Charles Werner (American, 1909-1997) How Far Can

Charles Werner (American, 1909-1997) How Far Can We Get This Way? and Two Black Eyes!, Daily Oklahoman newspaper cartoons (two works), 1941 India ink, lithographic crayon, and gouache on heavyweight paper 12-3x4 x 10-1x2 inches (32.4 x 26.7 cm) (How Far Can We Get This Way?, image) 14-1x4 x 12 inches (36.2 x 30.5 cm) (Two Black Eyes!, image) Signed lower right: Werner In 1939, at age 29, Charles Werner became the youngest man to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning for his cartoon published in the Daily Oklahoman on October 6, 1938. Titled Nomination for 1938 it commented on the Munich Agreement which allowed Nazi Germany to take over the Sudetenland from Czechoslovakia. Mr. Werner was a staff artist at the Leader and Press in Springfield, Missouri from 1930 to 1935. He moved to the Daily Oklahoman in 1935 and served as its editorial cartoonist beginning in 1937. In 1941 he signed on as chief editorial cartoonist at the Chicago Sun. In 1947 the Indianapolis Star was his final destination, and he finished out his career as that paper's lead editorial cartoonist in 1994. These two original editorial cartoons illustrate problems the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt encountered with organized labor in 1941 as preparedness for war became of paramount concern. In How Far Can We Get This Way?—published March 27, 1941—a dedicated "army draftee" bends to his task as "Labor" sits idle in the rowboat "Democracy" with Uncle Sam and a frightened citizen aboard. By early 1941 labor was determined to catch up on wage increases long deferred by the Depression of the 1930s. Two Black Eyes!—published June 2, 1941—also addresses labor-management trouble as war loomed on the horizon. The Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) was a major labor federation that organized factory and unskilled workers in a wide variety of mass-production industries from mid-Depression to 1955 when it merged with the American Federation of Labor. CIO strikes in this period had a serious and adverse effect on FDR's efforts to strengthen the nation's defenses and ready it for war. (image size: 15" x 11.5") The artist inscribed and signed Two Black Eyes! "To Murray A. Harris with sincere wishes — Charles Werner." How Far Can We Get This Way? was inscribed and signed "with best wishes Chas. Werner" to another person and that name has been scratched out. Quantity: (2) HID03101062020 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.comxTexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Condition
Light toning to each sheet. A few scattered pin points of surface dirt. Wear and markings to margins of page in keeping with illustration and publishing process. Each sheet not framed. Each sheet overall: 16 x 13 inches and 14.125 x 12 inches Heritage Auctions strongly encourages in-person inspection of items by the bidder. Statements by Heritage regarding the condition of objects are for guidance only and should not be relied upon as statements of fact, and do not constitute a representation, warranty, or assumption of liability by Heritage. All lots offered are sold "AS IS"