Cartoonists’ Exchange of Pleasant Hill, Ohio

One of the businesses contacting my almost seventeen-year-old father in the fall of 1937 was the Cartoonists’ Exchange of Pleasant Hill, Ohio.

The Cartoonists’ Exchange was not a traditional school. It was a correspondence course, part of a larger movement in early 20th century America that brought education directly into people’s homes. At a time when college was not accessible to many, especially during the years of the Depression, these programs offered something different: a chance to learn a skill and to reach beyond one’s immediate surroundings.  

Founded in the mid-1930s by cartoonist David Rand, the Cartoonists’ Exchange taught aspiring artists how to draw cartoons entirely by mail.

Students enrolled in a structured program, and by many accounts, this program was one of the more comprehensive programs of its kind. From its small base in Pleasant Hill, OH, the Cartoonists’ Exchange operated for decades, reaching students across the country.

For a young man in 1937, living in Martinsburg, WV, this was an invitation. I do not know how exactly my father first heard about the Cartoonists’ Exchange, whether it was a small advertisement in a magazine, a clipping he mailed in, or a suggestion from someone who saw his interest in drawing. But I do know he had to take the first step. Somewhere along the way he quietly asked for more information.

This company remained active well into the mid-20th century. The Cartoonists’ Exchange eventually faded, like many correspondence schools of its era, as education changed and new opportunities replaced mail order dreams.