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Dr. Seuss’s World War II Political Propaganda Cartoons
“One-tenth of your income must go into War Bonds if you hope to defeat both the Axis and inflation!”
Dr. Seuss (1904-1991) may be best-remembered for his irreverent rhymes and the timeless prescriptions for living embedded in them, but he was also a prolific maker of subversive secret art and the auteur of a naughty book for adults. Though his children’s books have already been shown to brim with subtle political propaganda, during WWII, like Walt Disney, Geisel lent his creative talents to far more explicit, adult-focused wartime propaganda when he joined the New York daily newspaper PM as a political cartoonist. Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel (public library) collects 200 of Geisel’s black-and-white illustrations, but more than half of his editorial cartoons were never made publicly available — until now. Dr. Seuss Goes To War: A Catalog of Political Cartoons from UCSD Libraries has digitized the original drawings and newspaper clippings of Geisel’s wartime cartoons, produced between 1941 and 1943. Here’s a sampling:
We're just going to knock out the unnecessary floors designed by F.D.R., published by PM Magazine on May 18, 1942, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Insure your home against Hitler!, published by PM Magazine on July 28, 1942, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
In Russia a chap, so we're told, knits an object strange to behold. Asked what is his gag, he says 'This is the bag that the great Adolf will hold!,' published by PM Magazine on August 11, 1941, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Spreading the lovely Goebbels stuff, published by PM Magazine on September 18, 1941, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Tis Roosevelt, Not Hitler, that the world should really fear, published by PM Magazine on June 2, 1941, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Boss, maybe you'd better hock me and buy more U.S. Defense Bonds and Stamps!, published by PM Magazine on December 26, 1941, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Those Americans sure can attack... themselves!, published by PM Magazine on February 11, 1942, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
In Dr. Seuss & Mr. Geisel: A Biography, Judith and Neil Morgan contextualize the collaboration:
Ted was haunted by the war in Europe, and one evening in Manhattan he showed an editorial cartoon he had drawn to his friend Zinny Vanderlip Schoales, the brilliant, hard-drinking intellectual…. She had joined the patrician liberal Ralph Ingersoll when he launched the tabloid newspaper PM in New York with the backing of Marshall Field III. Zinny took Ted’s cartoon to Ingersoll and PM published it on January 30, 1941…
You, Too, can sink U-Boats, published by PM Magazine on May 24, 1942, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Cages cost money!, published by PM Magazine on December 15, 1941, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Don't let them carve THOSE faces on our mountains, published by PM Magazine on December 12, 1941, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
One buck out of every 10!, published by PM Magazine on May 2, 1942, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Join the C.B.C.!, published by PM Magazine on August 4, 1942, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Me? I'd give my life for my country, published by PM Magazine on September 1, 1942, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Maybe it's none of our business... but how much are YOU giving this Christmas in U.S. War Bonds and Stamps?, published by PM Magazine on December 22, 1942, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Wipe that sneer off his face!, published by PM Magazine on October 13, 1942, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
Time to swap the old book for a set of brass knuckles, published by PM Magazine on December 30, 1941, Dr. Seuss Collection, MSS 230. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UC San Diego
See more on the project site, then graduate to the more subtle, complex political propaganda in Seuss’s children’s books with Tales for Little Rebels: A Collection of Radical Children’s Literature.
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