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Charles Werner (1909-1997)

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World War II victory gardens provided a way for citizens to reduce the amount of gasoline used to transport fruits, vegetables, and herbs by planting gardens in their own yards, vacant lots, apartment roofs, and public parks. People on the home front aided the war effort by allowing more resources to be used on the battlefield. Warring governments endorsed victory gardens, and they were prevalent in America, Canada, Great Britain, and Germany. Some estimates put the amount of produce grown in victory gardens during the war at up to 40% of the national product.

A cold snap occurred in America in early April, 1945. The New York Times reported that Las Vegas, New Mexico recorded -2 degrees on April 3. Heavy snow was reported through much of the Great Plains, and seventeen inches of snow was reported in Minnesota. New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Missouri all reported crop damage. In Chicago, where this cartoon originally ran, the high temperature dropped from 64 on April 3 to an expected 30 degrees on April 4, prompting fears that victory gardens would freeze.

In Battle to Save the Beachhead!, Charles Werner compares keeping victory gardens with establishing a beachhead against the enemy and encourages readers to keep their gardens warm as a way for stateside citizens to continue to aid the war effort.
Charles Werner drew for the Indianapolis Star for most of his career and won the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning in 1939 while with the Daily Oklahoman. When he won the Pulitzer, he was in his first year as a professional cartoonist and was the youngest person to win the award at that time.

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