Dorothy McKay: Priorities

The original art for a full color, full page 1956 Esquire cartoon by Dorothy McKay is currently available from Honey & Wax Booksellers of Brooklyn.

"Why don't you do something, dear, besides just make money?"
Dorothy McKay
Original art
Esquire, September 1956, p. 88

McKay's frustrating cartooning career with The New Yorker ended in 1936. Yet this Esquire piece from two decades later seems to retain something of a New Yorker cartoon sensibility. One can imagine a black-and-white version being perfectly at home in its pages. Fortunately, the drawing was appreciated by Esquire's editors and it found a good home away from home. 

"Why don't you do something, dear, besides just make money?"
Dorothy McKay
Original art
Esquire, September 1956, p. 88

Dorothy McKay
Honey & Wax Booksellers listing accessed August 3, 2024

https://www.honeyandwaxbooks.com/pages/books/1003790/dorothy-mckay/why-don-t-you-do-something-dear-besides-just-make-money

"Why don't you do something, dear, besides just make money?"
Dorothy McKay
Esquire, September 1956, p. 88

https://classic.esquire.com/issue/19560901/print

Note:  Are you burdened by original Dorothy McKay art going unshared despite the ready availability of the internet? Are you in need of a suitable blog to realize your dream of letting the world at large appreciate what's in your collection? I stand eager to share images of your treasures.

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Dorothy McKay in College Humor, April 1937

Once again, Dorothy McKay is represented by two full-page cartoons in the April 1937 College Humor. Then as now, people seem not to know what to make of changing social rules.

"Can't you think of anything to do?"
Dorothy McKay
College Humor, April 1937, p. 33

Parents just won't ever get it.

"Emily, show the young man your father's trophies—perhaps he's interested in wild life!"
Dorothy McKay
College Humor, April 1937, p. 50

Note:  I've just ordered three more issues of College Humor, so I hope to have some additional Dorothy McKay cartoons to share here soon. In the meantime, I'd like to hear from readers with images of original McKay art or obscure published cartoons.

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Dorothy McKay in College Humor, December 1936

I now have in my hands the December 1936 issue of College Humor. Dorothy McKay's two cartoons this month are set indoors. Her women this time around are fairly young; the men are not.

"Well—This isn't just the position I had in mind, but I'll take it."
Dorothy McKay
College Humor, December 1936, p. 33

Will the two sexes ever learn to communicate with each other? Here's one of those little Christmas misunderstandings:

"But, Miss Finch—I only wanted to put something in your stocking!"
Dorothy McKay
College Humor, December 1936, p. 44

Note:  As of this date, not every issue of College Humor has crossed my path. Readers with Dorothy McKay cartoons from the magazine that have not made their way to this blog yet are invited to submit images of such.

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Dorothy McKay in College Humor, September 1936

College Humor is what university students who were "the tops" must have been reading back in the 1930s, no doubt some of the more precocious among the college-bound set as well. I'm still reading it when I can get my hands on a copy and I'm no longer matriculating. Right now I have my hands on four new copies—well, new to me—and three of them have drawings by Dorothy McKay (1904-1974). The September 1936 issue is the earliest of this group, so it seems a good place to start.

McKay had much success at Esquire and some at The New Yorker. She appeared in many other publications as well including College Humor. In the first of her two full-page cartoons for this issue, it is after-hours in an office. An older woman, a McKay specialty, a housekeeper, has found a state-of-the-art means of imparting wisdom to a woman of the younger generation. Brava!

"I wouldn't take that boss of yours too serious, miss—he has a wife and two children."
Dorothy McKay
College Humor, September 1936, p. 29

Meanwhile in the second cartoon, an even older woman can still assess an unforeseen situation and come to the logical conclusion:

"Hello—Plaza Dog-Walking Agency?"

Dorothy McKay

College Humor, September 1936, p. 43

Note:  Obscure published cartoons by the talented Dorothy McKay would be welcome submissions to this blog. If you prefer, I can leave the message on your Dictaphone.

