Attempted Bloggery: J. C. Duffy: Bar Bookshelf

Cartoonist J. C. Duffy's original New Yorker cartoon of July 1, 2002 depicts a bartender pouring a drink and making conversation with a patron. The caption is a play on words. The original sold in April for $245 on eBay.

The gag raises two questions we don't usually entertain here: 1) Why don't the magazine's editors buy more punning cartoons, and 2) Why does original art from such punning cartoons fail to inspire serious bidding wars at auction?

These questions are, of course, a bit disingenuous. Puns are looked down upon by some but they still have their place, even in the hallowed pages of The New Yorker. The magazine is not elitist, although it is sometimes portrayed as such, and it is not above using so-called "low" forms of humor. Puns involve clever wordplay and there's absolutely nothing shameful about that.

As for the failure of such cartoons to launch frenzied bidding wars, that might have little to do with the presence or absence of puns. All manner of original cartoons these days go unappreciated by the art market, which collectively must be far more elitist than any editors of The New Yorker ever were. It defies logic that cartoons remain such an incredibly popular feature of the magazine, yet so few readers seem interested in purchasing the originals. Why is that?

And what could be the remedy for such apparent reader apathy? If only there were some soft spoken personality with, let's say, a blog who would promote the public's interest in New Yorker art! That might really be a game changer, no? Well, apparently not.