You never know who will show up at the office, hat in hand—and you never know what will show up on eBay. I. Klein's original cartoon art, recently sold at the auction site, is a study in contrasts: darks and lights, young and old, middle class and poor, hope and despair, commerce and religion, educated professionals and one still working at it. The eBay seller, noting the words "New Yorker" written on the back, is careful not to overstate the case for it being a published cartoon from that magazine. But the case is made anyway by the letter R at the top right of the image, signifying New Yorker editor Harold Ross's approval. Even better, the cartoon dates from 1925, the New Yorker's tumultuous first year.
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"Will you buy a copy, Mum, it will help me work my way thru college, Mum."
I. Klein
Original art
The New Yorker, October 10, 1925, page 14
Published as "Will you buy a copy, Mum? It will help me work my way through college." |
Klein's signature is drawn, almost constructed, rather than signed.
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| I. Klein's signature |
The details are incredible. The sheet in the typewriter bears the letterhead of James J. Jam, possibly with the title General Editor, or maybe not. The letter is dated "New York June '25," which may be when Klein intended the cartoon to be published. (It ran in October.) The letter is addressed to Mr. James Smith of Burbank Ave. in Newark, N.J., another James, less imaginatively named, and paired with a fictitious address. The keyboard is not quite QWERTY—only the A and the Z are close to where they belong—and is not big enough anyway to hold all the letters of the alphabet.
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| Detail of typewriter |
The salesman appears disheveled and defeated. His clothing is tatty. There is some levity, though, in the magazine cover.
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| Detail of salesman |
The secretaries, on the other hand, have fashionable hairstyles and clothing well-suited to the modern office of 1925.
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| Detail |
The handwritten caption is a run-on sentence which doesn't gain anything from the repetition of "Mum." Yet it didn't take much work to fix it.
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| Caption |
Some notations can be trusted. This is from the "New Yorker" indeed. Klein has included his address.
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| Verso |
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I. Klein
eBay Listing Ended March 30, 2020
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I. Klein
eBay Item Description |
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"Will you buy a copy, Mum, it will help me work my way thru college, Mum."
I. Klein
Original art
The New Yorker, October 10, 1925, page 14
Published as "Will you buy a copy, Mum? It will help me work my way through college." |
I. Klein's Lower East Side home (or studio) at 169 E. Broadway still stands today. Apartments are above the 169 Bar which was known during Prohibition as the "Bloody Bucket."
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169 E. Broadway today
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Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:
I. Klein
Harold Ross
Original New Yorker Cartoon Art
Attempted Bloggery's Collegial Index
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