“A Little Sad Music Before Passing the Hat” (December 15, 1939)
by Carey Orr (1980-1967)
12 x 15 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection

When the war broke out in September 1939, President Roosevelt wanted to provide assistance to the British. US law, and the prevailing isolationism that existed in the US after WWI and the still-present effects of the Great Depression, hindered any aid effort.

The Johnson Act of 1934 prohibited the extension of credit to countries that had not repaid US loans made to them during World War I, including Great Britain. The Neutrality Act of 1939 (March, following the German invasion of Czechoslovakia) allowed belligerents to purchase war materiel from the United States, but only on a “cash and carry” basis.

Internationalists, including the President, claimed that providing aid was a pro-active move that could prevent US participation in the war. Isolationists, including the military leadership, opposed diverting military supplies to the UK.

This debate was still raging when Japanese aircraft attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

This cartoon is pretty clear: a negative reaction to an accusation of European propaganda about the war as a way to solicit US aid. The cartoon only has the year on it, but there is evidence of public reports (and debates) about “the open secret that the countries facing off in the new war were employing propaganda to help their causes.” George Gallop, in a summary article, declared, “Propaganda has grown to be one of the most powerful weapons of modern warfare,” reporting from a poll from September 13-18, 1939.

Lydia Saad has a nice overview of this in her February 2, 2018 article from The Gallup Vault: “Propaganda and Fake News in 1939”

Thanks to JS for nailing the date on this one.