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Coming Soon: Four Issues of College Humor

For some decades—yes, decades!—I have wanted to know everything I could about cartoonist Peter Arno's work in the magazine College Humor. Though significantly downscale from the rarefied pages of The New Yorker where Arno gained his fame, the humor magazine offered the popular cartoonist a young and educated audience eager to see more of his lively and sophisticated work. I have posted quite a bit of this material already in the archives. Now I am taking the next small step, purchasing four more issues of College Humor, each with Arno's "Side-Show," the two-page spread on which three of his cartoons regularly appeared.

These four issues were procured last month from four different eBay sellers, this being too important a mission to worry about combining postage. As it happened, not one of these sellers chose to photograph any of the Arno pages; clearly that will have to be for me to do. To begin with, though, let me post the four magazines the way the eBay sellers chose to present them but with my added commentary. Think of it as a coming attraction.

The September 1936 cover is modeled by caricaturist Sam Berman and photographed by Dudley Lee. Berman, along with cartoonist E. Simms Campbell, created the Esquire magazine mascot Esky and sculpted a number of covers for the men's magazine. Arno was a big newsstand draw and is therefore the first of the eight names listed at the bottom of the cover. 

For those who think disinformation in the mass media is a new thing, a leading cigarette brand advertises "For Digestion's sake—smoke Camels."

Here's the view of the magazine's spine:

On the right, a dog cartoon from the reliable Dorothy McKay:

College Humor, September 1936
eBay listing ended June 30, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/135117395561?itmmeta=01J25FR5ZTHG4638HYMZKFV8PF&hash=item1f759fd669:g:eEsAAOSwUlZmeHeL&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwF7Xe%2F99XvkMXQRhr5z9wggWbc55FYI6v0XaoP0BT9pVsEQIkDmRXmACFub%2BwIfpBi%2BHAHqGDh98h5CHX

0MfqGlJr9rhTeMSihhrDVWH9qPCzSiu8xn2BM8My2VNaXx%2FCKtWffivRGB6jJ1k14x%2FKMg2POLbR2kvAA%2FBK57ac4AezhQkTw8xkZmuTrqFTnVzzR%2FNtsNg0mpEgm%2FJOCVtw6OSL8buGCoiAst94k7sljr3sWXvri9Wl5Qwn10GDUotyQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR_7f4K-RZA

College Humor, September 1936
eBay item description

Thank you for not bidding against me:

The December 1936 cover is also by Berman and is again photographed by Lee. Arno's name still has pride of place on the lower banner.

I wonder whether the College Humor crowd is the right audience for the promotion of original etchings.

The boxing illustration is by Carl Mueller:

Four cartoons to a page seems about right for the illustrated humor section. Here we have work by Syd Hoff, Jay Irving, Reamer Keller, and Gregory d'Alessio. At the top left we see just a fragment of a drawing by Chon Day.

Jefferson Machamer educates readers on politics and . . . other things.

The Camel ads continue. If you don't believe that these cigarettes aid digestion, perhaps three testimonials will set you straight.

College Humor, December 1936
eBay listing ended June 24, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/335375255703

College Humor, December 1936
eBay item description

By April of 1937, the cover sculptures were made by puppeteer Bil Baird. The dog here steals the show. To this day, Baird is remembered for his work on "The Lonely Goatherd" sequence in the 1965 film version of "The Sound of Music." The photography of the model is still done by Lee. Arno does not get top billing this go-round. A mistake?

It's uncanny how few eBay sellers think to include the table of contents:

Prepare to be teased. Eloise Martin of Drake University is the Co-ed of the Month. She alone might have been worth the 15 cent cover price. My guess is that this sold out quickly on newsstands in Des Moines.

Otto Soglow pokes some fun at an old moralizer, a surefire target when cartooning for the hip on-campus crowd:

Ty Mahon is given a full page to ponder the dilemmas of the wealthy:

The nation's top campus humor magazines also get some space in the issue:

Call my taste sophomoric, but I love this club's name, left. McKay's cartoon, right, taps into some of the discomfort with traditional sex roles present even back in 1937.

