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Catalogue information
LastDodo number
5892043
Area
Drawings / paintings
Title
Socialist promises - more austerity
Artist
Art object
Art Movement / style
Genre
Material
Technique used
Colouring
Dimensions
56 x 38 cm
Series / hero
Collection / set
Number
Addition to number
Year
1950
Country
Language
Details
Original editorial cartoon on card in ink and crayon for the New York Daily Mirror, 1951, shows British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, Chancellor of the Exchequer Sir Stafford Cripps and Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin riding the ‘England’ lion which is chasing a piece of meat (‘socialist promises’) dangling from a stick and heading towards ‘more austerity’. Storm clouds gather overhead. This was the ‘age of austerity’ as wartime rationing continued and even expanded after the end of the war. The Labour Party had narrowly defeated the Conservative Party at the February 1950 general election. A year later the meat ration was reduced (again) to the lowest levels ever, and the Conservatives put forward a motion of no confidence in the government’s ability to supply sufficient meat for its citizens. The government managed to win this vote, but it was clear that people had had enough of austerity and in the October 1951 general election the Conservatives returned to power under Winston Churchill. Card size 56 x 38 cm (22 x 15 inch), image size 42 x 28 cm, signed lower right. In very good condition.