E. Simms Campbell: Cutie Coiffure

E. Simms Campbell's single panel cartoon Cuties was syndicated by King Features. An original cartoon panel from 1963 has just been listed on AbeBooks. One Cutie is reading in bed while another comes home from a date. The gag is only mildly suggestive, as befits a cartoon intended for a family newspaper.

"What a marvelous coiffure! Who rumpled it for you?"
E. Simms Campbell
Original art
Cuties, July 25, 1963

E. Simms Campbell
AbeBooks listing accessed September 23, 2022

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31307699678&searchurl=kn%3DCoiffure%2521%2BRumpled%26sortby%3D17&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-title1

February 20, 2023 Update:  Why not recycle a good caption? Campbell first used it in 1959:

"What a marvelous coiffure! Who rumpled it for you?"
E. Simms Campbell
Cuties, August 12, 1959
The Bridgeport Telegram, page 21

https://www.newspapers.com/image/32078644/

04090

Barbara Shermund and E. Simms Campbell: The Same Name

Let's play the name game. The repetition of names—these names belonging to attractive, available young people—is a common element in two rather different cartoons from the cover of Pictorial Review published in the early 1950s. The Sunday supplement was syndicated nationally by King Features and included single panel gags aimed at an adult audience created by leading cartoonists of the day. Karen Miller provides us with photos of the cartoons by Barbara Shermund and E. Simms Campbell.

The Shermund boating cartoon was the first to appear, in 1950. Two boats are named for the same carefree, blonde woman and there's no doubt about which of the two is the superior. Barbara Shermund was certainly an early feminist, but when she left the New Yorker for Esquire and Pictorial Review, she depicted not a few gold diggers like this one. This sort of woman was a standard fixture in men's cartoons of the era, but in Shermund's gags the gold digger often is portrayed as self-empowered rather than a mere object of derision; she uses her sexuality to get and achieve what she wants out of life. Evelyn can do the math and she understands that richer men can afford bigger and better boats. But still…the poor little guy!

Barbara Shermund
"My girl!—my name!—I been double-crossed!"
Pictorial Review (The San Francisco Examiner)
August 6, 1950

Photo by Karen Miller

In 1951, E. Simms Campbell takes the repetition of names a few steps further.

E. Simms Campbell
"They're ALL named William—I'm sort of a 'Bill' collector."
Pictorial Review (The San Francisco Examiner)
January 21, 1951

Photo by Karen Miller

The pun is atrocious, but aside from that the underlying idea of a woman playing the field is meant to highlight her implied promiscuity. The implication of these two cartoons together is that women are willing to use their sexuality to trade up in the world. To men of the 1950s, that might just have been exciting and threatening at the same time.


Note:  Thanks to Karen Miller for contributing the images in today's post. She writes, "The Bill one I framed because my husband is Bill, my son is Bill, my Dad is Bill, my Grandfather was Bill, my nephew is Bill and my brother in law is Bill!" Thus life imitates art in a manner I would scarcely have imagined.

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Barbara Shermund

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Pictorial Review

Attempted Bloggery's Nameless Index

02894

E. Simms Campbell: Dependent Exemptions

E. Simms Campbell's Harem Girls cartoon from the April 1937 Esquire may seem a tad dated today. Now, as a result of our new tax law, after the 2017 tax year dependents are no longer subject to an income tax exemption, although the standard deduction has been increased. Someone is going to have to inform the sultan.

"You mean I can claim an exemption if I have children?"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, April 1937, page 42

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1937-ESQUIRE-MAGAZINE-Comic-Page-You-mean-I-can-claim-an-exemption-if-I/163028012270?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40971%26meid%3D428523e367fe4e02b4fb9cbcdf0fc65a%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D8%26sd%3D163023293146%26itm%3D163028012270&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

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E. Simms Campbell

Esquire

Tax Day

Attempted Bloggery's Taxing Index

02894

E. Simms Campbell: Santa's Strategy

A mother stops to apply lipstick and the toy store Santa Claus takes notice. Even the children realize Santa's up to something in this 1937 Esquire cartoon by E. Simms Campbell.

