The Great Depression in Cartoons, Part 9:
Turning away from the problem

Posted on Sunday, March 1, 2009, at 10:28 am, by Cadwalader Crabtree.

In 1931, Life published something like seventy cartoons on one aspect or another of the economic crisis. In 1932, that number plunged to around a dozen. Only part of this drop was due to the shift from weekly to monthly publication (the first monthly issue, in December 1931, had included no fewer than eight Depression cartoons). Instead the main reason must surely have been an editorial decision to downplay the unpleasant topic, in recognition of the fact that after two years the public was heartily sick of the Depression.

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.