College Humor, April 1937
Best offer of $5.59 accepted
eBay listing ended June 24, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/226081677435

College Humor, April 1937
eBay item description

Finally, the November 1937 cover is by Baird again. Readers must have understood that even football players could get distracted. Arno is once again restored to top billing and all's right with the world.

Including the table of contents, again, is really helpful. The "Don't be a cave man" ad for Packard Lectro-Shaver is just an added bonus.

If College Humor's young readers aren't hopelessly addicted to Camels by this point, you can't blame the ads.

College Humor, November 1937
eBay listing ended June 25, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/166833385903?itmmeta=01J25FR5ZVG9QX75WF3M9QJFN8&hash=item26d80b71af:g:dRYAAOSwjOpmdEWj&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAAwEJrjqt0iK8fSmTAEb7j5YBr6DcL1uYebM6--hZUqYtmnnbei4qaY4ABxmQk%2BfMV7BPWqQOYaV9C9BSsTE8LtEKgZl5C%2F5s3NLdzSUrvA

cmlHx2sLSnocvuZMJNWq73ciWnAkBP8t2%2B8UltSbTMf05no7RhgiwXamXR2vIumciwp8y14YXtQ1aLmMakCsW%2BpRcfWGGp0XOJ1jLWcUaMJkHoUL3HxamlNP7h3CSYIHP%2Bqeu%2F041New%2BNRK2DaeAQ5CQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4Lg4K-RZA

College Humor, November 1937
eBay item description

The April 1937 best offer of $5.59 was accepted.

Note:  There's a lot more to see of caricaturist Sam Berman's work and a good place to see it is in Drew Friedman's 2011 post here.

What is the significance of the ticket clerk grabbing the male ticket holder's tie? I'm not sure I understand Berman's cover for the December 1936 issue. Anybody?

What sort of co-ed  do you suppose sits for a provocative College Humor photoshoot? Perhaps the backstory provided in this 1972 clipping will help to explain Eloise Martin's contribution to our collegiate culture:

https://nyshistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=jou19720111-01.1.13&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN----------

After all these years, a press photo of Martin, the first image in the Co-ed of the Month spread, can still be purchased here.

The $5 etching, Sardine Fleet at Anchor (1936) by George Elmer Browne (1871-1946), is available today on eBay for $239.20. If you somehow missed out back in the day, you can get it here.

Peter Arno's work published in The New Yorker is generally well enough known, but his cartoons and illustrations from other publications such as College Humor or The American Magazine remain hard to locate. I am always eager to hear from paper collectors with examples of obscure Arno published work or cartoon collectors with original Arno art. You know where to find me.

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Esquire Cartoon Window Signs, 1935-1937

Magazine covers are designed to sell magazines; that's clearly their job. Window signs produced for Esquire in the 1930s used a different promotional tack, taking advantage of the popular, full-page, color cartoons that appeared abundantly in each issue. Up to two such small posters or window signs were produced for issues of the monthly magazine in the mid to late 1930s to promote newsstand sales. The editors selected only one or two of the color cartoons from each issue for use on these signs, giving an indication of which particular artists and cartoons they thought could best promote their magazine. It was a strategy that might well have given Esquire a competitive advantage against those magazines which ran only black and white cartoons.

An Abner Dean gag selected for this purpose in October 1935 seems an unlikely candidate for this sort of display. The old joke is about a father's fecundity, but the setting is somewhat morbid. Dean's work was often odd, to say the least. (A more traditional handling of this sort of gag may be seen in the first Dorothy McKay Esquire cartoon here.)

"Mama, what kind of a man was Daddy?"
Abner Dean
Window Sign/Poster for Esquire, October 1935

https://www.etsy.com/listing/197227397/lot-of-3-1930s-esquire-magazine-art?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=esquire%20cartoons&ref=sr_gallery-1-5

Rodney deSarro's lustful old lady may anticipate Buck Brown's later Granny cartoons that were to appear in Playboy.

