The 1946 Dutch Treat Show

If you were in town on November 9, 1946, you should have been at the Waldorf-Astoria Grand Ballroom for the annual Dutch Treat Show. Directed by no less a Dutch Treat Club member than George Abbott, the music included "The Dutch Treat Hymn" by Rodgers and Hammerstein. In fact, Richard Rodgers played a little piano as well.

The alternate title of the show was "What is Art?" That's always something worth pondering. The show's players were a veritable Who's Who in the world of illustration, publishing, and the performing arts. The performance included a comedy sketch by Rube Goldberg in which a young Wally Cox played someone named Stella—this was obviously classy stuff, and there were no women in the Dutch Treat Club to take the female roles anyway—and Vanity Fair's Frank Crowninshield (of the Algonquin Round Table too) played, naturally, a connoisseur. Harry Staton, manager of the Herald Tribune Syndicate, played a visitor from the newly-created United Nations.

George Abbott played in his own sketch alongside Bennett Cerf. Cartoonist Otto Soglow got to realize his dream of being an actor by cross-dressing as Gilda in a sketch by Deems Taylor. The New Yorker's Rea Irvin was one of many extras.

There was a lot more going on. Just take a look at the program. And please tip your waiter.

John E. Sheridan
The D.T. Presents the 1946 Show

"AND FINALLY—PLEASE TIP YOUR WAITER"

Note:  My thanks again go to Stephen Kroninger for scanning this program which he found inserted in one of his Dutch Treat Club yearbooks.

Memorabilia of the Dutch Treat Club makes a welcome addition to the blog. I'd love to take a look at what odd items readers have on hand.


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The Dutch Treat Club

Stephen Kroninger

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The Reconversion of Otto Soglow

The theme of the 1946 Dutch Treat Club yearbook was Reconversion or the Dutch Treat Club Gets Back to Normal: The Forty-First Anniversary of the Dutch Treat Club. The yearbook had section headings illustrated by the indefatigable Otto Soglow, each naughtily illustrating a different aspect of the postwar recovery or reconversion as it was somewhat technically termed. Stephen Kroninger has supplied Attempted Bloggery with the photos.

We begin with The Reconversion of Belles Lettres, all twenty-six of them, in no particular order;

1. The Reconversion of Belles Lettres
Otto Soglow
Reconversion or the Dutch Treat Club Gets Back to Normal:
The Forty-First Anniversary of the Dutch Treat Club, 1946

Photograph by Stephen Kroninger

Next up is The Reconversion of Art. The paper stock must have been suboptimal even in the early postwar period. You can see the unmistakeable silhouette of a Rube Goldberg drawing showing through from the other side.

2. The Reconversion of Art
Otto Soglow
Reconversion or the Dutch Treat Club Gets Back to Normal:
The Forty-First Anniversary of the Dutch Treat Club, 1946

Photograph by Stephen Kroninger

 Then there's Music. Let's play along.

3. The Reconversion of Music
Otto Soglow
Reconversion or the Dutch Treat Club Gets Back to Normal:
The Forty-First Anniversary of the Dutch Treat Club, 1946

Photograph by Stephen Kroninger

What the D.T.C. calls the Drama, we call Melodrama.

4. The Reconversion of the Drama
Otto Soglow
Reconversion or the Dutch Treat Club Gets Back to Normal:
The Forty-First Anniversary of the Dutch Treat Club, 1946

Photograph by Stephen Kroninger

 Let's not forget what it's all about:

5. The Reconversion of Sex
Otto Soglow
Reconversion or the Dutch Treat Club Gets Back to Normal:
The Forty-First Anniversary of the Dutch Treat Club, 1946

Photograph by Stephen Kroninger

It just never gets old:

6. The Reconversion of the Allied Arts
Otto Soglow
Reconversion or the Dutch Treat Club Gets Back to Normal:
The Forty-First Anniversary of the Dutch Treat Club, 1946

Photograph by Stephen Kroninger

Note:  My heartfelt thanks to Stephen Kroninger for providing these photographs from his extensive archive.

Otto Soglow created enough work to keep a blogger busy forever. Send in your scans or photographs of original Soglow art or of his obscure published work such as that appearing in College Humor or the Dutch Treat Club yearbooks. I'll get right to work on it.


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Otto Soglow

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Gregory d'Alessio: Classical Guitarist

In 1946, illustrator Gregory d'Alessio helped found the Society of the Classic Guitar. His drawing of a classical guitarist dates from that year and reflects one of the artist's passions. A veteran of magazine covers for the New Yorker and Collier's, d'Alessio was an accomplished illustrator, although he isn't very well-known today. The framed and matted drawing from the estate of painter and graphic designer Claus Hoie (1911-2007) was sold in 2010 for only $60 including the buyer's premium. For those who think original art by talented artists is unattainable, this piece is a good example of how affordable an original, heartfelt work can be.

iGavel Auctions
March 23, 2010

http://bid.igavelauctions.com/Bidding.taf?_function=detail&Auction_uid1=1733914

Note:  Attempted Bloggery is eager to publish scans or photographs of original art by Gregory d'Alessio and other New Yorker artists. Clippings of rare, published cartoons and illustrations from other publications are always eagerly welcome here.

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Gregory d'Alessio

Guitar

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Ronald Searle: Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais

Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais (1946) is a scarce book title by Ronald Searle published for the French market. It contains sixteen drawings, of which only one is reproduced in this recent eBay listing. In the immediate post-war years, Searle had hoped to establish himself as a serious artist chronicling the times. It was in humorous illustration that he was to achieve his greatest success.

Jim Vadeboncoeur, Jr. puts this period of Searle's life in context for us:

http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/searle.htm

Cover to Ronald Searle's Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais, Paris, Montbrun, 1946

Title page to Ronald Searle's Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais, Paris, Montbrun, 1946

Limitation page to Ronald Searle's Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais, Paris, Montbrun, 1946.
Exemplaire No. 490 of 650 numbered copies plus four lettered copies.

Ronald Searle, "Ballerina" from Le Nouveau Ballet Anglais, Paris, Montbrun, 1946

Hand-written copy of the book review from the Edinburgh Evening News, 

Note:  Stop me if you've heard this before. A world-class exhibition of Ronald Searle's reportage work for the American magazine market is planned for San Francisco's Cartoon Art Museum this November. The animation community has contributed brilliantly to an eBay fundraiser for the "Searle in America" show. There are still some fine items to be had here.

The Searle in America blog is dedicated to this forthcoming exhibition as well as the eBay fundraiser and can be seen here.

Of course, Perpetua, the Ronald Searle tribute blog, should be your first stop in exploring the work of this amazing cartoonist, and it's right here.

And once you're done with all that, my own Searle posts are right here. Yes indeed!

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