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Dr. Seuss Went to War

Between 1941 and 1943, Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) was the chief editorial cartoonist for the New York newspaper PM (1940-1948), penning over 400 editorial cartoons that commented first on American neutrality and then involvement in the Second World War. The entire collection of these cartoons (original drawings and/or newspaper clippings) is held by the Mandeville Special Collections Library at the University of California, San Diego. While the 1999 book Dr. Seuss Went to War reproduced 200 of these cartoons, the remaining half have not been published or studied since their original appearance. This amazing collection has now been placed online and is browseable by year, month, and day. Subject term browsing will be available in the future. The cartoons are presented as large thumbnails which link to a full-sized image presented in an unfortunately cramped frame. The cartoons comment on a wide variety of topics, including war preparedness, domestic politics, and isolationism, with particular criticism for the US Congress and Americans not prepared to sacrifice for the war effort. Caricatures of the Axis nations, especially the Japanese, reflect contemporaneous stereotypes. Drawn in characteristic Seuss style, with many creatures familiar to fans of his best-known work, these cartoons are both an excellent look into wartime US domestic politics and public opinion and clever, visually interesting cartoons in their own right. As an added bonus, the site also features some even rarer cartoons that Geisel drew for other publications and for war bond drives. This is simply an excellent resource for students, researchers, and any fan of Horton, the Grinch, the Lorax, and Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose.
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Date of Scout Publication
June 30th, 2000
Date Of Record Creation
April 7th, 2003 at 1:58pm
Date Of Record Release
April 7th, 2003 at 1:58pm
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