Online Auction Features Wartime Political Cartoons

Two treasure troves of political cartoons owned by a Palm Harbor man are set to go on the auction block. 

The first collection to be auctioned includes 130 cartoons from World War I and World War II. They were collected by Charles L. Howard, who wrote to many of the cartoonists asking for artwork, so many pieces in the collection are signed. Howard's grandson, Charles Lowell Howard Martin, of Palm Harbor, is selling the collection with the help of Hess Fine Auctions in St. Petersburg. The online auction for the cartoons will begin Sept. 6 at liveauctioneers.com.

Another 220 political cartoons will be auctioned on Oct. 18, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Included in the second auction are cartoons by Thomas Nast, who is considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon" according to Wikipedia. Nast created the Republican Party's elephant symbol, the Democrat Party's donkey symbol and the modern version of Santa Claus, according to a biography published on Ohio State University's website.

"This collection could have been sold at Sotheby's or Christie's (auction houses in New York), but fortunately it landed in good ol' St. Petersburg," Jeffrey Hess, owner of Hess Fine Auctions told the Tampa Bay Times.

Prices for Nast pieces could fetch up to $3,000, while works from lesser-known cartoonists could bring $50 to $100 the Tampa Bay Times reported.

• See the cartoons in the first collection
• Hess Fine Auctions