Frederick B. Opper - Hubert Hardluck - 1920 Freeneasy Film Co. Political Cartoon - Price Gouging

Frederick Opper (1857-1937), the creator of Happy Hooligan, had a long career as a magazine and newspaper cartoonist. Opper's work started off with a supple pen & ink style, much in the vein of the Puck and Judge cartoons, of which he was a regular contributor. By the late 1910s, Opper started working in a clunkier, chunkier, Bigfoot style that I really prefer. The pen line was scratchy, and the figures moved as if they were made of organic blocks, and it's the stuff I love. The particular political cartoon, presented as a "Lively News Reel", deals with post-WWI price-gouging, and the ineffectiveness of the politicians and police.

The caption along the bottom reads: "On his way home our friend Hubert Hardluck is chased by two notorious hold-up men. There are plenty of cops around but they are hard of hearing and have poor eye sight... To be continued."

I found that this piece appeared int he November 27, 1920 edition of Hearst's San Francisco Examiner, along with a number of other Hubert Hardluck cartoons by Opper.