Pletcher, Eldon

Eldon Pletcher (1922- ) is an American cartoonist best known for his editorial cartoons.

Eldon Pletcher was born in Goshen, Indiana on September 10, 1922 and while in high school, submitted his cartoons to contests. Pletcher studied at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts for a year under cartoonist Vaughn Shoemaker before serving in World War II with the Combat Engineers Battalion. While in the military, Pletcher drew gag cartoons that he submitted to Yank . He also studied at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and the John Herron Art School in Indianapolis. After getting married, Pletcher moved to Kansas City, Missouri where he worked construction jobs and at an automobile manufacturing plant.

In 1949, Pletcher became the editorial cartoonist for the Sioux City Journal, replacing Roy Justus. Pletcher left Sioux City in 1966 and in December of that year, began drawing cartoons for the New Orleans Times Picayune following Keith Temple's retirement. During the 1970s, Pletcher created First the Good News, a panel cartoon distributed by Rothco Cartoons.

Pletcher was a member of the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists. The Freedoms Foundation honored Pletcher with over a dozen awards, and in 1955, Pletcher won the Christopher Award. Pletcher’s cartoons have appeared in the Best Editorial Cartoons of the Year series and magazines including Time . His work is in the permanent collections of the Harry Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson presidential libraries.

Pletcher retired from the Times Picayune in August 1984.

From the guide to the Eldon Pletcher Papers, 1951-1966, 1959-1965, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)