Comic relief

In 1932, Chicago Tribune cartoonist John T. McCutcheon won a Pulitzer Prize for an editorial cartoon: A man, labeled “Victim of Bank Failure,” sits on a park bench. A squirrel, described as “A Wise Economist,” asks him, “But why didn’t you save money for the future, when times were good?” The man replies, “I did.”

McCutcheon’s timeless, prophetic sketches still ring true today. As a pioneer of drawn political and social satires, “McCutcheon was considered the dean of American cartoonists,” says Tim Samuelson, cultural historian for the City of Chicago who curated “The Cartoons of John T. McCutcheon: Chronicles of a Changing World,” on display at the Chicago Cultural Center. “McCutcheon really had a keen sense of human nature and individual personalities,” Samuelson says.

Beginning in the 1890s, McCutcheon captivated newspaper readers with a cartoon almost every day for 50 years. The popular drawings—always a controlled chaos of black cross-hatchings—brimmed with characters in top hats, tails and ground-length skirts and emotive faces. McCutcheon’s style managed to endearingly straddle the line between droll and sweet, as apparent in the Cultural Center’s display of original drawings and reproductions.

These days McCutcheon is most often remembered for his 1907 “Injun Summer,” an illustrated story that the Tribune published annually for nearly a century, but pulled for offensive language. In it, an old man reminisces about the days when American Indians were a common sight on the prairie. The man tells a young boy he can see the spirits of the departed Indians dancing in a field. To many, it still rings nostalgic: The paper recently reported that readers request it nearly every year.

The exhibit opens Saturday 30. 77 E Randolph St (312-744-9350, chicagoculturalcenter.org). Mon–Thu 8am–7pm, Fri 8am–6pm, Sat 9am–6pm, Sun 10am–6pm.

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