Puck Christmas

A young woman in a blue dress sits absorbed in a magazine while a grinning boy in a bowler leans over her shoulder, dangling a sprig of mistletoe just above her head. She has not looked up yet. Charles Jay Taylor renders the pair in soft watercolor washes, framed by a border of green leaves and holly against pale ground. 1895 and PUCK share the top; CHRISTMAS runs along the bottom, PRICE 25 CENTS set in a slim panel at left. The comedy is all in the timing, the instant before she notices. Taylor was among Puck's steadiest cover hands, and here he trusts a single quiet gesture to carry the season. The reading matter in her lap is, of course, the magazine's own wink at itself.