1943.09.24 “Behind the Scenes at War”
by William (Will) Breuninger Johnstone (1881-1944)
11 x 23 in., ink on art board
Coppola Collection
Johnstone was an American writer, cartoonist, and lyricist. His writing credits include the Marx Brothers's Broadway revue “I'll Say She Is” and, with S.J. Perelman, their first two Hollywood films, “Monkey Business” and “Horse Feathers.” He also wrote several popular songs, including a version of "How Dry I Am", a part of which plagiarizes Rudyard Kipling's "Mandalay."
He was featured in the New York World-Telegram (nee The New York World), drawing a comic strip based on the news of the day. He developed a famous character of an impoverished taxpayer wearing a barrel held up only by suspenders. Although his focus lay on writing, he made several war cartoons during WW2.
Allied airborne units had seen intense action in the invasions of Sicily (July 1943) and were now preparing for future campaigns in France.
Stanley Switlik’s Trenton, NJ plant was a premiere supplier of the critical wartime parachute, and the first facility selected to receive an Army‑Navy “E” Award in 1942, in recognition of its dramatic scale-up and quality in wartime output. They received a total of 5 of these awards by war’s end.
Switlik, the company's founder, sold his patents to the government for $1, allowing other manufacturers to use his designs, which became the standard parachutes for the military.
Johnstone likely visited or was given access as part of press outreach tied to the E Award recognition or celebrating women’s labor in war production. That would explain the prominent credit to Lt. Col. Schueth and the cooperation of the Switliks in the drawing. The cartoon was then gifted to Schueth.
“Behind the Scenes at War” reads as affectionate propaganda, and features a contemporary perspective on the work of women in home front manufacturing… even if the humor is still horrendously sexist.