"But lady, when I knocked on your door, I only
asked for a dime[.]"
Rodney deSarro
Window Sign/Poster for Esquire, February 1936

https://www.etsy.com/listing/197227397/lot-of-3-1930s-esquire-magazine-art?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=esquire%20cartoons&ref=sr_gallery-1-5

Another gag by deSarro depicts a cruise ship's staff nervously trying to reclaim a stateroom after the cruise has ended. The gag appears to be cropped for use on this window sign, cutting off the artist's signature.

"Do you think, sir, we might tell them, sir,
that the cruise is over?"
Rodney deSarro
Window Sign/Poster for Esquire, April 1936

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Esquire-Magazine-WINDOW-SIGN-POSTER-1936-Rodney-de-Sarro-art-VF-NM-cond/191072446205?hash=item2c7cce26fd:g:xoYAAOxy69JS~8OU

A Dorothy McKay gag takes us to the waiting room of a maternity ward where we get to watch a stunned new father drop his hat. This time it is McKay's turn to have her signature unceremoniously cropped. 

"Well, Mr. Hotchkiss! I guess you hit
the jackpot this time!"
Dorothy McKay
Window Sign/Poster for Esquire, April 1936

https://www.etsy.com/listing/197227397/lot-of-3-1930s-esquire-magazine-art?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=esquire%20cartoons&ref=sr_gallery-1-5

Shh! An uncaptioned cartoon by E. Simms Campbell depicts the ship's captain engaged in some clandestine work.

E. Simms Campbell
Window Sign/Poster for Esquire, May 1936

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Esquire-Magazine-WINDOW-SIGN-POSTER-1936-E-Simms-Campbell...

Rodney deSarro's captain on shore leave has found a novel use for a hula skirt. The oval format works well on the window sign and preempts any attempt at cropping.

"She loves me—she loves me not!"
Rodney deSarro
Window Sign/Poster for Esquire, June 1936

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Esquire-Magazine-WINDOW-SIGN-POSTER-1936-Rodney-de-Sarro-art...

The "Harem Girls" cartoons by E. Simms Campbell were popular from the very first issue of the magazine. Men trying to make a go at a relationship with a woman must have been amused at the sultan's excesses.

"Make it ten!"
E. Simms Campbell
Window Sign/Poster for Esquire, July 1936

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Esquire-Magazine-WINDOW-SIGN-POSTER-1936-E-Simms-Campbell-art-VF-NM-cond/191072437697?hash=item2c7cce05c1:g:8ZgAAOxyYSdS~7~y

In another Abner Dean gag, a sailor on a life raft has some second thoughts.

"Sometimes I almost wish I'd rescued that blonde
instead of the Harvard Classics!"
Abner Dean
Window Sign/Poster for Esquire, July 1936

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Esquire-Magazine-WINDOW-SIGN-POSTER-1936-Abner-Dean-art...

Another of Campbell's "Harem Girls" gags bears a striking similarity to the one in yesterday's post.

"I'll be away for two weeks—sort of look
after things while I'm gone[.]"
E. Simms Campbell
Window Sign/Poster for Esquire, August 1936

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Esquire-Magazine-WINDOW-SIGN-POSTER-1936-E-Simms-Campbell...

Gilbert Bundy's young lady exercises her due diligence...

"Oh!  Yes I'll be here[,] Mr. Van Gates—I'm
reading the most interesting book[.]"
Gilbert Bundy
Window Sign/Poster for Esquire, September 1936

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Esquire-Magazine-WINDOW-SIGN-POSTER-1936-Gilbert-Bundy-art...

...While Barbara Shermund's old man sees no need to be hasty.

"Of course I love you—but there's such a difference in our ages—we ought
to wait a few years[.]"
Barbara Shermund
Window Sign/Poster for Esquire, July 1937

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Esquire-Magazine-WINDOW-SIGN-POSTER-1937-with-Shermund-Cartoon/190566424192?hash=item2c5ea4de80:m:mp9AKyFqiU35gMRxZRNwLhg

Note:  That's it for now. I'd love to hear from anyone with other examples of these window signs featuring vintage Esquire cartoons. Examples of original artwork by any of these artists are always welcome here as well.

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