"—and what is your phone number, little man?"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, January 1937, page 55

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1937-Simms-Campbell-Comic-Art-Esquire-Santa-Claus-Risque-Sexy-Mom-Kids-Toyland/162938289070?hash=item25efe0fbae:g:71AAAOSwMEtab3mx

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Christmas

Attempted Bloggery's Coded Index

02777

Barbara Shermund's Prize-Winner

Not all mothers are easily fooled. A cartoon by Barbara Shermund published in the March 1939 issue of Esquire depicts a young woman coming home to her mother after a night on the town carrying an expensive necklace fresh out of its jewelry box. Her mother has seen this before; she already knows what story she's about to be told and she anticipates it with apparent sarcasm. The joke, of course, is that we all can suppose we know how her attractive daughter really obtained the jewelry.

"I know! You won it in another prize contest!"
Barbara Shermund
Original art
Esquire, March 1939, page 124

The rendition of the two women in the foyer is quite lovely, but the caption, I think, is weak. "Prize contest" just sounds wrong to the ear. Simply referring to a "contest" would have served better.

On the original art, the artist's signature is cut off by the mounting, which is inexcusable. But even more inexcusable is that the signature in the published cartoon is cut off at the same place. Eighty years ago, Esquire demonstrated a certain slovenliness in how it presented the work of its talented cartoonists. Did anyone even notice?

The original artwork has been sold on eBay twice in the past two years. The more recent listing is the more thorough one, and it makes use of Classic Esquire's new online archive.

Barbara Shermund
eBay Listing Ended December 4, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Barbara-Shermund-Esquire-New-Yorker-Fine-Large-1938-Watercolor-Illustration-/232156903131?hash=item360da136db%3Ag%3AyhsAAOSwEzxYOu9T&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Barbara Shermund
eBay Item Description

Barbara Shermund
eBay Bid History
It pays to wait. A bid in the final four seconds takes the prize.

The same piece was resold two years later on eBay, and at a profit: 

"I know! You won it in another prize contest!"
Barbara Shermund
Original art
Esquire, March 1939, page 124

"I know! You won it in another prize contest!"
Barbara Shermund
Matted original art
Esquire, March 1939, page 124

"I know! You won it in another prize contest!"
Barbara Shermund
Matted original art
Esquire, March 1939, page 124

Barbara Shermund's partially-obscured signature

The handwritten caption on the matte

Verso

Detail of verso with writing

Detail of stamp on Verso

Esquire's mascot Esky was created by E. Simms Campbell. The March 1939 magazine cover of Esky showing off on ice skates is illustrated with a sculpture by Arthur Von Frankenberg.

Arthur Von Frankenberg
Esquire, March 1939 

Esquire, March 1939, pages 124-125

Barbara Shermund
eBay Listing Ended September 30, 2018

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-1939-BARBARA-SHERMUND-Esquire-Magazine-Published-ILLUSTRATION-COMIC-ART-/263947322997?hash=item3d747c8675%3Ag%3A69wAAOSwTilbeDH5&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Barbara Shermund
eBay Item Description

Barbara Shermund
eBay Bid History
With only one bidder, bid strategy didn't matter here, but placing a single early bid still can't be recommended.

Note:  Attempted Bloggery seeks scans or photos of original artwork by Barbara Shermund for possible inclusion in future blog posts. Now how many blogs can say that?

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Barbara Shermund

Esquire

Original Cartoon Art (Not Including Work from the New Yorker)

Attempted Bloggery's Uncontested Index

  
02740

Howard Baer: A Nudist at Heart

Howard Baer's drawing of an older and overweight gentleman bedecked with a walrus mustache, top hat, and tails shows him waiting for a young Miss Harkness to finish dressing. The cartoon is boldly and beautifully drawn, yet more memorable for what it suggests than for what it actually shows. This technique of using the caption to allude to something bawdy taking place outside of the field of view was frequently used by cartoonist E. Simms Campbell in his own Esquire work. Campbell, himself prodigious in his output, was known to produce numerous gag ideas for other cartoonists as well, so it is an entirely plausible conjecture that he could be behind this gag.

