George Booth Menu Items

Original 1979 cartoon art by George Booth, who turned 90 this week, offers a glimpse at how the artist goes about creating his unique world. The setting is an ornately-detailed greasy spoon. The two cooks, as unlike as Laurel and Hardy, are drawn to different scales with outlandish differences in height, bulk, and personality—and note, for example, the wildly exaggerated differences in arm circumference! The caption is way out of proportion too, as oversized and ungainly as the speaker. This is a frontal assault on the economy of New Yorker captions, yet the caption is as carefully crafted as any a fraction of its length. There is an air of perfectionism about many of Mr. Booth's drawings as well, with glued bits of paper used to optimize the details while unwanted ink is painted over broadly with white.

"Your Big Jumbo, Roy, is your regular Jumbo with golden French
fries and coleslaw. Your Super Jumbo is your Big Jumbo with slice
of onion, lettuce, tomato, special dressing, and pickle wedge. I've
been watching you, Roy. You're screwing up on the pickle wedge."
George Booth, Original art
The New Yorker, May 14, 1979, page 31

Caption

George Booth, The New Yorker, May 14, 1979, page 31

"Your Big Jumbo, Roy, is your regular Jumbo with golden French
fries and coleslaw. Your Super Jumbo is your Big Jumbo with slice
of onion, lettuce, tomato, special dressing, and pickle wedge. I've
been watching you, Roy. You're screwing up on the pickle wedge."
George Booth, The New Yorker, May 14, 1979, page 31

"Your Big Jumbo, Roy, is your regular Jumbo with golden French
fries and coleslaw. Your Super Jumbo is your Big Jumbo with slice
of onion, lettuce, tomato, special dressing, and pickle wedge. I've
been watching you, Roy. You're screwing up on the pickle wedge."
George Booth, Original art
The New Yorker, May 14, 1979, page 31

Note:  This artwork is in the private collection of "a New Yorker magazine brat" who graciously shared it with us. My thanks.

There is a lot more to see on this blog about the art of George Booth. There are also many examples of original New Yorker cartoon art. Explore the wonders of the art form!

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