Charles Addams: Best Wishes to the Browns of Arizona

Arizona became a territory of the United States on February 24, 1863, and entered the Union on February 12, 1912, as the 48th state. The state bird is the cactus wren and the state flower is the saguaro cactus flower. There's no need to memorize this as all of the information is conveyed on a sticker, circa 1961, celebrating the state's coming semi-centennial in 1962 and its territorial centennial in 1963. This sticker was provided to cartoonist Charles Addams, who also came into this world in 1912, by Mr. K. H. Brown and family of Mesa when requesting a souvenir from the popular New Yorker cartoonist. Addams made good use of the sticker in a note to the Brown family on which he drew the character who was soon to be known on television as Uncle Fester of the Addams Family.

Charles Addams
RR Auction, October 2018

https://rrauction.com/PastAuctionItem/3400760

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eBay 101: Falling Upon a New Yorker Cartoon?

An eBay seller has recently listed a wash drawing with the intriguing title "Original NEW YORKER Cartoon Art 1930s." The initial Buy It Now price was a robust $2,000, albeit with a Make Offer option. The seller, toys24-7 based in Scottsdale, Arizona, has earned an eBay rating over 2700 of which 99.5% of the feedback is positive. That's impressive. So let's have a look.



The artwork, if we can call it that, depicts a girl slipping and falling in a puddle of water. The technique is sloppy and unprofessional. The grasp of anatomy is not even rudimentary. For example, both legs have an extra angulation at mid-thigh. This is more of an illustrated pratfall than a gag cartoon anyway. It is probably meant to be cute. There is no signature and no written caption, although there seems to be some deliberately-obliterated writing on the lower margin of the full sheet:

The verso, as by now one might expect, has no New Yorker markings and indeed no markings of any kind to indicate it was published anywhere. To anyone not trying to sell it, this is obviously the work of an amateur.

eBay Listing Retrieved December 19, 2018

https://www.ebay.com/itm/173698078447?ul_noapp=true

eBay Item Description

Now actively monitoring my browsing of the auction site, eBay soon wrote to tell me the item and one other similar drawing were discounted to $1,500.

But wait. Already these have been marked down to $1,250 each. Even the seller recognizes these are grossly overpriced. Alas, they will remain overpriced however much they are discounted after Christmas.

For those like toys24-7 who may never have seen a 1930s New Yorker cartoon, here's one example, and it even includes a puddle:

"Oh, don't be an ass, Herbert!"
Perry Barlow
The New Yorker, April 20, 1935, page 18

https://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1935-04-20#folio=018

I confess—I chose a good one.

So what is this eBay seller really in possession of? It certainly never appeared in the New Yorker or in any other magazine for that matter. My best guess is that it's a wash drawing done by an amateur perhaps attempting to ape the style of Grace Drayton, famous for her Campbell Soup Kids. I don't have an example of her art depicting a fall into a puddle exactly, but here's a Campbell's Kid eager for some water sport.

Grace Drayton
Campbell's Soup advertisement

http://comicsdc.blogspot.com/2018/01/touring-locs-drawn-to-purpose-exhibit.html

A 1921 ad, on the other hand, shows how she handled the subject of ice skating. (Imagine, if you will, a leisure activity taking place on a big frozen puddle.)

Grace Drayton
Campbell's Soup advertisement, 1921

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/118712140149600419/visual-search/?x=16&y=12&w=530&h=389

Grace Drayton
Campbell's Soup advertisement, 1921

https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f1/c3/82/f1c382fc9fd64a9100894ac9b00037f7.jpg

Look, sellers on eBay have the same weakness we all do. Without doing their homework, they want to believe every slapdash find of theirs is of great cultural significance and value. Naturally then at least some eBay sellers are a little too eager to conclude that whatever random drawing they have chanced upon must certainly be a lost masterpiece once published in the New Yorker.

But we know better, don't we? Of course we do.


December 30, 2018 Update:  The asking prices continue to drop.

January 1, 2019 Update:

January 5, 2019 Update:

Note: After all these years of my writing this blog, one might think it's unfair of me to go after someone for knowing less about New Yorker cartoons than I do. Unfair or not, rest assured I have no intention of letting up.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

eBay 101

Perry Barlow

Artist Unknown

Ice Skating

Advertising

Attempted Bloggery's Fallen Index

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Views of Arizona: Devil's Bridge

Devil's Bridge is the largest natural sandstone arch in Sedona. In can be reached by following the Devil's Bridge Trail. Upon arrival at the site, my feet were unable to carry me onto the the bridge. In fact, I found myself unable to move at all from the spot where I took this photo.

Devil's Bridge

Sedona, AZ

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

The Grand Canyon

Sedona

Scottsdale

Attempted Bloggery's Arch Index

 
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Views of Arizona: Lenox Crater

The signs graded the Lenox Crater trail as "strenuous." It was the easiest trail we found during our week in Arizona.

Lenox Crater

Lenox Crater

Lenox Crater

Partial revegetation of the Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

The Grand Canyon

Sedona

Scottsdale

Attempted Bloggery's Volcanic Index

02643

Views of Arizona: Wupatki Pueblo

Next stop:  Wupatki Pueblo.

Another day, another monsoon

Ball court

Preservation work on the site

Wupatki Pueblo above a ball court

Alimentary!
Wupatki Pueblo gift shop moose-themed Indian pottery

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The Grand Canyon

Sedona

Scottsdale

Attempted Bloggery's Travel-Weary Index

02642

Views of Arizona: Desert View Watchtower

Desert View is the first lookout point one encounters along the South Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park as one approaches from the east. The Watchtower, a modern construction meant to look like an ancient monument, was designed by Mary Colter.

Mary Colter's Desert View Watchtower (1932)

The steel frame

Interior

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The Grand Canyon

Sedona

Scottsdale

Attempted Bloggery's Western Index

02641

Views of Arizona: Morning in the Grand Canyon Village

Like any landscape, the Grand Canyon's appearance changes in different light, in different weather, and in different seasons, but the sheer magnitude of the vista is unlike any other. Here's what we saw on our last morning at the national monument, July 19, 2018.

Grand Canyon

Salt and pepper shakers
El Tovar

Mary Colter's Hopi House (1905)

Verkamp's

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