Rowland Emett for the Hotel Benson

In 1962, Rowland Emett illustrated an ad for the Hotel Benson that appeared in The New  Yorker and perhaps elsewhere. "Breaking through the Benson Wall" allows one, the copy explains, to win a prestigious Hotel Benson award, and this can be achieved readily enough by finding a new way to flatter the hotel and its restaurants in print. The ad is no doubt meant tongue-in-cheek, but the hotel is vying to be considered among the very best.

Rowland Emett
Hotel Benson advertisement
The New Yorker, September 29, 1962, page 129

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1962-09-29/flipbook/128/

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Rowland Emett: High Tea

Stephen Kroninger has sent a photograph of his copy of Rowland Emett's High Tea (1950) featuring the cartoonist's work from Punch. Emett specialized in fanciful trains, but he was skilled at depicting all manner of vehicle including, as the cover shows, an automobile adapted for camping in the wild.

Note:  My thanks to collagist Stephen Kroninger for this his thirty-ninth contribution to the blog. 

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A James Thurber Letter to Mary Petty

In the summer of 1951, James Thurber was prompted to write to fellow cartoonist Mary Petty. He had been listening to the radio and heard an interview conducted by Cholly Knickerbocker (Igor Cassini) with British cartoonist Rowland Emett, who praised Petty as his "great favorite." Thurber, of course, couldn't agree more. I don't think this is mere flattery, although doubtless there's some of that. The anecdote also allows Thurber to note that he himself is in Emett's trio of favorite American cartoonists along with Saul Steinberg and Petty. Yet I think Thurber's regard for Petty is genuine—after all, whose wouldn't be?

James Thurber TLS
Alexander Historical Auctions LLC listing accessed January 23, 2021

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/JAMES-THURBER-1297-c-4584D9B98F?utm_source=alerts&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=inv_kwalert&utm_term=2

James Thurber TLS
Alexander Historical Auctions LLC item description

A previous sale nine years ago, outcome unknown:

James Thurber TLS
RR Auctions

https://www.icollector.com/James-Thurber_i12107891

Note:  Just the other day on Ink Spill, Michael Maslin wrote about James Thurber and Mary Petty. Coincidence? Read it here.

Uncollected letters from New Yorker luminaries such as James Thurber make for welcome posts here on Attempted Bloggery. Scans welcome.

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Rowland Emett's Solar Power

Rowland Emett's fuel-economy train from 1949 is an open-air affair that apparently relies on the skillful use of mirrors for solar-powered steam propulsion and the concurrent use of umbrellas to protect engineers and passengers from the blazing English sun. It scarcely resembles any train in existence, but nothing is too farfetched for Mr. Emett's imagination. Annals of a Branch Line was a series that ran in Punch. The original artwork is in "The Illustrators 2014" show at the Chris Beetles Gallery.

Rowland Emett, Annals of a Branch Line II--Example of Fuel-Economy System in Operation
Punch, June 8, 1949, page 623

Chris Beetles Gallery:  "The Illustrators 2014"

http://www.chrisbeetles.com/gallery/cartoons/annals-branch-line-no-11-example-fuel-economy-system-operation.html

Number XI from the same series:

Rowland Emett, Annals of a Branch Line XI--The evening train arrives at Smugglers' Reach
Punch, June 15, 1949, page 651

Note:  You can find a bit more herein about Punch cartoons.

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