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Herblock smiling … in his studio

Herblock Collection Image Sampler
Herbert Block, artist. "We're really making great progress"

View staff selections from the Herblock Collection.

Herblock Collection image sampler screen shot

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Editorial cartoon showing a rich man sitting on a box and eating an apple, apple cores are scattered on the ground around him; an unemployed man leans against a pole on which a sign, "Help the unemployed - Apples 5 cents", is posted over a box of apples. The rich man is doing what he can to assist the unemployed by purchasing and eating as many apples as he can
The philanthropist
LC-DIG-ppmsc-03389
December 5, 1930		 Editorial cartoon shows President Franklin D. Roosevelt carrying the Supreme Court building over his right shoulder and a bag in his left hand; the bag has a hole in the bottom and the United States Capitol has fallen out with a "Thump!", which causes FDR to stop in his tracks and, perplexed, look back as the building hits the ground
"You can't have everything"
LC-DIG-ppmsca-17190
January 26, 1938		 Editorial cartoon shows Adolf Hitler sitting on top of the world, holding a machine gun, with a menacing look on his face.
What "Peace now" would mean
LC-DIG-hlb-00925
January 3, 1940		 Editorial cartoon showing an atom, a large hairy, bomb-shaped creature, ticking away over a man seated in a chair anxiously reading newspaper article "Scientists develop an atomic clock"
Tick-tock tick-tock
LC-DIG-ppmsc-03384
January 11, 1949
Editorial cartoon shows a massive fortress topped with onion domes, blaring senseless slogans, provides a fitting metaphor for the totalitarian authority of the Soviet Union, whose flag flies above the tallest dome.
"White is black. Black is white. Night is day--"
LC-DIG-ppmsca-19974
July 6, 1950		 Editorial cartoon showing Sen. Joseph McCarthy holding a "doctored photo" and a "faked letter," both burning, his fingers singed, which he claims are FBI documents during the Army-McCarthy hearings
"I have here in my hand--"
LC-DIG-ppmsc-03479
May 7, 1954		 Editorial cartoon shows a frightened librarian staring at an angry man pounding his fists on a reading room counter carrying an axe labeled "Appropriations cuts."
"What's this about your letting the common people come in here and read books?"
LC-DIG-acd-2a06949
June 6, 1954		 Editorial cartoon shows President Eisenhower sitting in a motorboat adrift, holding up a stick to which a large sheet of paper is attached like a sail labeled "Administration Program" and listing such programs as, "Trade", "Foreign Aid", "Schools", and "Civil Rights." He puffs weakly into this makeshift sail, meanwhile, attached to the back of the boat is a motor labeled "Power of the Presidency", which sits idle. An exasperated passenger, who may represent John Q. Public, or even Herblock himself, asks Eisenhower if he ever considered starting the motor.
"Ever think of starting the motor?"
LC-DIG-ppmsca-17197
July 16, 1956
Editorial cartoon shows an African American girl seated on a step with a birthday cake on her lap, she speaks to a man wearing a business suit; across the street, behind a tall wrought iron fence, is the "James Crow Public School."
"I'm eight. I was born on the day of the Supreme Court decision"
LC-DIG-ppmsca-03061
May 17, 1962		 Editorial cartoon showing a procession of people as they pass the walls of "Jericho", labeled "Voting discrimination", on their way to Montgomery, Alabama, demanding equal rights for African Americans.
Jericho, U.S.A.
LC-DIG-ppmsc-03464
March 21, 1965		 Editorial cartoon shows President Lyndon Johnson admiring a painting of himself as a god-like supernatural being descending from the heavens with a thunderbolt in one hand and a scroll in the other; the artist is standing next to the life-sized painting.
"That's a little better, but couldn't you do it in luminous paint?"
LC-DIG-ppmsca-17204
January 6, 1967		 Editorial cartoon showing a billboard in a cemetery advertising a brand of cigarettes called "Carcinos"
For long-lasting, deep-down comfort smoke Carcinos with the special filter made from a rabbit's foot
