Let's Get Local: The 1930s and the Alberta Social Credit Party
Let's Get Local: The 1930s and the Alberta Social Credit Party
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'Mother Knows Best' - October 7, 1937.
When the federal government refused to allow legislation proposed by the Social Credit Party to pass because it was viewed as an attack on civil liberties, Aberhart announced that he would simply substitute similar legislation. This cartoon depicts Canada's Lieutenant-Governor disciplining Aberhart for attempting to defy constitutional authority.
FC3674.2.C36 - No Matter How Thin You Slice It -, is a collection of political cartoons by cartoonist and former Mount Royal College student Stewart Cameron. This publication contains Cameron's cartoons that criticized Alberta's Social Credit government and Premier William or "Bible Bill" Aberhart. The cartoons were originally published in the Calgary Herald newspaper.
'Salutations' - June 26, 1937
After Aberhart made a series of radio appeals asking Albertans for funds, Cameron mocked the Social Credit movement by comparing it to other contemporary political movements.
The Social Credit Party was a conservative political movement, focused on economic reform, that governed Alberta from 1935 to 1971. Social credit doctrine was based on ideas formulated by C.H. Douglas, a British engineer. Douglas believed that economic hardship arose from the failure of economies to provide people with enough purchasing power. Douglas advocated for the redistribution of money to consumers, i.e. social credit, as a method to boost the economy.
For the most part, the social credit reform movement received little traction on the world stage. However, when the philosophy came to the attention of high school principal and Baptist evangelist William Aberhart, he saw social credit as a way for Alberta, and Canada as a whole, to recover from the Great Depression. In 1932 Aberhart started using his evangelical radio program to educate Albertans about social credit, and in 1935 he led the world's first social credit party to victory, winning the Alberta legislature with 54% of the popular vote. The Social Credit Party went on to win nine successive elections in Alberta, with Aberhart leading the party until his death in 1943. The long term success of the Social Credit Party is credited to their early shift towards more conservative financial and social policies, and their management and use of massive oil revenues.
October 9, 1937 - After two years of Social Credit government, Alberta had yet to experience the promised 'social credit' the party was elected on. Constituents in Okotoks, High River, and Milk River started to agitate for Aberhart's dismissal. Here, Cameron foretells Aberhart's doom, comparing him to Shakespeare's ill-fated Macbeth.
October 29, 1936 - In this mock trial, Aberhart is depicted as the accuser, prosecutor, judge and jury. The cartoon is meant to represent the view, held by Aberhart and Social Credit advocates, that those who were not in favour of the Social Credit party were against them.
June 23, 1937 - A Calgary MLA asked for an inquiry into the cost of road construction carried out by the province. Aberhart and supports initially refused the request but were later forced to reverse course. This cartoon illustrates a remark Aberhart made about the issue at the Prophetic Bible Institute: "Sometimes a pretty bad mess comes out as an act of Divine Providence to speed us on our way."
June 18, 1936 - In this cartoon Aberhart is shown as a magician objecting to revealing his magic tricks. The cartoon refers to a meeting held at Western Canada High School in Calgary, during which Aberhart became visibly annoyed at questions from the public about his proposal for issuing scrip as a temporary substitute form of legal tender.
August 21, 1935 - This was Cameron's first cartoon for the Calgary Herald, submitted just one day before the provincial election, offering a humourous last-minute warning about the promises of Aberhart and the Social Credit Party.
October 30, 1936 - This cartoon depicts the view of citizens of Calgary, that they were being forced to follow the province on a blind and hapless financial journey. At the time this cartoon was published, the province was facing mounting financial difficulties as multiple bond issues defaulted because of an inability to make interest payments.
Stewart Cameron (1912-1970) was a cartoonist and World War II veteran who was born and educated in Calgary, Alberta. Cameron was an art student at Mount Royal College, and had success submitting cartoons to the Calgary Herald while still in high school. After graduation, Cameron briefly worked for Disney Studios before returning to Calgary to join the Calgary Herald fulltime in June 1936. Lampooning Social Credit policies and their outspoken and blustery leader became one of Cameron's favourite topics while at the Herald. Cameron's anti-Social Credit cartoons gained popularity outside of Alberta, with reproductions appearing in newspapers and periodicals throughout Canada and the United States. This collection contains 61 cartoons that provide a full-length commentary on the first two years of the Social Credit administration.
