The Great Depression in Cartoons, Part 12:
Opposing the New Deal

Posted on Saturday, April 11, 2009, at 4:13 pm, by Cadwalader Crabtree.

As I noted last time, Life’s editorial line began to turn against Roosevelt in 1935 and became more strident in 1936. Inevitably, the same was true of Life’s attitude toward Roosevelt’s New Deal.

“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.