Attempted Bloggery: Brian Davis

Showing posts with label Brian Davis. Show all posts

Saturday, June 22, 2019

Hugh Hefner's Copy of ffundamental ffolkes

The first book signed and inscribed by cartoonist Michael ffolkes (1925-1988) ever to appear on this blog comes from the library of Playboy founder and publisher Hugh Hefner. Playboy published ffolkes's work regularly. The 1985 paperback, ffundamental ffolkes, is subtitled An Autobiography. On the basis of the cover illustration, it appears to be an unusual one. Ffolkes was the pen name of Brian Davis. Perhaps inevitably, the inscription begins, "ffor Hef..."

Michael ffolkes
eBay Listing Retrieved June 21, 2019

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Michael-ffolkes-FFUNDAMENTAL-FFOLKES-An-Autobiography-Signed-1st-Edition-1985/202634714111?hash=item2f2df85bff:g:4hEAAOSwp~VccJSL

Michael ffolkes
eBay Item Description

Michael who? Compared with "Hef," the cartoonist barely registers on Google's n-gram viewer.

N-gram: Michael ffolkes and Hugh Hefner

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Saturday, March 8, 2014

Michael ffolkes: Spanking the Maid

Here's another sad example of violence against women being used as the basis for a not-very-funny cartoon. The cartoonist is Michael ffolkes, usually a favorite, and the watercolor appeared almost a half century ago in Playboy. Playboy usually claimed that it promoted a certain lifestyle, but was that lifestyle ever supposed to involve spanking the help?

Well, perhaps. Spanking the maid is such a ludicrous male fantasy that it's difficult to regard it as a serious threat to women, and it does offer a scenario with gratuitous nudity, not in itself a bad thing. There are several things that concern me here and spoil whatever fun is intended. First off, the maid is not having a good time. Her look is alarmed and perhaps a bit impassive, but she is certainly not happy. It appears, in fact, that she is being hurt and that all this is being done to her against her will.

I might have enjoyed a similar cartoon under other circumstances. I'd prefer it if there were some indication--a sly smile, perhaps--that the housemaid had engineered this punishment for herself, and that therefore it was not punishment at all. The reddened buttocks do nothing for me. Best of all might have been if the roles were reversed, and the maid were spanking the master perhaps for making a mess, but in 1973 that would never have appeared in Playboy. It's just not the Playboy lifestyle.

Michael ffolkes, "And this is for not dusting the bureau, and this is for not...."
Playboy, March 1973

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Spanking-Magazine-Cartoon-by-Michael-Ffolkes-FRENCH-MAID-BEING-SPANKED-1973-/231157155178?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35d20a456a

Note: An even more egregious example of a cartoonist attempting to find humor in domestic violence appeared here earlier today.

A couple of posts about Michael ffolkes may be seen here.

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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

Wine, Women, and Song: More from a Blogger's Birthday Wish List

If you've been hanging out here for a while, you know what I like to get on my birthday, right? Well, once again I've surprised myself with an image of a bountiful woman jumping out of a cake. I know, it isn't a real cake and for that matter it isn't a real woman, but a man can dream. I'm much more comfortable in the world of cartoon imagery anyway.

I can't imagine this sort of thing was ever commonplace entertainment, but this gag was so ubiquitous, perhaps it wasn't all that rare. Maybe it still goes on; I really wouldn't know. The film "Under Siege" (1992) suggested it does, and much of what I know about the world today comes from Steven Seagal movies. While I never in my travels expect to see a real live woman jump out of a cake, I'm still quite happy to have encountered this little surprise so often on my special day if only here on my own blog.

The lively illustration is by Michael ffolkes and it was published on the cover of Punch for the January 20-26, 1971 issue. The cheering men, thankfully, are still older than I am. For that matter, so is Steven Seagal. Thanks, I shouldn't have!

Michael ffolkes,
Punch, January 20-26, 1971

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Punch-Magazine-Jan-26-1971-Wine-Women-Song-/120797249786?pt=Magazines&hash=item1c2013c0fa&nma=true&si=VJo29%252F7WbHpl1SY9gWmnl4%252FkT80%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Note: The late Michael ffolkes merits more attention from your humble blogger. For now, I have only this to share with you, but it's a doozy!

Did I mention that today is my birthday? See everything on this blogger's birthday wish list here.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2012

A Valentine from Michael Ffolkes

Valentine's Day would seem to be the perfect opportunity to share my favorite cartoon by Michael ffolkes. I've been dipping into an awful lot of my all-time favorites with this blog. I wonder how long I can keep this up? In my admittedly old-fashioned opinion, there aren't too many cartoons of this caliber out there.