Peter Arno: The Whoops Sisters in Need of Mothballs

An eBay seller in El Paso has listed an original drawing of the Whoops Sisters by New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno. The sisters are so named because at least one of them invariably says "Whoops!" in the captions during their dialogue. In this drawing and others, they wear muffs to warm their hands. Here moths fly out of one of the sister's muffs, no doubt resulting in a raucous back-and-forth.The drawing is framed, but there is no matte.

A two-speaker caption is clearly intended, but none is provided on the art. The back of the drawing might contain a helpful notation, but that has not been shown to us. 

In the listing's title, the seller states that this was published in Whoops Dearie! (a 1927 novel ghostwritten by Philip Wylie, according to Arno's biographer Michael Maslin). A quick glance shows that this drawing is certainly not in that volume. Besides, the proportions are all wrong for a book page.

Peter Arno's signature

So where might it have been published? Was it published at all?

There was a Whoops Sisters comic strip syndicated by King Features, but the art here is shaded and not executed in linear comic strip format.

Judging from the elongated proportions, the drawing is likely meant to fill most of a column in The New Yorker. One may date it c. 1926-1927. It does not seem to have been published in the magazine, though.

In summary, then, we have an original Peter Arno Whoops Sisters drawing apparently missing its caption and with a doubtful publication history. The price is $1999.99, or best offer.

Peter Arno
eBay listing accessed May 28, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/365547484149?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20250324084645%26meid%3Db89a28491d414063b165abc863066fbe%26pid%3D101959%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26itm%3D365547484149%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DRecentlyViewedItemsV2WithMLRPboosterAndUpdatedFeatures_BP&_trksid=p4375194.c101959.m146925&_trkparms=parentrq%3A19dcb5701970a62e2b65507cffffcd12%7Cpageci%3A50fa6bf5-3c34-11f0-bbfa-0af78e789258%7Ciid%3A1%7Cvlpname%3Avlp_homepage

Peter Arno
eBay item description

Like so many things on eBay, the work is priced to be discounted:

Let's examine a published Whoops Sisters drawing from the same period for the sake of comparison:

The eBay drawing with the moths seems less interesting graphically.

With cartoons by Barbara Shermund and Peter Arno

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1926-11-20/flipbook/028/

* * *

Back in 1926, it was not unusual that both facing pages could have cartoons with two speakers. It is Arno himself who later would be generally credited with changing that.

"Women like you, Geoff."
"Say, did you notice that, too?"
Barbara Shermund
The New Yorker, November 20, 1926, p. 28

September 15, 2025 Update:  Price cut for all.

Note:  Anyhow, if this Whoops Sisters drawing by Peter Arno was indeed published and some observant reader knows where and when, please let me know.

Whoops! I forgot to remind readers that almost all original Arno art is worthy of posting on this blog. Please send me some good images if, with any luck, the art isn't moth-eaten.

Further reading: "The Peter Arno Cartoons That Helped Rescue The New Yorker" by Michael Maslin.

Time magazine reviews Whoops Dearie!

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