What Political Cartoons & Photography Cartoons Have In Common

I don’t draw political cartoons for various reasons.

The main one is that they don’t make much sense a few years, if not a few days, later. Half of my current income comes from commissions. The other half comes from reselling old cartoons.

Would you buy a cartoon about Edwin Meese? “Who?” I assume most of you are asking. He was Ronald Reagan’s Attorney General. I hope most of you at least have a vague notion of who Ronald Reagan was. Anyway, even though I’m the one who drew these two cartoons about Meese in the 1980s, I can’t tell you what incident they’re about. I’m assuming they were once funny. I was paid for them.

License Edwin Meese Cartoon 1223

License 1224 Bank Cartoon

I drew this cartoon the same week I did the Meese ones. It makes as much sense today as it did when I drew it 30 years ago … or as much sense as a fish carrying an umbrella can ever make.

License Fish Cartoon 1230

That isn’t to say all non-political cartoons are timeless. I regularly sold to Professional Photographer in the 1980s. Alas, cartoons about film are about as relevant and comprehensible today as are cartoons about Edwin Meese. Trust me, the cartoon below was hysterical to anyone in a relationship with a serious photographer in the 1980s. The original captions was, “Only film in the cooler, honey? No soda or beer?”

License Cartoon 1340

Do they still have dark rooms?

License Photography Cartoon 3820
Get it printed on stuff from Zazzle

And how many people recognize an old Polaroid Camera?

License Photo Cartoon 1212
Get it printed on stuff from Zazzle

The reason I was thinking about this is because I’m selling a bunch of old camera equipment on eBay for a friend. It all cost a fortune when her late husband bought it. Some of and it has kept its value. The 300 mm lens is still worth about $1,000. Not so the Nikon 8008 film camera that cost $630 in 1990. The postage to ship it today is probably more than anyone would pay for it.