The House That Jack Built (FHA Scandal)

A tumbledown shack with 'FHA Scandal' lettered on its roof sits amid junk, with a sagging mailbox, an overflowing garbage can, dice, a roulette wheel and a sign 'Leave Bribes Here' pointing to the mailbox. The tell, a weak fit for name-calling, is a loaded label: the agency is rendered as a squalid hovel with a sign inviting bribes, the accusation carried by the picture.

Propaganda techniques used in this cartoon

Name-calling

Date

October 11, 1954

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

Themes

Economy and finance, Elections and party politics

Source

Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are

Source

U.S. National Archives (NARA), 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, 5743189 (NAID 5743189).

FHA SCANDAL
LEAVE BRIBES HERE
JIM BERRYMAN... WASHINGTON STAR...