Roy Carless fonds [graphic material, textual record]

Record Information – Brief
1
Roy Carless fonds [graphic material, textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1967-2008.

Reference:

R9359-0-4-E

Type of material:

Art, Textual material, Photographs

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

192826

Context of this record:

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Roy Carless fonds
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Record Information – Details

Fonds includes:

978 lower level description(s)
View lower level description(s)

Date(s):

1967-2008.

Bilingual equivalent:

Click here

Place of creation:

Ontario

Extent:

1587 drawings : pen and ink with developer on self-toning paper.
0.04 m. of textual records.
1 drawing : reproduction.
3 calendars with 36 drawings : reproduction.
4 photographs : col.
3 photographs : b&w.
1 certificate with 1 drawing : reproduction.

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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Fonds comprises original editorial works by Roy Carless, dating 1967-2008. The majority of the works deal with issues relating to union workers in Canada. Many of the cartoons were syndicated to union papers across the country, primarily to that of the United Steelworkers. Subjects of interest include: wage and price controls, back-to-work legislation, inflation, food prices, budgets, recessions, the economy, the falling dollar, oil prices, unemployment rates, government cut-backs, Constitutional debates, railroad policy and the crow rate, farming, and the auto industry.

Politicians of note include Joe Clark, Jean Chrétien, Bill Davis, Robert Kaplan, Marc Lalonde, Otto Lang, Donald Macdonald, Flora MacDonald, Brian Mulroney, John Munro, Jean-Luc Pepin, David Peterson, Robert Stanfield, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, John Turner, and Michael Wilson.

An accrual in 2009 added cartoons relating to the governments of Paul Martin, Stéphane Dion and Stephen Harper. Most contemporary issues include the Gomery Inquiry, the Iraq War, Canada-U.S. relations, environmental concerns, dollar devaluation, health care and the auto industry.

Also donated were two personal typescript letters to roy Carless - one from Tommy Douglas dated July 10th, 1968 and a second one from Premier William Davis, dated April 6th, 1976.

An accrual in 2018 added new original cartoons created for different union publications. Also included was correspondence from cartoonist Duncan Macpherson and photographs from the presentation of a cartoon print to René Lévesque.

Provenance:

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Carless, Roy, 1920-2009

Additional name(s):

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Artist: Carless, Roy, 1920-2009

Biography/Administrative history:

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Carless, Roy, 1920-2009 : Roy Carless (1920-2009) was born in York County, Ontario in 1920. He attended Runnymede Collegiate in Toronto and it was here, at the age of 14, that his work was first published in the school newspaper. His father was an athlete and Chief of Police in former municipality of Swansea, Ontario, west of Toronto's High Park. Carless said his first drawing instruction came from an architectural student who, courting Roy's older sister, needed to keep the youngster occupied with something else. Carless had no formal training in art or cartooning but was inspired and mentored by Duncan Macpherson, an editorial cartoonist for the Toronto Star, who nominated Carless to membership in the Association of American Editorial Cartoonists in 1971. Roy was the first labour and union cartoonist to be accepted by the organization into its ranks. Carless lived most of his adult life in Hamilton, Ontario, working for 35 years at the Camco appliance plant where he was chief steward for his union. His work was published in the Hamilton Spectator and after finding success in drawings published in the United Electrical Workers union magazine, Carless began drawing for many other trade union magazines. For close to 40 years Carless promoted workers' rights and championed the underdog in his cartoons. In 2006, the Roy Carless Collection was published in a work titled "Not Bad for an Old Bastard." Carless work has found its way into Presidential libraries and university collections and his work has been exhibited at venues that include the Art Gallery of Ontario, the International Salon of Cartoons in Montreal, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Hamilton, the Hamilton Public Library, the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, the National Headquarters of the Canadian Labour Council and shows in the cities of Quebec, Paris, Boston, Washington, and the Vatican. Carless January 2, 2009, in Hamilton, Ontario.

Finding aid:

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(Electronic) (90: Open)

Additional information:

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Location of originals note:

Note that the two textual items have been stored with the cartoons in Volume 26.

Accruals:

Further accruals are not expected.

Source:

Private

Related control no.:

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118-080327-2
120-080017-6
1974-046 PIC
1987-042 PIC
1991-037 DAP
1992-472 DAP
2002-00484-6
2009-00735-2
2018-00378-X
90-302
91-428
Ordering and Viewing Options

Conditions of access:

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Graphic (art)

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R9359] 25--32

[Consultation 90 Open]

25 Item no. assigned by LAC 2

[Consultation 90 Open]

26 Item no. assigned by LAC 25--175

[Consultation 90 Open]

27 Item no. assigned by LAC 176--350

[Consultation 90 Open]

28 Item no. assigned by LAC 351--475

[Consultation 90 Open]

29 Item no. assigned by LAC 476--629

[Consultation 90 Open]

30 File number 1

[Consultation 90 Open]

Item no. assigned by LAC [R9359] 1--24

[Consultation 90 Open]

Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R9359]

[Consultation 90 Open]

26;

[Consultation 90 Open]

31;

[Consultation 90 Open]

Graphic (photo)

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [R9359] 31--32

[Consultation 90 Open]

Terms of use:

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Credit: Library and Archives Canada; Copyright mixed: Material created by Carless in some accessions are copyright estate of Roy Carless until 2059, copyright for other material has been assigned to Library and Archives Canada.

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Date modified:: 2023-11-30

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Roy Carless fonds [graphic material, textual record]

Roy Carless fonds [graphic material, textual record]