What are they?

We are not talking about 'Bugs Bunny' or 'The Simpsons', but rather political cartoons that can be found in the pages of just about every newspaper in the world. Cartoons that amused past generations, cartoons that had a message, cartoons that made people think, cartoons that made people laugh.

A cartoon is usually made up of two elements: (drawing that pokes fun at an individual) and (something that is not real).An illusion creates a pretend situation into which the individual(s) is placed. Once the subject is shown in this 'made up' situation, the cartoonist can make his point.

Political cartoons are historical sources just like photographs, newspapers, paintings, diaries and documents. Cartoons communicated political messages about events and people of the time through pictures. Some cartoons did this merely to comment on political events and poke fun, other cartoons are evidence of people and government's efforts to influence people.

'Cartoon produced by the Ministry of Information during the Second World War showing Australia and Britain combining to fight Japan.'

As well as making a political point, most cartoons are drawn to make people laugh. They make normally serious politicians look ridiculous. By exaggerating events and situations they become funny. Cartoons are also daring; they 'say' things people would not dare to say out loud. But historical cartoons rarely make us laugh out loud. They arouse a chuckle or just a faint smile. What people found witty 20, 50, 100 years ago can seem like very stale jokes to us today. There are some cartoons that are not meant to be funny, they are deadly serious. Nonetheless, cartoons do make an impact, and because of this they are memorable.