Signing his work as “Bill Kenny,” an artist contributed this two-panel cartoon to the back cover of Laughing Gas, an American fundraising pamphlet “Distributed by Unemployed Veterans.” The left panel is captioned “1918—On the Rhine,” and features an American “doughboy” standing guard on the bank of the Rhine River. Following World War I, rampant unemployment among American military veterans spurred Congress to pass the World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924. Because the act delayed compensation 11 years, many veterans ended up like our now ex-soldier in the right panel, staring at a sign reading “Help / Wanted / Male.” Captioned “1925—On the Line,” the right panel depicts an unemployed veteran, perhaps one of scores distributing this cartoon’s fundraising pamphlet. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
Signing his work as “Bill Kenny,” an artist contributed this two-panel cartoon to the back cover of Laughing Gas, an American fundraising pamphlet “Distributed by Unemployed Veterans.” The left panel is captioned “1918—On the Rhine,” and features an American “doughboy” standing guard on the bank of the Rhine River. Following World War I, rampant unemployment among American military veterans spurred Congress to pass the World War Adjusted Compensation Act of 1924. Because the act delayed compensation 11 years, many veterans ended up like our now ex-soldier in the right panel, staring at a sign reading “Help / Wanted / Male.” Captioned “1925—On the Line,” the right panel depicts an unemployed veteran, perhaps one of scores distributing this cartoon’s fundraising pamphlet. (Copyright © the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology.)
George S. Bause, M.D., M.P.H., Honorary Curator and Laureate of the History of Anesthesia, Wood Library-Museum of Anesthesiology, Schaumburg, Illinois, and Clinical Associate Professor, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio. UJYC@aol.com.
