While there are countless commentaries on political and social happenings in the press every day, not all of those prose pieces are very eye-catching. A block of text isn’t exactly what you would call dynamic. In recent years, Americans have started flocking to online sources for their news. Loaded with pictures and videos, online news vendors are winning a battle against the previously dominant printed press in terms of viewers or readers. This wasn’t always the case. While text held sway in decades past, one visual the printed press has relied since the earliest days of this country continues to this day – the editorial cartoon, otherwise known as the political cartoon.

Editorial cartoons contain political or socially-relevant messages, usually involving current events and/or personalities. Traditionally found on most newspapers’ editorial sections, many cartoonists have recently found worldwide audiences online. Many utilize clever metaphors and caricatures to portray political current events, summing up oftentimes complex events with satirical or poignant images.

Hake’s Americana & Collectibles is offering a diverse selection of original editorial art covering a range of topics and public figures including World War I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, the Cold War, Nikita Khruschev, Fidel Castro, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Vietnam, Martin Luther King Jr. and Civil Rights. Some artists of note include Happy Hooligan creator Frederick Opper and noted cartoonist Rube Goldberg. For more information of Hake’s original editorial art offerings, click here. To browse though the more than 1,000 items being offered by Hake’s in their newest auction, visit www.hakes.com.

The auction is now online and closes September 10, 2009.