Content note: 1958 US newspaper cartoon using a totem pole as a symbol of Alaska statehood, shown as published. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Deep in the Heart of Texas
A totem pole topped by a bird, with a winged board reading 'Alaska largest state in the Union' and two carved faces, plunges point-first into a map of Texas like a pen nib, splashing ink. The cartoon uses a totem as a symbol of Alaska to show it displacing Texas as the largest state; the technique is transfer, a symbol standing for the place, a weak fit.
Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon
- Date
- July 5, 1958
- Period
- Cold War
- Made by
- Washington Evening Star (cartoonist Jim Berryman)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Eisenhower Administration
- Leader
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Persuade or win support
- Theme
- Elections and party politics
- Event
- Alaska Statehood
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- U.S. National Archives, Records of the U.S. Senate, Jim Berryman Political Cartoons (NAID 5730852), retrieved October 3, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (U.S. government work)
Jim Berryman, Washington Evening Star. National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the U.S. Senate, 5743263 (NAID 5743263).
Text on the object
ALASKA LARGEST STATE IN THE UNION JIM BERRYMAN WASHINGTON STAR
