Attempted Bloggery: February 2024

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

Mischa Richter: Not Spoiled

Four original 1950s comic panels from the syndicated strip Strictly Richter were sold on eBay early in December. Of course, they are the work of Mischa Richter, today best remembered for his New Yorker cartoons. The panels convey the artist's range and versatility.

"I told him that I'm not really spoiled, I just want my own way!"
Mischa Richter
Original comic panel art
Strictly Richter, October 22, 1958

"He put me on everything he took you off of, dear.""
Mischa Richter
Original comic panel art
Strictly Richter, January 6, 1955

"What flavor?"
Mischa Richter
Original comic panel art
Strictly Richter, November 14, 1955

"Take a good look. This will probably never happen again.""
Mischa Richter
Original comic panel art
Strictly Richter, September 10, 1956

Mischa Richter
eBay listing ended December 6, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/355163873807?itmmeta=01HQMB2Z4KBZZ7S3JM0S085BP1&hash=item52b16aa20f:g:PA4AAOSw9aNlRkN9&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwG5JA6AQPo6SL09f4QLWjWU42ShtnDAU5WPA2I932nn5RJG%2F7en76tcDuGgLNcWp0EG6nmi0Tn8I1qbLT9%2FsufqfbotoHR7

PAeafaBAOzzYHK6jPkxxBFUvkKTY8SqFo7%2FEOkgR9qMUVCLr7kaW%2FwKc%2F2rmdKOXgrOL2mJd6EDfCDNLzHGZCcgAtUjK%2FClaM45JmoDDkUDkdVTYpnnmxsYHuPR%2BXI5Saq64m1XIscHl2j6qqZhlz0XFyDhaYcrFcHw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6zyi4u9Yw

Mischa Richter
eBay item description

Mischa Richter
eBay bid history
As I never get tired of saying, the latest bid gets it

04596

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

Barbara Shermund: Flirting at Sea

Let's begin with two very different captions appended to the same 1926 New Yorker cartoon by Barbara Shermund. The drawing is set on the deck of an ocean liner where a young flapper is flirting with a member of the crew. Here are the two captions, presented in alphabetical order. Which of these is the better caption?

"I suppose you seafaring men just love the ocean"

"Oh, I don't know. It's changed so lately."

Or:

"Now tell me all about the engines!"

That first one is the somewhat cumbersome two-speaker type of caption that predominated American cartoons at the time of The New Yorker's founding in 1925. It's essentially two lines of dialogue where the first serves as the setup and the second is the punch line. The second caption is the more modern single-speaker caption that was just starting to come into its own. It was soon to be championed by Peter Arno and eventually every cartoonist at this magazine and others.

Both of these distinct captions are authentic period creations. The curious thing is that the shorter, punchier caption is Shermund's own, handwritten on her original drawing. The longer, more antiquated, and somewhat stilted caption somehow replaced it between the drawing's submission and its publication in The New Yorker. Who wrote it and why was it deemed superior to the artist's original caption? What was the editorial reasoning here? Ninety-eight years have passed. It's likely we'll never know.

"Now tell me all about the engines!"
Published as "I suppose you seafaring men just love the ocean"
"Oh, I don't know. It's changed so lately."
Barbara Shermund
Original art
The New Yorker, August 28, 1926, page 21

The original art was sold on eBay just last month.

Detail of the two speakers

Barbara Shermund's signature

Detail with another couple

"Now tell me all about the engines!"

Detail of the seafaring man with a big neck

Detail of the flapper

The publication date

Rush

Barbara Shermund
eBay listing ended January 19, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/155557268082?itmmeta=01HQMAJFK3XGTQDR0KVBEH7VMF&hash=item2437ef8a72:g:RT8AAOSw0zVkY6dv&itmprp=enc%3AAQAIAAAAwLDPUPQFgXaRbkWBObdAZYcF1moxJhmFEiyocwpsVXLR9FDsBjAMoi2uEieVr1xMK21QEOVJoKN7%2B0ly555TsMp%

2B2nLgHw84GQ4C1ZCNu2ayDHjAEBj0VFJnhjcQ06tbooQhq8S6mGtIppNGob5yZ9d9OXTU9vNURWxv62nVo5lEXW7iqsyphL40H7Hj2hb0U6cshVVOvuxBw6dfZMYiyD0yPDgWfUItmluwOYlU%2BilczReYsnCVKpd8lSYVG4vMJw%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8z5yYq9Yw

Barbara Shermund
eBay item description

"I suppose you seafaring men just love the ocean"

"Oh, I don't know. It's changed so lately."

