Three Cartoons by Al Ross: A Lunch Counter, a Library, and a Hammock

Three examples of original cartoon art by Al Ross came up for auction at Heritage on February 18. The cartoon settings are a full lunch counter, a full library, and a full hammock.

The opening bid of $1 had been placed by February 16 when I first visited the sale. Perhaps there might have been more activity if Heritage had not confused the New Yorker cartoonist with illustrator Al Rossi. Or perhaps not.

Al Ross
Heritage Auctions listing accessed February 16, 2028, one or two days before the sale

The works sold at a good price—for the internet buyer:

Al Ross
Heritage Auctions result of February 18, 2026

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-illustration-art/pulp-pulp-like-digests-and-paperback-art/al-rossi-magazine-single-panel-gag-cartoon-illustration-original-art-group-of-3-c-1980s-total-3-original-art-/a/322607-48302.s?ic2=mybidspage-lotlinks-12202013&tab=MyBids-101116#

Al Ross
Heritage Auctions item description

The lunch counter drawing is the earliest of this trio. It was published in 1000 Jokes in May of 1954, if the notation is accurate. Today, it goes without saying, this type of gag would be shunned for its body shaming. Nevertheless, Ross has given his older women expressions which are priceless.

"Right here, Eddie, they won't dare have any dessert!"
Al Ross
1000 Jokes, May 1954 [?]

The hammock drawing was published in 1988 in The New Yorker—except for a small segment on the extreme left.

Al Ross
The New Yorker, June 27, 1988, p. 70

Al Ross
Original art
The New Yorker, June 27, 1988, p. 70

With a cartoon by Al Ross

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1988-06-27/flipbook/070/

Finally, the library drawing was published, I am told, in Books, Books, Books: A Hilarious Collection of Literary Cartoons. The 1988 collection was edited by Sam Gross and Jim Charlton.

"You know who's beginning to annoy me? Homer!"
Al Ross
Original book art
Books, Books, Books: A Hilarious Collection of Literary Cartoons, edited by S. Gross and Jim Charlton, Harper & Row, 1988

05207

Charles Saxon: Deck Chairs

A Charles Saxon drawing known as Deck Chairs looks for all the world like a cartoon missing its caption. The setting is the shaded deck of a cruise ship. Passengers are wearing coats and some are reclining on deck chairs under heavy blankets. The woman second from the left is speaking to another woman next to her, turning away from a man who is, possibly, her husband. An attentive member of the crew is standing in the background.

Deck Chairs
Charles Saxon

The framed drawing was exhibited at a show called Artists of The New Yorker in February of 2000 at Davis & Langdale Company, Inc., but that does not necessarily mean the drawing ever appeared in the magazine, only that the artist did. It was number 48 on the art gallery checklist (not here provided) but no caption is noted on the frame backing, only the title. It was later sold at Doyle New York on May 12, 2020, part of the collection of Patricia and Donald Oresman, for $343, and on eBay on October 25, 2021, not all that long after, for $240.

Charles Saxon's signature

Charles Saxon
eBay listing ended October 25, 2021

https://www.ebay.com/itm/403036049513?hash=item5dd6d21069%3Ag%3A58cAAOSwXKNhAxfY&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Charles Saxon
eBay item description

If I may be permitted to present my auction chronology in reverse, here is the earlier Doyle New York sale:

Charles Saxon
Doyle New York Paintings & Drawings Online, May 12, 2020

https://doyle.com/auctions/20dn01-paintings-drawings-online/catalogue/57-charles-saxon

Now Saxon had a five-page cartoon spread—just imagine such a thing today—called "Caribbean Cruise" in the New Yorker issue of January 23, 1960, but this drawing seems to be somewhat later. It is less inky than the 1960 drawings and relies more on Conté crayon for its atmospheric effect.

After almost five years of pondering this image and hoping to miraculously come across it in print with a humorous if understated caption, I've decided to let my readers have a go at it. Where then might this Charles Saxon drawing have been published and with what printed caption? There is no prize for a correct answer, but you are always free to treat yourself to a little celebratory cruise.

05209

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #979

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #979 from the issue of February 16 & 23, 2026, a family goes on an outing in a car that is lifted by balloons. The woman who is in the front passenger seat speaks. The drawing is by Farley Katz.

"Go back down. We forgot party favors."

These captions wouldn't float:

"That settles it. No more party stores."
"All the gas stations have the wrong kind of air."
"So we can't move without wind?"
"Great, but we still have no place to park."
"The kids want to try some of the helium."
"I told you the balloons were for the kids."
"Why should we play The 5th Dimension?"
"Finally, we can't hear the neighbors."

05208

My Entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for Winter 2026

Moment magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest for the Winter 2026 issue anticipates spring. One elderly, Orthodox man's shtreimel has a bird's nest up top and a younger man wearing a similar hat comments. According to the good folks at Wikipedia, a shtreimel "is a fur hat worn by some Ashkenazi Jewish men, mainly members of Hasidic Judaism, on Shabbat and Jewish holidays and other festive occasions." The drawing is by cartoonist Benjamin Schwartz, a keen observer of people, hats, and nature. My captions appear below.

"Shmuel, your shtreimel shows it to be shpring."
"Humane, yes, but it doesn't count as a mitzvah."
"Where can I get some feygl for MY shtreimel, Feivel?"
"We never use the hat check but if we do we leave a tip."

