An early cartoon original by Peter Arno was sold by Clarke Auction Gallery of Larchmont in 2020.
"Now remember, you promised!" Peter Arno Original art
Arno imbues the rescue scene with all the bawdy innuendo he can muster. That fireman is surely brave, but he is no match for the mature, stout, playful, woman descending the ladder in her nightgown.
"Now remember, you promised!" Peter Arno Framed original art
Alas, there is some surface loss to the original.
Conveniently, the caption has been written on the back.
The back of the frame
The caption
Peter Arno Clarke Auction Gallery listing of April 26, 2020
In a 1939 New Yorker cartoon, Peter Arno's firefighter bids farewell to a befuddled homeowner:
"Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring." Peter Arno Original art The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18
The cartoon reads left to right, foreground to background. The firefighter is the most prominent and the most illuminated figure. He is leaving the scene, but he leans back into the cartoon panel with a raised arm. You can't miss him. The poor, portly homeowner in his robe is seen next seemingly trying to lean back out of the frame. There is no place for him to go. The smoldering ruins of the home are behind him. The firemen have left behind great reflecting puddles of water in the middle ground. The birdcage is a fine comic detail which may or may not be noticed later. Anyone whose eyes linger over an Arno drawing can expect to be rewarded.
The original art, framed and matted, was sold yesterday at Heritage Auctions. It was the useful practice of Barbara Nicholls of the Nicholls Gallery in the 1970s and 1980s to write the caption on the matte in a calligraphic hand. No doubt Irvin Greif, Jr., purchased the artwork from her. Her ink has faded over the years more than Arno's.
"Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring." Peter Arno Framed original art The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18
On the back of the artwork, The New Yorker's founding editor Harold Ross approved the drawing with his customary R.
Verso with Ross's R
Bidding opened at $1,250 some three weeks before the sale with no reserve. The first bid appeared quickly, proof, if any were needed, that Arno's star continues to shine bright in the firmament of New Yorker cartoonists.
Peter Arno Heritage Auctions Mainstream Illustration listing of February 6, 2026
Peter Arno Heritage Auctions Mainstream Illustration item description
The work sold for $5,000 plus a 25% buyer's premium of $1,250. In other words, the final buyer's premium was the same as the amount of the opening bid.
Here's how it appeared in the magazine:
"Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring." Peter Arno The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18
"Well, if you ever need us again just give us a ring." Peter Arno Original art The New Yorker, June 17, 1939, p. 18
With a cartoon by Peter Arno and a spot drawing by Victor de Pauw
In the CartoonStock Caption Contest number 202, a creature I take to be Bigfoot is giving a statement to the news media. He is the speaker. The cartoonist is Bill Whitehead.
The rules of the monthly cash prize contest have not changed: Five dollars buys up to three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $235 into the first forty-seven pay-to-play contests and this forty-eighth challenge brings my total cash outlay up to $240. Having achieved runner-up status with three previous entries, I've collected $300 from CartoonStock, so I'm playing with the house's money, thank you very much. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds may generally be considered favorable even for less-gifted caption writers. My three entries this round are shown below, above the break.
"I don't know my shoe size. Why?" "If you want to see more of me, I'm on OnlyFans." "I ask that you leave Nessie and me alone." * * * "Is it any wonder I don't come out of the woods?" "Again, no comment."
In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #977 from the issue of February 2, 2026, a couple walking on the beach spots a fish half out of water reading a book. The woman speaks. The drawing is by P. C. Vey.
"The poor thing can't wait to evolve legs."
These captions were all washed up:
"I was looking for a good beach read." "Because otherwise the ink would run." "Why can't WE find the time to read?" "But what if they ALL read Isaac Walton?" "Isn't that cute? He's reading Kilgore Trout." "I could never manage such small type." "It's probably just some fish story."
Two illustrations from the children's book Bakery Business (1983) by cartoonist W. B. Park were sold on eBay last fall.
This eBay seller, sellallucan, quirkily likes to photograph both the left and right sides of a given original. In this case, where allowance is made for the crease between the pages, that almost makes sense.
According to Park's biography on the book jacket flap, he resided in in Winter Park, Florida. The eBay seller is today located there. Of the many magazines his work appeared in, The New Yorker is, of course, listed first, followed by Smithsonian and Fortune. Surely TV Guide would have been worth a mention here as well.
Original New Yorker art by cartoonist George Price is prized by collectors for its depiction of an assortment of characters—sometimes eccentric, often of limited means—living out their lives among the bric-a-brac they have accumulated. This sort of humor, mingling as it does personalities, settings, and objects, requires a deft touch. A drawing of his from early 1943 shows Price in great form, delivering equal parts humor and poignancy, capturing some of the true emotions experienced on the home front during World War II.
"He's homesick." George Price Original art The New Yorker, February 6, 1943, p. 19
He wrote the two-word caption at the upper left; it was to be printed underneath on the wife's side of the drawing. The economy of words among the proliferation of lines is striking. The blue coloring indicates where the Ben Day process would produce shading in the printed cartoon.
Detail with caption
The signature in black india ink remains bold, but the inscription to John, the original giftee, has faded considerably over eight decades.
"All best wishes to John — George"
One might very well ask why, on December 10, this exceptional framed and matted drawing sold at auction in Philadelphia for only $100. To be fair, the auction house Barry S. Slosberg's estimate started out low, $100 to $200, and it proved accurate. The piece, which so well reflected the mood of the country during the Great War, may not resonate so strongly with many today, although any parent should understand. Finally, the market is inefficient, and some collectors who love this kind of art may not have seen this piece come to auction. For them, they may just have to wait eighty-three more years for another chance.
George Price Barry S. Slosberg, Inc., listing of December 10, 2025
George Price Barry S. Slosberg, Inc., item description
For all its complexity, the drawing looks very clean on the printed page. Price knows how to tell a story visually: the couple seated apart but sharing the news from overseas, the photograph of the son in uniform on the wall, the peeling plaster, the hungry cat, the nailed floorboards, and . . . everything else.
"He's homesick." George Price The New Yorker, February 6, 1943, p. 19
"He's homesick." George Price Original art The New Yorker, February 6, 1943, p. 19
On the page opposite, Leonard Dove's cartoon about obtaining credit in time of war provides an interesting contrast with Price's. The shading is heavier, the setting is less surprising, and the caption is, of course, a lot wordier.
"Frankly, Mr. Courtney, it isn't only the government regulations—we like prompt payment also." Leonard Dove The New Yorker, February 6, 1943, p. 18
In one of those quirky mistakes that pop up from time to time in the database, The Complete Cartoon of The New Yorker (2004) erroneously attributes the Price cartoon to Dove as well. The confusion persists to this day in the Condé Nast Store's online listing of "He's homesick."
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