Think Dr. Seuss and immediately Cat in the Hat, Whoville and children’s bedtime stories come to mind.
But did you know he also illustrated racist cartoons? In a 1929 illustration for Judge magazine, he depicted Black people for sale with a racist sign in the image’s background. “Take home a high-grade n****r for your woodpile. Satisfaction guaranteed.”
Last week, the illustration went to auction in California at the Nate D. Sanders Fine Autographs and Memorabilia house with a minimum bid of $20,000 on Thursday, CNN reports. By the end, there hadn’t been any bids, but it could receive a post-auction bid, according to Laura Yntema, the auction manager.
The image is one part of a four-part panel drawing called “Cross-Section of the World’s Most Prosperous Department Store.”
Dr. Seuss created several offensive cartoons early in his career. Then in the late 1940s, he began to atone for his previous views producing several anti-racism illustrations and cartoons.
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