Showing posts with label Daniel Borinsky. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daniel Borinsky. Show all posts

Thursday, November 25, 2021

Giving Thanks 2021

Turkey Day is upon us once again. This is my special time to give thanks and to offer my help by staying out of the kitchen.
Helen E. Hokinson
The New Yorker, November 27, 1937


I have been writing posts here for more than ten years now, but it's no secret that I am not entirely on my own. In my blogging pursuit I am fortunate to be aided by a dedicated group of knowledgeable readers and contributors with incredible resources and expertise that often seem to perfectly complement what I can provide. I owe so much to each of the individuals listed below for offering their generous help to me over this past year. Friends, I thank you all:


Linda Appleby

Tom Bloom

Daniel Borinsky

Steven D. Brewer

Dick Buchanan

Scott Burns

David from Manhattan

A Friend of the Blog

Joel Jacobus

Stephen Kroninger

David Leopold

Michael Maslin

Jeff Nelson

Joe Petro III

TNBIB

Sally Williams


Note:  Labels that link to posts made possible or more complete by each of these contributors may be found below, with a couple of exceptions. The post on the Lüchow's guest book is itself too full of celebrity names to have room for any contributor labels. Tom Bloom, Joel Jacobus, and David Leopold (the latter apparently through the miracle of Twitter) provided invaluable insights. I have no room below for a label linking to the older post helped along by TNBIB, who provided a valuable update on the topic of Ludwig von Drake cufflinks. Say what you will, no other blog covers these topics.


Last but by no means least, I wish to thank my family, who makes everything worthwhile. 



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Friday, November 12, 2021

Blog Post No. 3800: Good Provider Cartoons in The New Yorker

Kudos to those hardworking individuals who can ensure that their families are well-taken care of. Daniel H. Borinsky has done his homework on the subject, rounding up the appearances of such successful wage earners in New Yorker cartoons through the years. He notes specifically that over the course of three decades, from 1952 to 1982, The New Yorker published at least six cartoons where a woman referred to her spouse as a "good provider." How then did New Yorker cartoonists handle this lucrative subject?

"One thing I'll say for him—he's always been a good provider."
Charles Addams
The New Yorker, February 23, 1952, page 25

Unfortunately, cannibalistic African tribes were a common cartoon trope at least into the 1950s. Still, Charles Addams manages to give the notion of the good provider his own macabre twist.

"I'll say this for Harry. He's a good provider, he
doesn't run around, and he's never struck me except in self-defense."
George Price
The New Yorker, March 14, 1953, page 26


Fooled you! The caption on the George Price cartoon doesn't quite end up where you thought it was going, does it?

"I'll say this for him—he's a good provider."
Robert Day
The New Yorker, November 20, 1965, page 47


Robert Day provides a native variation on the theme.

"Ed's always been a good provider."
George Price
The New Yorker, September 15, 1980, page 45


George Price again. This time around it is not the caption, which is straightforward, but the drawing that totally subverts our expectations.

"Not the easiest man in the kingdom to live with,
needless to say, but a damned good provider."
Edward Frascino
The New Yorker, May 17, 1982, page 40


Edward Frascino adds a memorable royal personality to the theme as well as some opulence not present in the previous examples.

"I must say, Nelson, you've always been a good provider."
Barney Tobey
The New Yorker, June 25, 1984, page 30

Did somebody say opulence? Barney Tobey gives us a beautiful drawing showing us the sort of extravagant lifestyle that money can buy. The caption is thus relegated to an understatement.

So then, what's left for a cartoonist to do?
"I'll say this much for her—she's always been a good provider."
William Hamilton
The New Yorker, April 17, 1989, page 117


To conclude, Dan writes about William Hamilton's contribution to the series:


However, the seventh cartoon of this kind, in 1989, reversed the premise—this time it was the man who praised his wife as a “good provider."  The first six appearances of “good provider” were clichés about the then-general dependence of a wife on her husband’s earnings. But the reversal in 1989 was a reflection of the growing financial status of women in American society. 

 

Right you are, Dan. I would only add that our tennis-playing friend seems to be quite at ease with his role in this social upheaval.


Spot by Ludwig Bemelmans and cartoon by Charles Addams

Cartoons by George Price and Alan Dunn

Spot by Judith Shahn and cartoon by Robert Day

Spot by Henry Martin and cartoon by George Price

Cartoons by Edward Frascino and Charles Barsotti

Cartoons by Barney Tobey and Michael Crawford

Cartoon by William Hamilton


Note:  Many thanks to Daniel Borinsky for himself being a good provider of New Yorker cartoon research. This is Dan's second contribution to the blog. One hopes there will be many more.


The Attempted Bloggery Centennial Posts 💯
Blog Post No. 100
Blog Post No. 200:  A Shaggy Dog Story




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Friday, November 5, 2021

French Laundry: S. J. Perelman and Victoria Roberts

In the December 12, 1954 issue of the New York Times Magazine, Robert Trumbull's "Portrait of a Symbol Named Nehru" appeared. Trumbull was finishing up seven years as the Times's Indian correspondent. In the article, we learn that when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was a boy, his father "sent his laundry to Paris." This remarkable fact was noted by humorist S. J. Perelman, who went on to imagine the spirited correspondence that might have passed between Allahabad and Paris in a comic piece that was called "No Starch in the Dhoti, S'il Vous Plait." It appeared in The New Yorker of February 12, 1955. Here are a few lines that establish the premise:


The piece was later collected in Perelman's The Road to Miltown (1957). Today it is regarded as a classic. It is a favorite of Daniel H. Borinsky, who is well-acquainted with Perelman, The New Yorker and also with this blog. He writes to note a 1994 cartoon by Victoria Roberts with a similar theme:



I wondered whether Roberts had been aware of the Perelman article. So I posed the question to her. She graciously replied:

No, I wasn’t aware of it. In Mexico City, where I grew up, the best dry cleaner was Tintoreria Francesa. This made me think the “best” dry cleaners must be in France!



















Note:  Many thanks to Daniel Borinsky for unexpectedly pointing out today's wonderful juxtaposition of New Yorker comic prose and cartooning. This observation is his first contribution here, but it will not be his last.

Thanks also to Victoria Roberts for playing along.






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