The Swing Shift Shuffle is a radio program of swing, big band, jazz, boogie woogie and other popular music from the 1930's and 40's that airs every Wednesday from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. (US Central Time) on WEVL 89.9 FM in Memphis, Tennessee, with a live webcast at wevl.org. In addition to the radio show, this blog is dedicated to all aspects of the Swing Era, including art, automobiles, cartoons, comics, history, movies, music, news, science, technology, and anything else that happened during that time. It also includes announcements about events in the Memphis/Mid-South area related to the Swing Era, such as classic movies, concerts, dances, lectures, etc. If you see something that fits the description, send it to me at tim@wevl.org. If you would like more information about the radio show, just go to the Radio Show FAQ page.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Communist Cartoons By New Yorker Artist

I originally saw a post about this topic on Boing Boing, but forgot about it until Retronaut posted about it as well.  Syd Hoff did hundreds of cartoons for The New Yorker, and also illustrated childrens' books.  In the mid-1930s, however, while his work was published in The New Yorker, he was also publishing as "A. Redfield" in The Daily Worker, a communist party newsletter.  Talk about playing both sides of the fence.  He did a series of cartoons called The Ruling Clawss with all of the wit of his New Yorker stuff, but coming from the other end of the political spectrum.

No comments: