Otto Soglow: A British-American Trade Agreement

An original seven-panel cartoon by Otto Soglow was sold on eBay in May. Trade agreements seldom provide much grist for the humor mill, although for all we know today's headlines might prove an exception. During World War II, it seems, Soglow presented us with the signing of a British-American trade agreement, though which one is not specified. His gag requires the knowledge that B.A.W.T.H. was the British Air War Training Headquarters, a piece of history difficult to verify today even with the guiding hand of Google. Could this obscure acronym have been common knowledge eighty years ago? Whatever the case, the eBay seller's earnest explication of this cartoon is quite plausible although his assertion that it was published in The New Yorker in 1944 is not.

Otto Soglow
eBay listing ended May 14, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/177012260137?_skw=signed+Yorker&itmmeta=01JYQG3M8GW96MJG3KA03D2EZT&hash=item2936c0bd29:g:gNcAAOSwl8pn~CC2&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1dacfyyeeR7QgIau3bXrixl1mxRRTybaTtv2HTUuzglCy4hB%2BPYy4oIrXbC7h1b8xqHyt4Pl2hH4D

VKj7vhypDsnwG2Ypd7B%2FHUMm8uG5ggKSYQE%2FozpKaUbkXCkQ9QmgnoR%2FbzTZWrC1VknrbphSioR6MGvMwkpcqlNM9wxpzcQkp83LgOC%2BAjOQ8CSi0WaOw6Vo6Jnk%2Bfj3bF36XCSSApQoTTNuwUQjsscG8VCgjdd0Y1OvUh0hvV8SiIgokvwO8%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR7jEjvD1ZQ

The seller's interpretation of the Soglow cartoon is as good as one could hope for. But it is preceded by "Original Art drawn for an article in The New Yorker magazine for a story relating to WWII." That's not how it worked. This wasn't a story illustration but a stand-alone cartoon with very likely no relation to whatever text it appeared next to in whatever magazine it may have been. There is also a very specific seller note: "Original Artwork for New Yorker Magazine used once for printing then retained by the artist." Anything's possible.

Otto Soglow
eBay item description

Note:  At any rate, this drawing by the prolific Otto Soglow almost certainly was published somewhere. Anyone in the know should get in touch so we can set the record straight.

05018

Margaret McElderry's Copy First Encounters by the Sorels

Man about town David From Manhattan has created an informative piece about a book personalized by illustrator Edward Sorel to a leading children's book editor. David writes:

First Encounters: A Book of Memorable Meetings (1994), written by Nancy Caldwell Sorel and illustrated by her husband Edward, was inspired by a Vanity Fair feature from the 1930s, "Impossible Interviews," that was illustrated with caricatures by Miguel Covarrubias. "First Encounters" became a popular feature of The Atlantic, which six times a year described and pictured actual first encounters between real people that allowed Mr. Sorel "to experiment," as he put it, with different mediums each time an encounter appeared, thus showing off the full scope of his art. After a 14-year run, Sorel's publisher, Alfred Knopf, was quite happy to enlist printers in Italy and produce a lavish volume in time for Christmas.

One of the recipients of this book, most likely during the holidays, was the legendary children's book editor, Margaret McElderry (1912-2011) whose copy of First Encounters is warmly inscribed: "For Margaret McElderry/ Who published my first children's book/ With affection/ Edward Sorel."

Mr. Sorel was still a few years from publishing two children's books, Johnny on the Spot (1998) and The Saturday Kid (2000), under the auspices of McElderry Books at Simon & Schuster, so what exactly was he referring to with his thank-you? We need to go back to 1958, and King Carlo of Capri, a children's story based on "Riquet with the Tuft of Hair," a 17th century tale by Charles Perrault, retold and reworked by Warren Miller (the writer, not the cartoonist), and illustrated by Sorel, who also came up with the catchier title.

Most important, it was actually his very first book, period, published at Harcourt, Brace & Co., with a children's book department headed by none other than Margaret McElderry. Sorel had not forgotten.

Still, in the spirit of not forgetting, I can't quite leave the subject of children's literature and first books without mentioning one more volume of Sorel's: The Zillionaire's Daughter (1989).

His second children's story, it was his first as sole author and illustrator, with a contract that gave him free reign. Published by Warner Juvenile Books, it's a witty, 22-page story set entirely in rhymed verse, and well-illustrated with watercolors, right down to the striking endpapers.

The story of a wealthy Frenchman, Max Maximillion, who brings his daughter Claire on a trip to America, it was also a great excuse for Sorel to share his love of Art Deco, visit the 1939 World's Fair, and spend quality time on an ocean liner Max owned and, with no knowledge of today's billionaires & oligarchs, presciently named the S.S. Gigantic.

Note:  Thanks a zillion to David From Manhattan for providing us with this post, words and pictures, as only he can. This is his seventieth contribution to Attempted Bloggery, so it doesn't qualify as a first encounter.

