Some in conservatives circles are using an historical propaganda cartoon used in a Iowa classroom as rhetoric to end “the government monopoly on education” because it supports the teaching of communism. The cartoon contrasts capitalism and communism (above) and depicts individuals in capitalism as shackled and their money going to rich, fat bosses while those living in communism having their money returned to them. The problem is that the cartoon was never taught in a lesson about economic models but during a broader lesson on propaganda and the Cold War.

The school has posted the full flier online “so that people can see the complete document for themselves” and explains:

Furthermore, the class, 20th Century History, was studying the Cold War and propaganda, looking at some of the arguments both sides made about why their system was best on a range of topics, including their economies. The handout simply highlights the differences between capitalism and communism, and some of the arguments made during the period of the Cold War.

Daily News’ Filip Bondy writes:

It isn’t hard, really, to understand why so many people adored Bill Gallo and his cartoons around here. To a sports world increasingly massaged by numbers, wounded by cynicism and pounded by scandal, Gallo brought lightness and innocence to the same realm. He did this on a prolific, daily basis with illustrations that embodied a golden age of pure, incorruptible fun. Some cartoons were smart, others purposefully goofy. All are terribly missed. We were forever traveling back in time with Gallo, enjoying the trip.

From the Guardian:

Best known for his spiky comic drawings depicting the outrageous antics of the St Trinian’s girls, and for his illustrations of the Molesworth series, written by Geoffrey Willans and which, as any fule kno, tells of life at the boys’ prep school St Custard’s.

Searle “created an alternative to the conformity of Harold Macmillan’s Britain”, said his publisher Simon Winder. “He gave Britain in the 1950s particularly a sense of anarchy. He was extraordinarily sceptical about all forms of authority [and] there’s something just astonishingly anarchic about Molesworth and St Trinian’s,” said Winder. “That’s why they have appealed to so many generations.”

From NewJersey.com:

“One cannot view a selection Mr. Nast’s of his political cartoons such as the depiction of Uncle Sam, the Democrat Donkey, and the Republicans elephant without also noting his works that are racially charged and offensive,” Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Mercer) wrote to New Jersey Hall of Fame Executive Director Don Jay Smith. “For instance, three notable works – The American River Ganges, The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things, and St. Patrick’s Day 1867 – all depict Irish Catholics in a demeaning light. These works are inflammatory and offensive to the thousands of Irish Catholics that call New Jersey home.”

Will be interesting to see where this goes.

Glad to see Mike Lynch get quoted in the article too.

Via Tom Spurgeon

Mike writes:

What was it like when Winsor McCay screened his animated film GERTIE THE DINOSAUR for his New York Tribune cartoonist pals? Allan Holtz shares this article from the February 23, 1914 Tribune. The film had just premiered at Chicago’s Palace Theater a few weeks earlier, on February 8, 1914. The original film consisted of Mr.McCay., live and in person, interacting with the onscreen Gertie. Before the end of the year, William Fox approached McCay to distribute it nationally. The result was the creation of a new live-action set up sequence for the animation.

Here’s the video

Head over to Mike’s blog for part 2 of the video.

Bill Mauldin

Easily the most famous cartoonist to produce lasting work during his military service was Bill Mauldin

Here’s Mail Call salute to Bill (you may want to turn down the volume. In typical military fashion the intro is done in a drill sergeant-esque manner.):

George Baker

George was drafted into the army in 1941 and assigned to create animation for Signal Corps training films. He was later hired by Yank, the Army Weekly where he created the popular comic strip, The Sad Sack. It debuted in June 1942. Collections of the comic were printed in 1944 by Simon and Schuster, Inc. in 1944 and 1946. The strip went on to syndication until 1957.

Dave Breger

Dave created a comic entitled Private Breger Abroad and help coin the term “G.I. Joe”. After the war Private Breger Abroad became Mister Breger and was syndicated for 25 years (1945–1970)

Irwin Caplan

Irwin served as an Army illustrator and also served in the Army Intelligence art department. When told by a superior that he could sell his cartoons that he did on duty, he quickly sold his first cartoon to Collier’s. He was also the creator of The Saturday Evening Post cartoon series.

Bil Keane

Bil served in the Army from 1942 to 1945 where he drew for Yank. He created the feature At Ease with the Japanese for the Pacific edition of Stars and Stripes.

Part I

Interview with Bil Keane, Part 1 from National Constitution Center on Vimeo.

Part II

Interview with Bil Keane, Part 2 from National Constitution Center on Vimeo.

Ralph Stein

Ralph was the staff cartoon editor for Yank, an Army weekly newspaper. After the war he was an artist and writer for the comic strip Popeye. He also co-wrote an illustrated “It’s a Cinch, Private Finch” about life in the Army.

Wayne Thiebaud

Wayne is most noted for his pop-art paintings created after WWII, but he served as an artist in the United States Army Air Force from 1942-45 creating the comic strip Wingtips.

Also on the list but I had trouble finding information about them are: Daniel E. Brown Jr, Stephen E. Moss. If you know something about these gentlemen or have links to their work, please share.

As The Post’s Elizabeth Flock has noted, Freedom Plaza’s Occupy D.C. protestors on Tuesday published their own “official” newspaper, titled The Occupied Washington Post . (No affiliation to our humble news outlet up the street, natch.) And on Page-6 of the Occupied paper is a vintage-looking image signed “A.R.”

In the single-panel cartoon, we see a wealthy couple passing a uniformed panhandler on the sidewalk; the wife says to her husband: “Give him a nickel, sweetheart. After all, you made a couple of million on the war.”

Timeless.

The first year or so of his post WWII strips continue to follow Willie and Joe in civilian life. Willie is back with his wife and a young son who had never met his father. The reunion, depicted one panel at a time, is not a smooth one. There is constant fighting and the revelation, as subtly depicted in one brilliant strip, that neither spouse was exactly faithful when they were apart. The division of the military into those who fought and those who didn’t continued to plague the grunts in civilian life, as soldiers who never saw time on the front not only demanded special treatment (and were the ones getting it in the early days after the war ended) but outright scorned the now ex-soldiers as being “4F,” not knowing what they had experienced. Enlisted men, having received no useful training in the army, were having trouble finding jobs in a country that was just starting to emerge from a Depression.

Heritage Auction is auctioning off a rare pre-Peanuts original created by Charles Schulz in the 1940′s. Auction ends May 5 and is expected to go for more than $20,000. Current bidding is just over $2,000.