Aside from his political cartoons, Cameron is also well known for his large body of cowboy and Calgary Stampede-related cartoons. Other collected volumes of his cartoons include: What I Saw at the Stampede, Let the Chaps Fall Where They May, Weep for The Cowboy, and Pack Horse in the Rockies (Dudes, Denims and Diamond Hitches).
Archie Goes Everywhere : An Modern Example of Comics in Popular Culture
Cover and first page of 'Archie no. 403 - Archie Visits Canada's World-Famous Calgary Stampede'
This Archie comic is from file 0411 of the Rodeo section of the Blaine Canadian Sports History Collection. The Blaine Collection documents professional, amateur, and varsity sport in Canada throughout the 20th century. The collection focuses on rodeo, baseball, football, golf, and hockey, and contains a wide assortment of items including: game and tournament programs, photographs, magazines, media guides, yearbooks, schedules, calendars, trading cards, game tickets, pins and buttons, pennants, patches, and decals.
Archie Comics are an American comic book series that has been popular among children and teens since the 1940s. Archie and his friends from Riverdale were the creation of the family-owned publishing company MLJ Magazines (formed by Maurice Coyne, Louis Silberkleit, and John Goldwater in November 1939) and later renamed Archie Comics Publications. After publishing various comic series, MLJ found a character that resonated with audiences in December 1941 when Archie made his debut in Volume 22 of the Pep Comics series. With his wholesome image and average every-teen problems, Archie appealed to children and their parents. By 1946 Archie was MLJ's flagship character and had started to become an international phenomenon.
The earliest Archie issues revolve around the arrival of a new girl, Betty Cooper, and Archie's adventures with his best friend, Jughead Jones. For the most part, Archie plots maintained this focus on the normal trials and tribulations of teenagers living in a regular American small town. In April 1942, wealthy socialite Veronica Lodge was introduced in Volume 29, and Archie's inability to choose between Betty and Veronica would dominate the comic's plot for decades. From the 1940s through the 1980s Archie comics followed a predictable formula, with the addition of some familiar new characters and a few notable events:
Introduction of staple characters Reggie Mantel, Pop Tate, and Big Ethel - 1950s
Spin-off characters Sabrina the Teenaged Witch and Josie and the Pussycats gain their own followings - 1960s
Launch of an animated Saturday morning Archie television show - 1968, and again in 1985
The band The Archies tops billboard charts with their hit 'Sugar Sugar' - 1969
Publication of 'digest' issues, which combined and reprinted earlier comic volumes, create a cross-generational fan base - 1970s
Racially diverse students such as Chuck Clayton and Nancy Harris are introduced to the cast - 1970s
Controversial character, Cheryl Blossom and her twin brother Jason are introduced to try and revive a flagging fan base - 1982, Betty and Veronica - volume 320
Archie Comics debut an online format - 1997
Throughout 50+ years of publication, Archie Comics remained consistent with its tried and true formulaic plots, to the point that readership finally started decline as audiences began to consider the comic clichéd in the 1980s. As Archie Comics struggled to find ways to remains culturally relevant, Archie and the gang started to take on adventures in the 1990s that took them beyond their quaint comfort zone of Riverdale. Archie has visited space (Archie 3000 series), gone back in time (Jughead Time Police series), and traveled around the world (Archie & Friends Travel series). These images come from a special issue from 1992 (volume 403) in which Archie and his friends travel to the Calgary Stampede. In this issue, Archie competes in the rodeo, and Jughead takes in a pancake breakfast, all with humorous results.
Visit the Archives and Special Collections on the fourth floor of the Riddle Library and Learning Centre to finish the rest of this epic Archie adventure and to find more examples of historical humour.
Published April, 2023 by Sade Dunn, Public Services - Archives and Special Collections Assistant.
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