congregation through the lens of theatrical theater. He praises the gentle sermon for demanding nothing difficult from its wealthy, sleeping audience.

The philosopher exposed Country correspondent Hiram Green tours Horace Greeley’s farm, recording the famous editor's wildly expensive and completely unsuccessful efforts to clear swamps, eradicate tree pests with acid, and cultivate wild burdocks for pie filling.

The author remembered Writer Sarsfield Young shares ridiculous, fictional memories of the late Charles Dickens, detailing silent thirty-mile walks, sleeping through book readings, and receiving absurd literary advice.

The People

• Flora Potts (also called "Flowerpot"): An artless young woman given to delicate crochet and frequent ripping of bad stitches. She seeks a wealthy marriage, pities her Southern suitor's misfortunes, and readily accepts her guardian's unconventional inheritance.
• Montgomery Pendragon: A melodramatic, self-conscious Southern gentleman who fears Northern prejudice while seeking Flora's hand. He dramatically drops his cane upon entering the parlor and admits he only needs to pay off a few mortgages to avoid starvation.
• Mr. Dibble: Flora's well-meaning guardian who oversees her finances and facilitates her engagement. He encourages her attachment to Montgomery and delivers solemn advice alongside a family relic.
• Mr. Bumstead: A eccentric, ritualistic organist prone to heavy drinking and chewing cloves. He spends his time searching for his lost umbrella and mistakenly believes himself suspected of a dark crime.
• Edwin Drood: Mr. Bumstead's nephew, whose mysterious disappearance forms the central plot of the parody. He returns safe and sound, having merely walked away out of shame after a night of heavy drinking.
• Hiram Green, Esq.: A rustic former Justice of the Peace who writes in heavy dialect. He visits prominent figures to critique their economic logic and delivers plain-spoken observations.
• Horace Greeley: The prominent newspaper editor and political figure, presented here as an overconfident farmer whose scientific agricultural experiments consistently cost thousands while failing completely.
• Sarsfield Young: An absurd, opportunistic chronicler who fabricates an intimate personal acquaintance with Charles Dickens to capitalize on the public's appetite for celebrity reminiscences.

In Its Own Voice

"Fancy what it is to be suspected of a murder, and have no political influence."

A distressed Montgomery Pendragon laments his absurd social predicament to Flora Potts while trying to win her affection in the parlor.

"The glare of the great bonfire falls upon the scene; the rain pours down in torrents: they crowd in upon him on all sides, until what was once a stately Ritualistic man resembles some tremendous monster with seventeen wriggling bodies, thirty-four legs, and an alpaca canopy above all."

The narrator describes the chaotic, crowded ending of the Dickens parody as the entire cast huddles together under a single umbrella.

"'Mrs. SAGOE, for terseness and brevity, your steaks surpass any I have ever met with.'"

Sarsfield Young claims these were the sole words spoken by Charles Dickens to his aunt upon paying his boarding-house bill in Philadelphia.

What It's Really About

This issue targets the absurdities of nineteenth-century American public life, taking aim at literary sentimentalism, political pretense, and media sensationalism. Through its parody of Dickens's The Mystery of Edwin Drood, it mocks the period's obsession with dramatic melodrama and romantic tropes, reducing high-flown narrative stakes to missing umbrellas and tight-lacing accidents. At the same time, the issue turns its lens on Gilded Age social posturing, exposing the vanity of city churchgoers, the incompetence of celebrity reformers like Horace Greeley, and the self-importance of the popular press. Underneath its lighthearted sketches lies a sharp critique of an era driven by commercial hustle, political machinery, and urban spectacle.

Why Read It Today

This publication offers an unfiltered look into the popular culture and comedy of Reconstruction-era America. Readers fascinated by nineteenth-century history, literary parodies, or the roots of American journalism will find much to enjoy in its theatrical, rapid-fire delivery. It provides a rare glimpse into how ordinary readers consumed satire alongside local news, political gossip, and everyday commercial advertisements.

The issue does present a few challenges for modern audiences. Understanding every joke requires some familiarity with 1870s figures, local New York politics, and international events like the Franco-Prussian War. Additionally, several pieces rely on heavy phonetic dialect and period stereotypes that reflect the dominant attitudes of the era. However, for those willing to engage with its historical context, the magazine retains a charming, energetic bite, showing that the impulses to mock media hype, political vanity, and literary trends are timeless.