In Labor's Corner

Clever Sister found this story: the January 10 passing of Ben Yomen, 99-year old artist and long-time cartoonist on labor and social justice topics.

The artist's site has his story and some examples of his work, and there's a book in print: In Labor's Corner: Political Cartoons By Ben Yomen

A longtime series of Yomen's featured the quintessential Dixiecrat politician of the 1940s and beyond, "Congressman Dripp":
Styles of headgear change; the themes never do.

The oily little man below is Thomas Dewey, whose platform Democrats once ran against, and won.

Some of these issues have changed. The "Isolationist" plank, in particular: Republicans had no trouble learning to love foreign adventures, once war was made safe for unlimited profiteering.

But there are also the evergreens, like "Bust Labor," and, bring back "Hooverism."

These and Yomen's other cartoons are still so timely.

And yet... after a thirty-year bludgeoning of American labor, it's not only clothing and graphic style that makes these start to resemble ancient artifacts.