Sight Unseen: Palookaville No. 21 With an Original Drawing by Seth

A copy of Palookaville No. 21 offered by Hourglass Books caught my eye on line. Priced at $50 with AbeBooks, it offered the promise of an original drawing by Seth, albeit of a hat and a lit cigarette. I like Seth's graphic work almost as much as I dislike cigarettes. On hats, I'm personally indifferent, but I admire those men who can project a personal sense of style to the world. The hat and cigarette, I readily surmised, were a stand-in for Seth himself. There was no image of the drawing, alas, but I took the plunge and bought it anyway—sight unseen.

As much as I like Seth's graphic novels, I can't say I've ever read Palookaville. It is, give or take, an annual forum presenting the artist's work in progress. This one was published in October 2013. From the two gentlemen on the cover, this book evidently contains some material from Clyde Fans. The bookseller confirms this.

Seth
AbeBooks listing

Seth
AbeBooks listing ended June 15, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Palookaville-%2321-Seth-Drawn-Quarterly-Montreal/14768924842/bd

Seth
AbeBooks item description

So, you may well ask, how did it go? Well, the bookseller searched high and low for this one, he wrote me, but he was unable to locate it. Perhaps he sold it previously and lost track of it. He was as nice as could be, refunding my money for this book as well as for another book by Seth, George Sprott (1894-1975), that I ordered and that he did indeed have on hand, although perhaps in imperceptibly lesser condition than advertised. So, no complaints on my end, except that I can't show you the drawing in Palookaville No. 21 as I proudly add the book to my library. When I started this post, I didn't intend for it to end so anticlimactically, but that is sometimes the nature of these Sight Unseen musings. Perhaps I'll have something better to show off when that copy of George Sprott arrives . . . any day now.  

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My EntryMy Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #997

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #997 from the double issue of July 6 & 13, 2026, a subway train in an outdoor station bends upwards and out of view. A man wearing a baseball cap speaks to a woman on the platform, indicating the train with his thumb. My submission is shown below. The drawing is by Olivia Noble. Her work is new to the caption contest and the blog.

"That's not our train. It's for the upwardly mobile."

These captions were on the wrong track:

"It's the uptown express."
"It's the latest from SpaceX."
"Metal fatigue."

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License Plate for Keeping On the Weight?

Okay, that's certainly not what this tag is all about, but it's my post title and, like rice, I'm sticking to it.

"XTRARICE"
New York state license plate

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Barbara Shermund: Of Another Stripe

By the Christmas season of 1942, the United States was a full year into the Second World War. Like other cartoonists, Barbara Shermund had adapted her subject matter to meet the moment. Her color cartoon for the December issue of Esquire, for example, has both the holiday season and the war for its setting.

The gag is tame by today's standards, but Shermund's adventuresome young woman still manages to scandalize the staid sales clerk. The original art was sold on eBay in May.

"Do you have any with sergeant's stripes on them?"
Barbara Shermund
Original art
Esquire, December 1942, p. 47

Shermund nicely contrasts the flatness of the pajamas with the roundness of the woman's figure. Compare the sales clerk's big, awkward hands with her petite, gloved ones.  

The fur coat befits the season while establishing her as a woman of means. Note the very different stripes on the pajamas and on the fur.

The salesman reacts with surprise to the woman's request, but his expression isn't overdone.

Pajamas are $4.95—not exactly cheap back then. Perhaps there will be a January white sale.
They are making eye contact.

She has donned makeup and jewelry for her outing.

And, of course, she wears heels as any fashionable woman would.

Barbara Shermund's signature

The December issue drawing received its OK on October 16, 1942.

"Sergeant stripes" became "sergeant's stripes" in print—an improvement.

And let's assume that stamped E is for Esquire.

Barbara Shermund
eBay listing ended May 9, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/137294137303?

Barbara Shermund
eBay item description

Shermund's original works sold in rapid succession.

"Do you have any with sergeant's stripes on them?"
Barbara Shermund
Esquire, December 1942, p. 47

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334479935671

"Do you have any with sergeant's stripes on them?"
Barbara Shermund
Original art
Esquire, December 1942, p. 47

 "Do you have any with sergeant's stripes on them?"
Barbara Shermund
Esquire, December 1942, p. 47

https://classic.esquire.com/article/1942/12/1/do-you-have-any-with-sergeants-stripes-on-them

Note:  Readers can earn their stripes by submitteing orignal art by Barbara Shermund to the blog. 

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Ronald Searle: L'Apéritif

Yesterday in Monaco at L’Hôtel des Ventes de Monte-Carlo (HVMC), an ink and watercolor depiction of two cats seated at outdoor tables was sold at auction. The artist is Ronald Searle (1920-2011).

L'Apéritif (1974)
Ronald Searle

The cats, female and male, are seated at separate tables. The female cat is as yet unaware of the male cat's attention. On the right we see a rare instance in which Searle dressed one of his male cats in trousers and oxfords. The pants have no top and seem to be an organic part of the cat's crossed legs. The female cat is also endowed with recognizably human legs. They are shapely and end in high heels, not unlike the legs of Searle's Catahari or The Big Show. Most remarkably, though, Searle vividly endowed his cats with distinctive human personalities.

Catahari

Ronald Searle

https://www.flickr.com/photos/queenieandthedew/6580611779/in/photostream/

The Big Show
Ronald Searle

http://flickr.com/photos/queenieandthedew/6580591963

For those who couldn't be there in person, lots from the Monte Carlo sale were listed on the Invaluable website.

Ronald Searle
Invaluable listing accessed July 7, 2026

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/ronald-searle-1920-2011-128-c-374b288f0a?objectID=205007728&algIndex=upcoming_lots_lotNumber_asc_prod&queryID=82d6a89f27f85dac7e0e706e280387eb

Bidding started at 1,000 Euros with an estimate of 1,000 to 1,500 Euros. The buyer's premium was 33%. There were other fees as well.

Ronald Searle
Invaluable item description

Searle's 1974 watercolor L'Apéritif was published as a postcard in 1977. Here's an example of both printed sides, as found on eBay:

L'Apéritif was later included in Ronald Searle's Big Fat Cat Book (1982). No home should be without a copy.

The present work is from the collection of Yanou Collart, the well-connected publicist and actress. Or, as the auction house writes even more intriguingly, "Femme d'amour et femme d'affaires." 

https://www.hvmc.com/news-detail/32/yanou-collart-femme-d-amour-et-femme

Any friend of Sean Connery's is a friend of mine.

The lot was sold for the opening bid of 1,000 Euros:

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