R. A. Lewis (American, 1902-1977) Knows the Word

R. A. Lewis (American, 1902-1977) Knows the Words but Not the Manners and Untitled, Milwaukee Journal newspaper cartoons (two works), August 1941; circa 1943 India ink, lithographic crayon, and gouache on heavyweight paper 10-1/2 x 9 inches (26.7 x 22.9 cm) (each, image) Each signed lower right: R. A. Lewis Ross A. Lewis was the strongly anti-Nazi lead editorial cartoonist of the Milwaukee Journal newspaper, and he was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1935 for a cartoon depicting the use of violence by both industry and strikers in labor disputes. He was a master of the use of lithographic crayon, and his cartoons were syndicated to newspapers across the United States. His work spanning his 38-year career, 1929-1967, was collected in book form in The Cartoons of R. A. Lewis published in 1968. Knows the Words but Not the Manners was published in early August, 1941, shortly after the attack by Japanese warplanes on the USS Tutuila in Chungking, China on July 30, 1941. Emily Post's "Table Etiquette" clearly has had no effect on the Japanese soldier who reaches across Uncle Sam to help himself to portions of "Indo-China" and "Thailand." Imperial Japan had occupied Manchuria in 1931 and invaded China in 1937; fighting was underway against the forces of the Chinese Nationalist Army and Chinese Communist Party. Japan apologized for the Tutuila incident and stated it was an accident. Uncle Sam walks the tightrope, supporting US Armed Forces while balancing the demands of farmers for crop subsidies and war plant workers for higher wages in the untitled cartoon that most likely was published in 1943, a year in which strikes by organized labor hit key war industries and the federal government launched the Emergency Farm Labor Program to address the wartime shortages of workers on farm. Quantity: (2) HID03101062020 © 2026 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved www.HA.com/TexasAuctioneerLicenseNotice

Condition
Very light handling creases to each with areas of concentration at lower corners. A few light scattered smudges and some light surface dirt, most visible along extreme edges. Wear and markings to margins of pages in keeping with illustration and publishing process. Each not framed. Each sheet overall: 14 x 11 inches and 10.25 x 11.5 inches
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