“Ol’ Rockin’ Chair,” by Gregor Duncan, appeared in March 1935, as various old-age pension plans were under discussion in Washington, leading up to the passage of the Social Security Act in August.

The next cartoon, by George Shellhase, appeared in June 1935. Under the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) of 1933, the government sought to curb overproduction in part by paying farmers to destroy crops.

This cartoon, by Robert Day, appeared in September 1935. The key to the gag is that the speaker seemingly can no longer afford to maintain her enormous yard, fill her swimming pool, or repair her crumbling walls and front gate.

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) sponsored a great deal of public art during the Depression. As this cartoon by George Price from February 1936 suggests, not all of it was to everyone’s taste.

The next cartoon, by Robert Day, also from February 1936, mocks public-sector work creation. The sign on the right identifies the site as a WPA project.

This Gregor Duncan cartoon from May 1936 is a typical right-wing critique of the New Deal.

Another effort by Duncan, this one from July 1936, mocks the administration’s on-going difficulties with the conservative Supreme Court, which repeatedly struck down New Deal legislation as unconstitutional. Note that the windmill has nine sails, one for each member of the court.

Finally, one last Robert Day cartoon, from October 1936, expresses the indignation of affluent conservatives at government spending.

Life ceased publication as a humor magazine in November 1936, when Henry Luce bought it, sold off everything but the name, and launched his groundbreaking experiment in photojournalism.

And that brings our series on the Great Depression to a close. I certainly hope you’ve enjoyed it.

The first cartoon, by the same unidentified artist [update: Clive Weed] who drew two of the pro-National Recovery Administration cartoons in our last installment, could scarcely be more pro-Roosevelt. It appeared in January 1934.

At first glance, this cartoon by Gregor Duncan, from April 1934, might appear critical of the president, as he casually strews billions of dollars around, but such an interpretation ignores the necessary role sowing plays in making the harvest possible. Similarly, the belching smokestacks in the background, which might appear ominous to a twentieth-first-century eye, represent instead a badly needed renewal of economic activity. (The artistic reference is to the iconic painting The Sower by the nineteenth-century French artist Jean-François Millet.)

This further cartoon by Duncan, from May 1934, confirms that the cartoonist was in Roosevelt’s corner (although, as we shall see, he was not to remain there). Duncan had been hired as Life’s editorial cartoonist in 1933.

This cartoon by the great George Price alludes to Roosevelt’s “fireside chat” radio broadcasts. It appeared in August 1934.

The next cartoon, by John Cook, dates from October of the following year and offers a fine commentary on the partisan press, even as Life itself was switching from one side of the partisan divide to the other.

In “The Washington Monument,” from January 1936, Gregor Duncan mocks the Roosevelt’s expansion of the federal bureaucracy. Shown with Roosevelt is Jim Farley, who was simultaneously his postmaster general and the chairman of the Democratic National Committee. As this cartoon suggests, Farley used his influence to dispense political patronage.

“Democratic Odyssey,” from April 1936, illustrates Duncan’s thorough-going disillusionment with the Roosevelt administration. The NIRA was the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933, a major component of the New Deal that the Supreme Court struck down as unconstitutional in May 1935. The Townsend Plan was a proposed public pension scheme that attracted much attention prior to passage of the Social Security Act in August 1935. (As always, you may click on the cartoon for a larger version.)

The next cartoon, by Ben Martin, is also from April 1936. It represents another take on Roosevelt’s “fireside chats.” The joke here, of course, is that the well-heeled men depicted were Roosevelt’s bitter enemies.

In May 1936, Duncan began a series of full-color anti-Roosevelt cartoons based on Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland books. Accompanying each cartoon was a verse by Arthur L. Lippmann. The series continued until Life’s final issue in November. Reproduced below are three representative examples (to see the verses, as well, click for the larger version). The first, “A Mad Tea Party” from May, depicts “Alice Public,” together with Farley as the March Hare, Congress as the sleepy Dormouse, and Roosevelt as the Mad Hatter. The teacups on the table are labeled with the acronyms of various New Deal programs: the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps), WPA (Works Progress Administration), TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority), and ABC (a satirical reference to the New Deal propensity to set up “alphabet agencies”).

The second cartoon in the series, from June, reproaches Roosevelt for not being faithful to his campaign promises of 1932.