Barbara Shermund

The New Yorker, August 28, 1926, page 21

Cartoons by Eldon Kelley and Barbara Shermund

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1926-08-28/flipbook/020/

* * *

Eldon Kelley's cartoon on the page opposite Shermund's is another plodding example of the two-speaker gag. It would work just as well or better with only the artist's response. That's what a century of hidsight will tell you.

Old Man: What d'you call that, young woman?
Artist: That's Love in Spring! What did ya think it was?
Eldon Kelley
The New Yorker, August 28, 1926, page 20

March 8, 2025 Update: Today's Ink Spill by Michael Maslin reports that Barbara Shermund's drawing was reused in the magazine as a spot illustration four years later. This is a rare and possibly unique example of the repurposing of a drawing in The New Yorker.

04595

Monday, February 26, 2024

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #886

Life's a beach for some of us, as we see in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #886 from the issue of February 26, 2024. My caption is shown below. The drawing is by Liza Donnelly.

"Get your own damn ketchup."

Here are four variations on a theme, and I rejected all of them in favor of a condiment:

"Why can't my life also be a beach?"
"Why does only your life get to be a beach?"
"How come only you get to live your best life?"
"And what if I want to live my best life?"

March 9, 2024 Update: The Finalists

March 15, 2024 Update: I voted for the caption from Palo Alto.

March 24, 2024 Update: The Winner

04594

Sunday, February 25, 2024

Barbara Shermund: All Politics is Local

The third and final lot of original Barbara Shermund color cartoon art from the collection of Angela Gross Folk was published on a full page in Esquire's January 1948 issue. The work was sold on February 22 in Lincoln Park for a hammer price of $700, the high estimate. Amusingly, the auction house misread the caption as "400 mean little men, a senate investigation."

"You mean little me? A senate investigation?"
Barbara Shermund
Original cartoon art
Esquire, January 1948, p. 73

Detail

Barbara Shermund's signature

Handwritten caption: "You mean little me? A senate investigation?"

Verso

Received by Esquire, Inc., on July 30, 1947 and paid on July 30, 1947

"Pg. 81," but actually published on page 73

Barbara Shermund
Willow Auction House listing ended February 22, 2024

https://willowauctionhouse.hibid.com/lot/185191944/barbara-shermund-esquire-cartoon?ref=catalog

Barbara Shermund
Willow Auction House listing ended February 22, 2024
"400 mean little men . . ."

"You mean little me? A senate investigation?"
Esquire, January 1948, p. 73

https://www.ebay.com/itm/314254546015

"You mean little me? A senate investigation?"
Barbara Shermund
Original cartoon art
Esquire, January 1948, p. 73

https://classic.esquire.com/article/1948/1/1/you-mean-little-me-a-senate-investigation

04593

Saturday, February 24, 2024

Barbara Shermund: Going Along With a Gag

Lot 271 was the second lot of Barbara Shermund original cartoon art to be offered on February 22 at Willow Auction House. Like the previous lot, it is a panel from Shermund's Sallies in Pictorial Review and it comes from the Angela Gross Folk collection. Shermund's 1951 composition gives us a glimpse of the new postwar suburban prosperity. The home is elegantly furnished, the garden is well landscaped, and the couple is fashionably dressed. But there's still a place for some good, old-fashioned sarcasm.

"Mother says she can go along with a gag, and she sends in her best too."
Barbara Shermund
Original cartoon art
Shermund's Sallies
Pictorial Review, July 25, 1951