1940.06.16 “Turning back the clock…” by Cyrus Cotton “Cy” Hungerford

1940.06.16 “Turning back the clock…”
by Cyrus Cotton “Cy” Hungerford (1889-1983)
15 x 20 in., ink and graphite on paper
Coppola Collection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cy_Hungerford

Hungerford worked for the Wheeling (West VA) Register before becoming editorial cartoonist for the Pittsburgh Sun for fifteen years from 1912. He joined the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1927 and stayed there until his retirement in 1977.

The club labeled “modern war” reinforces the brutal regression to primitive violence. The implication is that Hitler’s actions are not just regressive but actively dismantling the progress of human civilization.

This framing aligns closely to when Hitler’s early military successes were mounting and fears of a Nazi-dominated Europe were peaking, particularly when put in the context of the fall of France, a representation of high culture and civilization.

Editorials across the globe described it as a civilizational crisis, using language about “barbarism” triumphing over “progress.”