Wednesday, December 30, 2020

Mary Gibson: New Year Spoilsport

It seems odd that Mary Gibson's lively New Year's Eve cartoon for the Saturday Evening Post was published in the issue of October 31, 1953, a full two months ahead of the holiday. Still, there's no mistaking the spirited celebration or the dour mood of the husband who refuses to have anything to do with it.

"Go ahead, be a spoil-sport! Don't throw your paper streamer!"
Mary Gibson
The Saturday Evening Post, October 31, 1953

Scan by Dick Buchanan

The basic idea here of a husband unwilling to join the festivities and cheer in the New Year would be revisited two years (and two months) later by William Steig in the pages of The New Yorker. Compared with the complexity of the Gibson cartoon, Steig gives us a simpler, linear array of seated partygoers and an even grumpier husband. The caption is mercifully shorter and punchier without the burden of those unnecessary exclamation points. His cartoon is remembered to this day by cartoon cognoscenti as a classic.

"Either cheer up or take off the hat."
William Steig
The New Yorker, December 31, 1955, page 28


Cartoon by William Steig and advertisement by DuPont



Note:  Dick Buchanan has come through once again with a high-quality scan of a long-forgotten gag from his legendary cartoon clip files. Dick specializes in rescuing thousands upon thousands of vintage cartoons from obscurity. He contributes regularly to Mike Lynch Cartoons, most recently a post entitled "From the Dick Buchanan Files: Gag Cartoon Clichés Part 10 1949 - 1966." That's right, part 10, with links to parts 1 through 9! And while we're keeping score, this is Dick's 58th contribution to Attempted Bloggery. Thanks so much, Dick!


This post marks Mary Gibson's first appearance on this blog. Michael Maslin's Ink Spill reports that she had a total of eight cartoons published in The New Yorker, all between 1943 and 1950. This means that the vast majority of her work was published elsewhere. Personally, I would be interested in posting some the artist's original cartoons and published rarities.



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