caruso

See

for the ship, see

and
de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giuseppe_Verdi_(Schiff,_1915)
www.combinedfleet.com/YamatoM_t.htm

Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), the world-renowned Italian tenor (including more than 800 appearances at the New York Met), was in the audience when seventeen year-old Stella Carol made her singing debut at Colston Hall in Bristol in the West of England.

After her debut, Signor Caruso predicted a "brilliant future" for her.

There were several variants of this pose that were printed on postcards to promote Stella Carol. Many of the postcards were captioned "A new fairy tale in real life".

apparently a reference to an opera singer and the opera she was in. query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0815F73B5B17738...

Geraldine Farrar en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geraldine_Farrar performed the title role in Umberto Giordano's Madame Sans-Gene at the Met in Jan 1915.

Another Bain Collection photo of Farrar, as Carmen:

More at:
www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/tags/geraldinef...

NYT of Jan 17, 1915 select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10911F63B5A1273... Indicates (a) that the world premiere of Sans Gene would be the following Friday night and (b) that this cartoon, which is featured as part of the piece, is by Enrico Caruso, with whom she was close friends (according to Wikipedia). See www.enricocaruso.dk/caruso_artist_and_man.html for other examples of his caricatures. LoC seems to have two in its catalog, including www.loc.gov/pictures/resource/cph.3a34704/ which appears to have been from a 1908 book of his cartoons. [ lccn.loc.gov/08012783 ]. The publisher, La Follia di New York, an Italian newspaper, seems to have published several books of his cartoons (or editions of the same book) over the years.

Thank you for the background information. It helps to clarify what the cartoon is about.