LC-DIG-ppmsc-03499
September 3, 1967
Editorial cartoon shows President Richard Nixon attempting to subdue a sniffing bloodhound, by offering bones, representing Nixon's aides who were forced to resign, and tapes.
"Look --- nice tapes, okay, boy? --- okay? --- "
LC-DIG-ppmsca-17207
October 24, 1973		 Editorial cartoon shows President Gerald Ford and John Q. Public in a picnic basket labeled "The Economy" racing down a steep hill toward flames and devil's forks in hell.
"We're really making great progress"
LC-DIG-ppmsca-17211
November 1, 1974		 In 1975 President Gerald Ford vetoed the proposed Surface Mining and Reclamation Act, despite an overwhelmingly pro-environment vote in the House of Representatives. Ford argued that jobs would be lost, utility bills would increase, Americans would be more dependent on foreign oil, and coal production would be unnecessarily reduced. Herb Block attacked the coal strip mining interests by depicting a man literally peeling off the Earth's crust east of the Rocky Mountains, implying that President Ford was in the pockets of the coal lobbyists.
Rip-off
LC-DIG-ppmsca-11966
June 1, 1975		 Herb Block graphically conveyed his concern for individual privacy by depicting a fragile silhouette being blasted into oblivion by the collecting of personal data, which is exploited by the economic and political forces of credit and government agencies. In late 1976 and early 1977, the individual's right to privacy as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution's Fourth Amendment (i.e., protection from unreasonable search and seizure) was hotly debated as Congress and the judicial system pondered decisions on access to such vital personal papers as medical and banking records. A rough sketch for this cartoon identifies the types of personal data and the collecting agencies at issue.
Personal profile
LC-DIG-ppmsca-11987
January 12, 1977
Editorial cartoon showing a fuzzy President Carter pointing to his image on a television and telling a "Communications repair[man]" that his picture always "comes out fuzzy"
"It comes out fuzzy"
LC-DIG-ppmsc-03482
May 21, 1978		 Editorial cartoon shows an American man labeled "U.S.A." blindfolded and bound with the hose to a gasoline pump, which is labeled "U.S. Govt. Failure to end Dependence on Foreign Oil."
Hostage
LC-DIG-ppmsca-21949
November 15, 1979		 Editorial cartoon shows President Ronald Reagan and counselor Edwin Meese riding in a limo; looking out the window at the poor and homeless sleeping on grates they make an insensitive comment on their plight.
"Strange how some choose to live like that instead of choosing to be rich like us"
LC-DIG-ppmsca-21953
February 2, 1984		 Editorial cartoon showing vampires labeled "Takeover tactics," "Greenmail specialists," "Raiders," "Junk bond finances," and "Stock manipulations" flying down Wall Street(?) above frightened pedestrians.
Invasion of the corporate body snatchers
LC-DIG-ppmsc-03289
April 21, 1985
Editorial cartoon shows President Bill Clinton carrying his "State of the Union" speech while walking through mud puddles of "Charges" which have soiled his shoes and trousers.
State of the president
LC-DIG-ppmsca-17229
January 22, 1998		 Editorial cartoon shows two women getting ready to leave their place of employment at the end of the day, as their better paid male co-workers scurry out the door in the background; on a desk in the foreground is a paper labeled "Report of Male-Female Wage Ratio."
"Well, as the fellows don't say--another day, another 75 cents"
LC-DIG-ppmsca-21964
March 12, 1999		 Editorial cartoon shows a man racing from a building, labeled "Vote Here", with "The Election" under his arm and ducking into an automobile about to speed away, with "U.S. Supreme Court 5-4" on the license plate; uncounted ballots litter the steps of the polling place.
Getaway car
LC-DIG-ppmsca-21970
December 14, 2000		 [Vertical, color view of Herblock smiling at viewer, hands on drawing board in his studio]
[Vertical, color view of Herblock smiling at viewer, hands on drawing board in his studio]
LC-DIG-ppmsca-22217
circa 1980
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( October 6, 2009 )