1862

Boxing Day. Punch, Volume 42, January 4, 1862, p. 5

Tenniel was an enthusiastic patron of the theatre -- both high drama and popular spectacle -- and this scene shows his love of the seasonal English holiday tradition of the Pantomime. The "Panto," performed just before and after Christmas, was a lively entertainment, full of traditional characters and stock situations, colorful costumes and spectacular stage effects. One of the few types of theatre which parents and their children could enjoy together, the "Panto" typically included a great deal of physical humor and audience interaction [see also December 31, 1864].

Notorious for his rowdy, mischievous behavior, Mister Punch was an obvious favorite of "Panto" audiences. His physical appearance is loosely based on the Commedia dell'Arte character Pulcinella, from whom he derives his enormous nose and chin, as well as his stylized humpback (the winglike projection between his shoulder blades). Here he wears a Union Jack-inspired costume, complete with comic versions of a warrior's crested helmet and breastplate. Armed with his paddle, Punch would typically appear as a naughty-but-"goodie" pitted against various "baddies," whacking away at the Ghost, the Devil, and anyone else who seemed too pompous or self-important -- such as the mean old Pantalone (shown here dressed in stars-and-stripes garb, and sporting Lincoln's facial features). With a teasing, pigeon-toed stance, Punch advances towards his blustering foe. Whether "Brother Jonathan" is in for a knock on the head from the knob end of the paddle (labeled "Peace"), or a good spanking from the opposite end ("War"), it is clear that Pantalone-Lincoln is about to get just what he deserves!

Boxing Day is the first weekday after Christmas, an English holiday on which, in Victorian times, it was customary for the well-to-do to give small gift boxes to their servants and other social inferiors. This cartoon's caption also makes a punning reference to "boxing" as a punch in the head (e.g. "having his ears boxed"). The row between Britain and the United States occasioned by the Trent Affair, which had seemed so serious a matter only a few weeks earlier, is now reduced to the level of trivial slapstick intended to amuse the children.