Ben Wicks: Trick or Treat?

A cartoon from 1963 serves to remind us of the importance of staying safe on Halloween. Dick Buchanan submitted this scan to Attempted Bloggery. He writes that "Ben Wicks was a Canadian and celebrated there for many worthy projects. He was a regular in the Post during the 1960's."

"Trick or treat?"
Ben Wicks
The Saturday Evening Post, November 2, 1963

Scan by Dick Buchanan

The supposed threat of violence perpetrated by trick-or-treaters on which this gag hangs might strike some today as not very fertile ground for humor. It seems unlikely though that the Post's editors gave this any serious thought at the time. This issue is dated just a few short weeks before Americans were to be reminded of our collective vulnerability by the assassination of President Kennedy. Would a gag cartoon such as this have been selected for publication immediately after that horrific event? Perhaps not.

Note:  This is the first appearance of cartoonist Ben Wicks on this blog. 

I want to thank Dick Buchanan for once again coming through with a timely and beautiful scan from the celebrated Dick Buchanan Cartoon Clip Files. Dick contributes regularly to Mike Lynch Cartoons, most recently a post entitled "From the Dick Buchanan Files: Color Gag Cartoons 1947 - 1957." You'd better go and have a look.

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eBay 101: Here is New York by E. B. White

When selling a book on eBay, the item description should correspond to the book. An eBay auction from August offered a copy of E. B. White's Here is New York while mistakenly describing a signed first edition of Jim Bishop's The Day Kennedy Was Shot. This is clearly an example of the confusion that can occur when one seller has multiple listings on eBay.

Here is New York (1949) by E. B. White with Insert of "A Report by Clifton Fadiman"

eBay Item Description is for The Day Kennedy Was Shot by Jim Bishop

http://www.ebay.com/itm/E-B-White-Here-Is-New-York-1949-HC-Hardcover-DJ-BOMC-with-insert-New-Yorker-/371716391927?hash=item568c0603f7%3Ag%3AZvEAAOSwdzVXulmH&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Here is New York (1949) by E. B. White with Insert of "A Report by Clifton Fadiman"

Note:  This is the first mention of writers Jim Bishop and Clifton Fadiman on the old blog.

Attempted Bloggery's quick links:

eBay 101

E. B. White

John F. Kennedy

New York City

Attempted Bloggery's Collegiate  Index

02022

An Invitation to the J.F.K. Inauguration

You say you didn't receive your invitation to the Presidential Inauguration? That's funny, neither did I. Still, it's good to know you can buy these things, at least after the fact. For example, here's one invitation to the 1961 Inauguration of John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his Vice President Lyndon Baines Johnson. (How did those two ever get together on the same ticket?) It's a nice invitation, though it seems to have some discoloration along the upper edge. It's available from John McInnis Auctioneers in their February 17 presidential auction.

Invitation to the 1961 Presidential Inauguration
John McInness Auctioneers
February 17, 2013

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/15299054_1961-jan-20-jfk-inauguration-invitation

Invitation to the 1961 Presidential Inauguration
John McInness Auctioneers
February 17, 2013http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/15299054_1961-jan-20-jfk-inauguration-invitation

February 18, 2013 Update:  Sold for $3,200.

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