Finally, Duncan’s cartoon from September shows Roosevelt as the Cook, Farley as the Duchess, and Republican presidential candidate Alf Landon as the Cheshire Cat. The squalling infant is labeled “Administration Mistakes.”

Next time, our exciting series concludes with more of Life’s critique of the New Deal in 1935-36.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that Life tended from the beginning to ignore the agricultural depression, which was hard and deep. This cartoon by Harold Denison from March 1933 unfairly minimizes the plight of the rural sector.

This one by Adolph Schus, from July 1933, is similarly unsympathetic to the situation of dairymen, who were protesting prices that had fallen below the cost of production.

Judging from the style, the next cartoon (which also appeared in July) appears to be by Frederic G. Cooper, but the signature doesn’t look like his. In any case, the tone is reminiscent of Life’s cartoons from the early years of the Depression. Revolving windshield stickers like this were used to regulate automobile parking before the invention and introduction of coin-operated meters.

The New Deal was Roosevelt’s ambitious attempt to reorganize and revive the American economy. The National Industrial Recovery Act of June 1933, which created the National Recovery Administration (NRA), was one of its early components. As part of the publicity campaign surrounding the NRA, businesses all over the country posted “blue eagle” signs with the slogan “We do our part.” The ubiquity of these signs was an obvious target for cartoons like this one by Gregory d’Alessio, from September 1933.

The next two cartoons, by an artist whose signature I don’t recognize, are unabashedly pro-NRA. The first is from October 1933.

The second is from November. The title, of course, is a pun on the title of Ernest Hemingway’s novel Farewell to Arms (1929).

“Thanksgiving Day in Hooverville,” by Abner Dean, also from the November issue, includes an NRA eagle on the packing crate the two men are using as a table, while a picture of Roosevelt hangs on the wall. It reflects the sense of hope the new president brought to many Americans, even as they remained mired in poverty. “Hooverville” was a popular designation for the innumerable shanty towns homeless people had erected around the country.

Finally, this cartoon by Albert Viale, from December 1933, gives a playful, holiday take on the NRA.

Next up: Sharply conflicting views of FDR.

The tone would also change in 1932. Gone was the acerbic, ironic, or bitter edge that had characterized many of the earlier Depression cartoons. This one by C. W. Anderson is a clear exception, but it appeared in the January issue, and should be seen as a holdover from 1931. It speaks to the resentment many unemployed workers felt toward mechanization.

This cartoon, reflecting the public’s disenchantment with President Herbert Hoover, is another exception from January. I cannot make out the artist’s signature. Mary Pickford, of course, was a silent-movie phenomenon, who failed to make the transition to the “talkies” at just the same time as Hoover’s presidency was souring.

In February, Will B. Johnstone tried gamely to put the Depression into a longer historical perspective.

In March, Nate Collier illustrated what today we would call the “blame game.”

Cartoonists continued to use Depression-era situations as the inspiration for conventional silly gags, like this one by Bill Holman from June.

Or this one, signed “Wilkinson,” from August.

This cartoon by Ed Graham, from December, reflects the problems of unemployment and underemployment, but in a light-hearted, optimistic way.

Next up: 1933 and the New Deal.

The December issue naturally included a number of cartoons on the subject of Christmas. All of them seem pretty straightforward.

Unfortunately, the signature on the first is impossible to make out.

The next two, however, are both by Ralph Fuller.

Followed by this one from Courtney Dunkel.

And finally this one by Bill Holman.

Don’t miss our next exciting installment, as Life turns away from the problem in 1932.

There is, for example, no way I am leaving out this cartoon by William Crawford Young from July 17, 1931.

Presumably this cartoon by Chester L. Garde from January 23, 1931, did not speak to the wounded pride of stock brokers alone.

This cartoon by Ralph Fuller appeared on March 20, 1931.

The next three cartoons revisit a theme that has already surfaced here and there in earlier posts:  wealthy people finding themselves in reduced circumstances. The first of them appeared on January 9, 1931. Unfortunately I cannot make out the full signature, although the last name is clearly “Roberts.”

This one by William Steig appeared on August 7, 1931 . . .

. . . as did this one by Ralph Fuller. The extravagant theatrical revues known as the Ziegfeld Follies were famous for their chorus girls. The last production closed three months after this cartoon appeared, one more victim of the Great Depression.

Finally, this cartoon by C. W. Anderson is one I should have included in Part Two: Prosperity is just around the corner. It was published on August 7, 1931.

Next time, Life’s cartoonists celebrate Christmas 1931!