A mitzvah is a commandment, but commonly it's used to mean a good deed. Feygl, in Yiddish, are birds. No Orthodox man would ever check his hat. What was I thinking?

05207

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland Illustrated by Arthur Rackham, No. 496/1130

Peter Harrington Antiquarian Bookseller  of London offers a rare copy of the 1907 edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, illustrated by Arthur Rackham. It is copy no. 496 of the limited edition of 1130, signed by Rackham who added a small drawing of the Mad Hatter in profile.

Arthur Rackham
AbeBooks listing accessed February 20, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Alices-Adventures-Wonderland-RACKHAM-Arthur-illus/32394452246/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

https://wise.com/us/currency-converter/usd-to-gbp-rate

05206

Jean-Michel Folon's L'artiste With an Original Drawing

Bookseller Pascal Coudert of Paris offers a copy of L'artiste (F.I.D.H., 1991) with text by Raymond Devos and illustrations by Jean-Michel Folon. Folon has added a very simple original drawing of an artist's hand in multicolored pencil. What a beautiful copy of the book!

Jean-Michel Folon
AbeBooks listing accessed February 19, 2026

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Artiste-DESSIN-SIGN%C3%A9-DRAWING-HANDSIGNED-Artist/32393084979/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

Jean-Michel Folon
AbeBooks item description

05205

Sam Cobean: A Golf Shot

A work of original New Yorker art by Sam Cobean was sold yesterday at Heritage Auctions:

Sam Cobean
Original art
The New Yorker, June 11, 1949, p. 20

A word about golf rules might be helpful here. Tree roots are a part of the golf course so if one's golf ball lands there, one plays it as it lies. In golf terms, there is no free relief.

On February 16, the presale bidding stood at $575, or $718.75 with the buyer's premium.

This is a very strong Cobean cartoon and a good golf cartoon to boot. The market bid it up accordingly. The lot was sold to an internet bidder for twice what the price had been on the 16th.

Sam Cobean
Heritage Auctions listing of February 18, 2026

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/illustrations/sam-cobean-the-new-yorker-single-panel-gag-cartoon-illustration-original-art-conde-nast-publ-1952-/a/322607-48051.s?ic4=GalleryView-ShortDescription-071515#

Sam Cobean
Heritage Auctions item description

Heritage erroneously gives the date of the cartoon's publication in The New Yorker as June 7, 1952. This is off by some three years. A Leslie Starke cartoon in the same Heritage sale appeared in that issue instead. Whoops.

Cobean's golf drawing in reproduction looks very much like his original art.

Sam Cobean
The New Yorker, June 11, 1949, p. 20

Sam Cobean
Original art
The New Yorker, June 11, 1949, p. 20

With cartoons by Sam Cobean and Alan Dunn

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1949-06-11/flipbook/020/

* * *

On the page opposite, The New Yorker has placed a drawing with much shading to balance out Cobean's lines. Alan Dunn has some fun showing us an unforeseen attitude toward labor among one of the elite in Communist Russia—one who is permitted to travel abroad.

"What a deal out there, what a deal! Houseboys! Coolies! Anything
you want, just snap your fingers."
Alan Dunn
The New Yorker, June 11, 1949, p. 21

Note:  Sam Cobean's art doesn't get seen on this blog nearly enough, so readers who would like to share their hidden Cobean treasures here should, well, play it as it lies.

05204

John Held, Jr.: Map of New York Night Clubs

In the Prohibition Era, researching John Held, Jr.'s, Map of New York Night Clubs must have been a labor of love. The map, we are told, resulted "from actual survey by and under the direction of Lip Stick." The New Yorker's nightlife reporter Lois Long, who wrote under the name Lipstick, therefore must greatly have assisted Held in this endeavor. She was married to New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno—no stranger himself to the speakeasy scene—from 1927 to 1931, the latter being the year in which this Manhattan map appeared in The Works of John Held, Jr.

https://oldmapgallery.com/products/nyc-ny-john-held-jrs-map-of-new-york-night-clubs

The above image is from the Old Map Gallery, which dates it c. 1930 and does not have a copy for sale. There is a copy on eBay which has been removed from Held's 1931 book.

John Held, Jr.
eBay listing accessed February 16, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/296676830498?_skw=john+held+jr+Manhattan&itmmeta=01KHMQAY09T5W3CVTJXMPS0TCM&hash=item4513512d22:g:jAsAAOSwl-Fm2z44&itmprp=enc%3AAQALAAAA0GfYFPkwiKCW4ZNSs2u11xCbv2SXqTeqY%2Brwr%2FRAZ%2BHsSjtM2RJQ7x6%2F20atiH560vAn5i1SNQq6UJ0fGz8m%2Fh7j%2FQoZAtIOdVFteCzXrCWDiEzloWKCbhvlAy4T0Wme1lQGL2IRG4GUx8ZrbjPCPjLgP6mz4MiUkxXreYOn10BiiVO35fPXxfGuvfQOsz6skglK9GoL02VBj0LAk4OzBlhzvaR252DhBAkywYiLmr08br727w4yVAWJuPnV88VNe5Z84mTENVdGWoIoGe3eEH8%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6jgq5eNZw

John Held, Jr.
eBay item description

05203