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The Advertising Artwork of Dr. Seuss

Before there was Cat in the Hat and other ultra popular tales, Dr. Seuss a.k.a Theodore Seuss Geisel, survived the Great Depression creating advertising illustrations. Although he worked for some of the biggest corporate clients such as General Electric or Standard Oil, he still managed to infuse every ad with his imaginative and quirky style. The Mandeville Special Collections Library at University of Califronia San Diego has a great collection of his advertising work. Who would have thought such mundane products like car oil could be so entertaining?

Link: The Advertising Artwork of Dr. Seuss.

Before Theodore Seuss Geisel found fame as a children’s book author, the primary outlet for his creative efforts was magazines. His first steady job after he left Oxford was as a cartoonist for Judge, a New York City publication. In 1927 one of these cartoons opened the way to a more profitable career, as well as greater public exposure, as an advertising illustrator. This fortuitous cartoon depicts a medieval knight in his bed, facing a dragon who had invaded his room, and lamenting, “Darn it all, another dragon. And just after I’d sprayed the whole castle with Flit” (a well-known brand of bug spray).

According to an anecdote in Judith and Neil Morgan’s book Dr. Seuss and Mr. Geisel (Random House, 1995), the wife of the ad executive who handled the Standard Oil company’s account saw the cartoon. At her urging, her husband hired the artist, thereby inaugurating a 17-year campaign of ads whose recurring plea, “Quick, Henry, the Flit!,” became a common catchphrase. These ads, along with those for several other companies, supported the Geisels throughout the Great Depression and the nascent period of his writing career.