Enlarge image
Catalogue information
LastDodo number
5625927
Area
Drawings / paintings
Title
Damn the gremlins - full speed ahead
Artist
Art object
Art Movement / style
Genre
Material
Technique used
Colouring
Dimensions
36 x 28.5 cm
Series / hero
Collection / set
Number
Addition to number
Year
1948
Country
Language
Details
Original editorial cartoon on card in pen, ink and crayon, 1948, syndicated to a number of newspapers, shows Uncle Sam driving a vehicle, the ‘Marshall Plan’, filled with supplies and food heading toward war-devastated Europe. The Marshall Plan (officially the European Recovery Program, ERP) was a joint initiative of the USA and Western European states to send aid to Europe in which the United States gave $13 billion (approximately $120 billion in current dollar value) in economic support to help rebuild ruined European economies after the end of World War II. The plan was in operation for four years beginning in April 1948. The goals of the United States were to rebuild and modernize industry, make Europe prosperous again, and prevent the spread of communism. The gremlins, or the ‘Kremlin-Comintern (Communist International) wrecking crew’, a number of mini-Stalins, were against the plan and attempted to sabotage it as it would almost certainly bring an end to the progress the Communist parties were making in Europe (particularly in France and Italy) and would make Germany strong again, and therefore a renewed threat to European peace. Card size 36 x 28.5 cm (14 x 11 inch), image size 31 x 26 cm, signed lower right with nine zeros as underline. Closed 8 cm tear middle left, otherwise in good condition.