A Unique Collection
Gerald Wiens received his first book of political cartoons as a Christmas gift from his parents when he was twelve. Now he owns three hundred of them!
In the summer of 1966 Gerald became fascinated with his Uncle Walter’s books of political cartoons. His parents noticed his interest and bought him a book of political cartoons for Christmas in 1968 and for many subsequent Christmases. During his teen years, checking out the political cartoons in the daily paper became routine for Gerald.
In 1973 Gerald purchased his first personal book of political cartoons, a Doonesbury volume by Garry Trudeau. His more deliberate collecting habit began in the 1990s when he started scouring bookstores and book sales for vintage books of cartoons. His oldest book dates to 1935 and is a compilation of cartoons by Arch Dale about Canada’s Prime Minister at the time, R. B. Bennett.
Gerald says some of the favourite books in his collection are the annual compilations of Canadian cartoons. These anthologies called Portfoolios (not portfolios) offer a great overview of what has happened in Canada in a given year.
Gerald appreciates political cartoons because they provide you with a kind of snapshot view of a certain event or idea with both words and a visual image. Gerald says each cartoon has a message. He may not always agree with the message, but a cartoon can help him understand different points of view.
Gerald had a long career working for Revenue Canada in Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and Edmonton. Reading and thinking about his political cartoon collection sometimes helped him escape from the pressures of work. Now that he is retired, Gerald volunteers at CMU, helping international students with their tax returns.
Gerald’s collection is unique. He has not met anyone else who collects books of political cartoons. He loves reading history books and biographies and says political cartoons dovetail nicely with those reading interests because they often encapsulate a historical event or someone’s life.
Gerald’s political cartoon books are shelved at home by author and country, but he admits he needs to winnow his collection and is looking for homes in libraries for some of his volumes.
Gerald began attending Bethel regularly six years ago when he retired and moved back to Winnipeg from Edmonton. He was baptized and joined our church in 2019. You can usually find Gerald in the church library chatting about books on Sunday morning. He also volunteers at the church for Winnipeg Harvest. He’d be happy to talk with you about his political cartoon collection. Ask him about it the next time you see him.
This article was written by the Bethel Storyteller MaryLou Driedger. Contact her at maryloudriedger@gmail.com if you have an idea for a similar story about a Bethel member, would like to submit a story, or would like MaryLou to help you write one.
