5. Dr. Seuss used cartoons to shame the American people
In June 1942, Dr. Seuss published a cartoon in PM which depicted an American worker lying in bed, wearing a derby labeled “you and me” and placing a phone call to General MacArthur, calling in sick and expressing the hope that the act wouldn’t have a detrimental effect on the general’s plans. The cartoon was a response to figures released by the War Production Board which indicated that sick days and injuries on the job which resulted in lost work time cost 6,000,000 work days every month. The implication of the cartoon was clear. Calling in sick resulted in less production, which led to less supplies for the troops fighting the war, which led to military operations being held up, which led to a longer and more costly war.
In a similar vein, Dr. Seuss also produced cartoons which condemned tax evaders, presenting them as the size of mice being closely watched by cats and other creatures drawn in his inimical style, which eyed the evader with contempt. He gave similar attention to those who did not adequately support the drive to purchase War Bonds. In January of 1943 he produced his last cartoons as the editorial cartoonist for PM, all three of which were directed toward the home front, addressing the subjects of rejecting isolationism, the need for each to pay a fair share of income taxes, and his final effort for the newspaper, which predicted the future. In it he depicted a veteran of the war in 1973, telling his grandson that when surrounded by Germans and Japanese, he remained firmly in his chair complaining about gas shortages.