Filed Under: "maritime"

Tempera on paper, ca. 1960 (one-quarter of 8.5″ x 7″ work)

Jim Flora passed away in 1998, one year after the TV debut of SOUTH PARK. We don’t know if he ever watched it. Yet there is incontrovertible evidence that Flora telepathically transmitted artistic ideas to series creators Matt and Trey. Exhibit A: In the New York Times, March 15, 1959, Flora depicted the stork delivering a litter of South Park denizens: Forty years later, the above figures would have reproduced in sufficient quantities to populate…

This three-tiered illustration appeared in the January 25, 1955, issue of Look magazine, accompanying an article by Fletcher Knebel entitled “The Welfare State is Here to Stay.” It reappears in our new book, The Curiously Sinister Art of Jim Flora. The Nanny State storyline caught the attention of our friend, economics blogger (and Floraficionado) Donald Luskin, who asked permission to post it at poorandstupid.com. The original illustration has not been found, and most likely wasn’t…