In yesterday's post, readers may recall, I got on my high horse and very matter-of-factly stated that the copy in a 1949 Alemite ad by Peter Arno featuring a fortune-teller should read "tall, dark, and handsome" rather than just "tall, dark." At least that's what sounded right to my ear. In the light of a new day, it still does.
That's interesting in that it's very similar in both setting and wording to the Arno ad of 1949 and it treats "tall, dark man"—without the addition of "handsome"—as an established cliché. Next thing you know, the movie "Tall, Dark, and Handsome" was released on January 24, 1941, less than two weeks after the publication date of this issue of the New Yorker. That movie may well have enshrined the expression "tall, dark, and handsome" in the language for keeps.
Except that, come 1949, it didn't affect the caption, as it were, of Arno's Alemite ad. Of course, we don't even know whether Arno wrote the final copy himself. It's possible the words "and handsome" were left off deliberately to keep the ad's large-type words short and punchy. But it's also possible that Arno created the ad with Dove's cartoon in front of him, or at least in his thoughts. (It could also be that he remembered the expression as he'd heard it before 1941.) All of which might go a long way to explaining the apparent similarities between the Dove cartoon and the Arno ad, but alas it is only speculation. So that's where things will have to stand, at least for now.
Note: All right, I'll get off my high horse now. Readers are asked to submit evidence of how good-looking men were described, whether as "tall, dark" or "tall, dark, and handsome," in the 1940s and later. Opinions are welcome as well.
Sound the fanfare. This is my one-hundred thirtieth post about Peter Arno, a subject who never fails to fascinate me. Readers are invited to keep me going by submitting original Arno art, letters, published rarities, or memorabilia for discussion on the blog. Help me to get back on my high horse.
On the other hand, this is only the sixth post here to mention Leonard Dove. One could argue that I am more in need of material about him to balance things out a bit on the blog.
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Attempted Bloggery's Tall, Dark Index
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| You'll meet a tall, dark man on "A"-Day! Peter Arno Alemite advertisement The Saturday Evening Post, December 17, 1949 |
Yet I will always entertain other opinions, and what opinion could be more authoritative on this blog than that of the New Yorker editors who okayed a vintage New Yorker cartoon? Specifically it is the cartoon by Leonard Dove from the issue of January 11, 1941 that brings us into the parlor of another fortune-teller, this one reading tarot cards rather than gazing into a crystal ball:
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| "But I've already met a tall, dark man." Leonard Dove The New Yorker, January 11, 1941, page 13 |
That's interesting in that it's very similar in both setting and wording to the Arno ad of 1949 and it treats "tall, dark man"—without the addition of "handsome"—as an established cliché. Next thing you know, the movie "Tall, Dark, and Handsome" was released on January 24, 1941, less than two weeks after the publication date of this issue of the New Yorker. That movie may well have enshrined the expression "tall, dark, and handsome" in the language for keeps.
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| "Tall, Dark and Handsome" movie poster, 1941 |
Except that, come 1949, it didn't affect the caption, as it were, of Arno's Alemite ad. Of course, we don't even know whether Arno wrote the final copy himself. It's possible the words "and handsome" were left off deliberately to keep the ad's large-type words short and punchy. But it's also possible that Arno created the ad with Dove's cartoon in front of him, or at least in his thoughts. (It could also be that he remembered the expression as he'd heard it before 1941.) All of which might go a long way to explaining the apparent similarities between the Dove cartoon and the Arno ad, but alas it is only speculation. So that's where things will have to stand, at least for now.
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Cartoons by Richard Taylor and Leonard Dove
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July 3, 2020 Update: The Facebook group Vintage Panel and Gag Cartoons has proven quite useful once again. A Playboy cartoon by Erich Sokol published in February of 1972 provides further evidence for the common usage of tall dark—no comma needed, apparently, for the Playboy reader—without handsome. So now we have examples of this trope from 1941, 1949, and 1972 which agree with each other…and not with me. It is high time that I admit I was wrong.
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| "But I don't want to meet a tall dark man. How about a tall blonde woman?" Erich Sokol Playboy, February 1972
Scan by George Topham Hayes
Enhanced by Larry Miller III
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November 5, 2023 Update: A cartoon from the 1970's by Barney Tobey favors the rule of three, but it avoids the word handsome.
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| "You will meet a tall, dark, attractive Reagan man." Barney Tobey The New Yorker, December 22, 1975, p. 35 Image added November 5, 2023 |
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| Cartoons by Lee Lorenz and Barney Tobey |
Note: All right, I'll get off my high horse now. Readers are asked to submit evidence of how good-looking men were described, whether as "tall, dark" or "tall, dark, and handsome," in the 1940s and later. Opinions are welcome as well.
Sound the fanfare. This is my one-hundred thirtieth post about Peter Arno, a subject who never fails to fascinate me. Readers are invited to keep me going by submitting original Arno art, letters, published rarities, or memorabilia for discussion on the blog. Help me to get back on my high horse.
On the other hand, this is only the sixth post here to mention Leonard Dove. One could argue that I am more in need of material about him to balance things out a bit on the blog.
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