Illustrator E. Simms Campbell's humorous map of the 1939 New York World's Fair is painted in watercolor, whereas his more famous A Night-Club Map of Harlem from 1932 was done in ink and wash. The World's Fair map pokes gentle fun at the Fair's indulgence in modern art, dancing showgirls, drinking, and homages to the city's speakeasies and jazz clubs. Grover Whalen, New York's familiar official greeter and the president of the New York World Fair Corporation, is mentioned by figures on the map three separate times. On the lower left, there is a gag about Sally Rand, a fan dancer who famously appeared at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair where she was arrested four times in one day for indecent exposure. She did not perform at the New York Fair.
A tweet with photos from AmericanLit@Beinecke announced the acquisition of the original art by Yale's Beinecke Library, where it joins Campbell's A Night-Club Map of Harlem (1932). Yale students, your tuition is being put to good use.
Attempted Bloggery continues to explore the work of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). This blog requests that readers provide scans or photographs of original Campbell art—illustrations, cartoons, maps, advertisements—or of rarely-seen published works.
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| E. Simms Cambell New York World's Fair 1939 Original art |
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| E. Simms Campbell Swann Galleries Sale 2465, Illustration Art, December 14, 2017, Lot 244 Hammer Price |
Where was this 1939 World's Fair map of Campbell's published? Swann Galleries doesn't speculate, but it was very likely in Esquire, possibly with a gatefold image by Campbell of Esky, the Esquire mascot he himself created, visiting the World's Fairgrounds in Flushing Meadows. Esky, wearing sport jacket and roller skates, is accompanied by a half dozen of Campbell's soon-to-be-named Cuties, each in swimsuits and also on roller-skates. Perhaps the Fair was too vast to explore on foot alone. Each of the women represent a number of states and tower over the diminutive Esky. The curtain is pulled back to reveal the Trylon and Perisphere, twin symbols of the 1939 fair.
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| E. Simms Campbell 1939 New York World's Fair gatefold Esquire |
A tweet with photos from AmericanLit@Beinecke announced the acquisition of the original art by Yale's Beinecke Library, where it joins Campbell's A Night-Club Map of Harlem (1932). Yale students, your tuition is being put to good use.
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| E. Simms Cambell New York World's Fair 1939 Original art |
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| E. Simms Cambell New York World's Fair 1939 Original art detail |
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| E. Simms Cambell New York World's Fair 1939 Original art detail |
Note: So when and where was this map published? Was it indeed in Esquire? If you know, please speak up.
Attempted Bloggery continues to explore the work of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). This blog requests that readers provide scans or photographs of original Campbell art—illustrations, cartoons, maps, advertisements—or of rarely-seen published works.
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