1941.08.12 "Hurry boys - I may need some real shells..."
by Ralph Lee (1906-1947)
14.7 x 23.3 in., ink on board
Coppola Collection
Ralph Lee was an editorial cartoonist for the Portland Oregonian. He died suddenly, at 41, in January 1947. His cousin, Art Bimrose, was the editorial cartoonist for the Oregonian for more than three decades. In 1937, the Oregonian hired him part-time to work on printing plates. Following Lee’s death, Bimrose was hired as the Sunday editorial cartoonist.
By August 1941, the United States was already at war by non-military means, and contemporaries openly used that language. In the preceding three weeks: Roosevelt froze Japanese assets in the US on July 26, which effectively cut off oil shipments to Japan. Britain and the Netherlands followed suit. And by early August, it was widely understood that Japan could not sustain operations long without oil. Newspapers and columnists were openly debating: “Isn’t this already war—just without shooting?” These are paper weapons—real, consequential, but indirect.
What if economic pressure provokes shooting before we’re ready? That fear was widespread. “Defense production on order” represents the lag problem; that phrasing is crucial. Massive appropriations had been approved; factories were converting; contracts were signed; but output was still months away. Policy is ahead of production.
“Hurry boys — I may need some real shells…” … acknowledges that economic/diplomatic pressure is real, warns that it may trigger real war, and urges acceleration of production.