Edward Sorel is a fabulous illustrator who has been creating top-notch art for decades. Collectors who would like to share their Sorel originals here virtually are encouraged to submit what they have.

05017

A Copy of Mickey Détective Signed by Walt Disney

French bookseller Librairie Le Feu Follet of Paris offers a first edition of Mickey Détective—the title no doubt has an online translation—that was signed by Walt Disney himself. It is priced at $5,569.89 plus $35.27 shipping.

Walt Disney
AbeBooks listing accessed July 28, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed-first-edition/Mickey-D%C3%A9tective-Walt-DISNEY-Hachette/32253475377/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook

The price in US dollars seems fairly random, but in euros it is also unconventional.

Walt Disney
AbeBooks item description

05016

My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #953

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #953 from the issue of July 28, 2025, a lion pays a visit to a dentist's office and the dentist has something to say about it. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Mark Thompson.

"My dental assistant was here when you came in."

These captions missed their check-ups, or at least their marks:

"Maybe not quite so wide."
"I'd prefer to use gas."

August 10, 2025 Update:  The Finalists

August 16, 2025 Update:  I voted for the caption from Rocklin, if I remembered to vote at all.

August 18, 2025 Update:  The Winner

 05015

My Entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for the Summer Double Issue 2025

Moment magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest for the Summer 2025 double issue shows two robots at home in a futuristic setting. One reads a copy of Moment magazine. The other speaks. My entries are shown below. The drawing is by that technological whiz, Benjamin Schwartz.

"The captions are so much funnier in binary."
"How close are we to peace in the Middle East?"
"What is their stand on bot mitzvahs?"
"It's because of readers like you that we're going to lose the tree."
"Jews and captioners open it from the right."

A particularly intriguing caption turned up among the entries:

September 14, 2025 Update:  The Finalists

05014

Bill and Audrey's Copy of The New Yorker Book of Dog Cartoons

Did I mention that Bill and Audrey were, apparently, friends with New Yorker cartoonist George Booth?

Mike Witte

after Rea Irvin

"To Bill and Audrey!
George Booth."

Title page

Beware! Skittish Dog
George Booth

"Mongrels have it up here."
William Steig

Le Bon Chien
Roz Chast

"First then: the bulk of my estate, excepting certain specific bequest as hereinafter noted, I leave to my true friend and companion, one of God's noblest creatures . . . "
Peter Arno

"Hey, the tide has turned!"
Al Ross

George Booth
eBay listing accessed July 22, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/297485891678?_skw=yorker&itmmeta=01K0TKEDQ00Q9689F5Z1CWJC6J&hash=item45438a785e:g:5C8AAeSwP65ofqQ7

George Booth
eBay item description

Sold!

Note:  Readers who are lucky enough to possess books thus embellished by George Booth are encouraged to share images of them here.

05013

Law 'n Order at Last: W. B. Park Proposed New Yorker Cover Art

W. B. Park's art was never featured on the cover of The New Yorker magazine, but that doesn't mean he didn't try to get it there. My guess is that Park's illustration titled Law 'n Order at Last was a proposal for a New Yorker cover. One big clue is the dark green steel girder running down the left-hand border of the artwork, the strap that The New Yorker famously uses on pretty much all its covers since the very first one. The illustration shows a big city that has been transformed into a police state, with apartment buildings that are now cell blocks.

SWAT teams, FBI agents, the bomb squad, and police are all out in force. The uppermost road sign says No Left Turn. Get it?

W. B. Park's signature and handwritten title

That Cell Block awning address reads suspiciously like a date:  November 30, 2007.

Impassive faces may be seen behind the window bars. Park meant to convey something serious.

Verso

W. B. Park
eBay listing ended April 30, 2025

https://www.ebay.com/itm/204871104589?_skw=%22W.+B.+Park%22&itmmeta=01K0ZSKEHQ7DCGV58XAV93GNDW&hash=item2fb344f84d:g:Py4AAOSwstZmh24h&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA0FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cbv3d1QpCBg9aXZ%2BilIIv7uimYuNKYTP6LBvNgUcUpfmPwDWDdSxBXyR%2FLLkWQFe9

hkKdj0356zTJmbEgLSaY1liAsZhqa5pLXcOuRZkpYPQUz%2BWYdLo%2BVU%2FF8BYoq4YAoVLqeBq4FUXbXyq9D408IRbxIUvZtZtJNATNVxtj5F6WYzchRdqy2SqBn4hMdkX2OyAGTZReEXmlRlFG3t1CM7Tgpvf5C9oSbHWuT6iu93dC%2FzlhHHet7K2ALPc0XS30%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_rozfmHZg

W. B. Park
eBay eBay item description

Note:  I do love to speculate, but I would never claim to know it all. If this artwork by W. B. Park was indeed published, I wish to hear form readers who can identify the where and when, or else the means, motive, and opportunity.

05012