Spooks in the Cornfield
A figure in colonial dress and a hat labelled GWU stands in a moonlit cornfield holding pumpkins labelled Auburn, Clemson (Tie), Catawba and N. Dakota, while cornstalk scarecrows are labelled W. Va. Wesleyan, Tulsa, Tennessee and Washington & Jefferson; ground lettering reads 1933 Schedule. The tell is a Halloween fright metaphor (fear-appeal used as humour): opponents are drawn as spooks, with the pumpkins apparently marking results already played.
Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon
- Date
- October 24, 1933
- Period
- Interwar
- Made by
- Washington Evening Star (cartoonist Jim Berryman)
- Region
- North America
- Country
- United States
- Medium
- Cartoon
- Issuer type
- Media
- Regime
- Roosevelt Administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Warn or inform
- Theme
- Media and information
- Regime
- Roosevelt administration
- Leader
- Franklin D. Roosevelt
- 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, 5743096 (NAID 5743096).
Text on the object
GWU W. VA. WESLEYAN TULSA TENNESSEE WASHINGTON & JEFFERSON CLEMSON (TIE) AUBURN CATAWBA N. DAKOTA 1933 SCHEDULE JIM BERRYMAN
