Harry Hershfield Sold at Auction Prices

HARRY HERSHFIELD (1885-1974) Group of 4 poster designs commissioned by The National Brewing Company. (WORLD WAR II / PATRIOTISM)

HARRY HERSHFIELD (1885-1974) Group of 4 poster designs commissioned by The National Brewing Company. Four original gouache, ink, and watercolor designs tipped to black paper backing, accompanied by 4 hand-painted lithographs, 1 photograph, 1 letter, and newspaper clippings. 1941. Generally 533x355 mm; 21x14 inches and slightly larger. Signed "'Hershfield'"; some stamped "Copyright 1941 Advertising Arts Corp., General Motors Bldg, N.Y.C." Laid into imitation leather portfolio. The accompanying 5 press photographs and newspaper clippings feature Hershfeld shaking hands with Federal Security Administrator, Paul V. McNutt as well as a host of political figures (including Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia) as he presents the printed series of patriotic posters, which were issued weekly across the country and "designed to promote Americanism and Unity among Americans." A Typed Letter Signed by President of the National Brewing Co., A.H. Deute commends Hershfield's work and states "If anything can bring about that maxim of harmony and team play which the USA can use right now, it is this sort of thing." July 11, 1941. Hershfield was a cartoonist and personality best remembered for his strips "Desperate Desmond," "Dauntless Durham of the U.S.A.," and "Abie the Agent" a popular comic based on his Jewish immigrant childhood in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He became a national radio star in 1942 with his NBC comedy show "Can You Top This?"