Lichty, George (1905 – 1983)

Lichty, George (1905 – 1983) 

George Lichty original cartoon artwork

Lichty was 16 years old when he launched his art career by selling his first cartoon to Judge Magazine. He attended the Chicago Art Institute (1924–25) and was the editor of the University of Michigan humour magazine. Graduating from the University of Michigan in 1929, he began his newspaper career doing spot cartoons and sports drawings for the Chicago Daily News. Lichty also contributed to Collier's during the 1930s. Frequent subjects included family life, excessive capitalism and Soviet bureaucracy. Scenes in his cartoons were often set in the offices of commissars or the showrooms of "Belchfire" dealers with enormous cars in the background. His series Is Party Line, Comrade! also skewered various Soviet bureaucrats, who usually were drawn wearing a five-pointed star medal labeled "Hero". During the Second World War, he worked for the Chicago Times as their political cartoonist and his work was syndicated throughout the United States.