If you want to cartoon a pirate, use an eye patch, parrot on shoulder, peg leg, long hair, ear ring, etc. If you want to cartoon a doctor, use a stethoscope and white coat. If you want to cartoon a cook, use a white tall mushroom shaped hat on a large man, short pointed mustache. A cartoon tries to capture the essence of things. A house, tree, car or even people can be drawn with a few lines.
Props are things used to help tell a story or set a scene.
These can be drawn with an outline to vaguely suggest their presence. A cartoon may use exaggerations, stereotypes and essences of many emotions or feeling to create stories, communicate ideas, create humor, or make a point. They are an effective means of communication. They say that they became popular, not on their art, but on their story content. So when you are cartooning, let yourself go.