"Oh don't mind me, Miss Harkness, I'm a nudist at heart[.]"
Howard Baer
Esquire, February 1937, page 135

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1937-ESQUIRE-MAGAZINE-Comic-Art-Page-Oh-don-t-mind-me-Miss-Harkness-I-m/163023293146?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D20180124145912%26meid%3Dcd57dd1ccd364070b3e6c033ff5c6632%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D3%26sd%3D163023293152%26itm%3D163023293146&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Note:  This week is strictly clothing-optional here on Attempted Bloggery. Wearing spats while reading the blog is therefore totally unnecessary.

One source for the notion that E. Simms Campbell provided numerous gags for other Esquire cartoonists may be seen here.

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Howard Baer


E. Simms Campbell

Nudism

Attempted Bloggery's Dressed-to-the-Nines Index

02649

E. Simms Campbell: Not Painting Me

Yesterday we saw an example of how cartoonist E. Simms Campbell was able to suggest "offstage" sexual activity merely by showing us the calm reaction to it of another character, in that case a young woman's well-to-do father surreptitiously observing from upstairs. A 1940 Esquire cartoon ups the ante on this type of suggestive gag by showing us a female nude posing in an artist's studio. The model is clearly alarmed at what she sees that we can't. The caption sets up a sort of negative riddle—describing only what's not going on—readily solved by the reader. No doubt this is one of the magazine's more risqué cartoons, but it's all in the power of the suggestion.

"Why, Mr. DeMunson!  You're not painting me at all!"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, 1940, page 56

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1940-Original-Vintage-E-Simms-Campbell-Nude-Woman-Sketch-Illustration/323146331715?hash=item4b3d05b643:g:ryQAAOSw5ipaqJxL

Note:  It's a clothing-optional week here on Attempted Bloggery. Dinner jacket and evening dress are not required.

Yes, the year was 1940. Does anyone know the specific month of this issue of Esquire?


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E. Simms Campbell

Nudes

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02648

Gilbert Bundy and E. Simms Campbell Back to Back in Esquire, April 1937

Esquire's April 1937 issue offers a cheeky color cartoon by Gilbert Bundy. Does Mr. Hartman have any idea what he's being offered? It would appear so.

"Why don't you come over here, Mr. Hartman—then I won't have to bother about getting dressed[?]"
Gilbert BundyEsquire, April 1937, page 70

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1937-ESQUIRE-MAGAZINE-Comic-Page-Why-don-t-you-come-over-here-Mr-Hartman/163028012254?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40971%26meid%3D4c83fbe57c6b40359ec52244ca8d2af2%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D7%26sd%3D163028012270%26itm%3D163028012254&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

That cartoon was immediately preceded by a color cartoon from E. Simms Campbell on the opposite side of the page. Campbell is very skilled at alluding to what his characters directly can observe but which we, the readers, can only imagine. On that score, this cartoon of a father tallying his daughter's assets might just be one of his best: 

"M–m–m—so it isn't daughter's money he's after at all[.]"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, April 1937, page 69

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1937-ESQUIRE-MAGAZINE-Comic-Page-Why-don-t-you-come-over-here-Mr-Hartman/163028012254?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40971%26meid%3D4c83fbe57c6b40359ec52244ca8d2af2%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D7%26sd%3D163028012270%26itm%3D163028012254&_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851

Note:  It's the hottest La Niña year yet. As a public service to readers during this hot summer, Attempted Bloggery is relaxing its usual dress code to allow clothing-optional blog viewing. The usual formalwear requirement is waived for the duration.


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Gilbert Bundy

E. Simms Campbell

Esquire

My Views of Arizona

Attempted Bloggery's Overdressed Index

02647

E. Simms Campbell: In the Harem Maternity Ward

As we prepare for tomorrow's celebration of Mother's Day, let's first take a look back at one depiction of new mothers in the popular "Harem Girls" series by cartoonist E. Simms Campbell. This gag was published in Esquire magazine sometime in the year 1939 and is an over-the-top male fantasy view of female availability, not to mention male stamina. The harem hospital ward, we here learn, serves almost exclusively as a maternity ward. The sultan has proved to be not only exceptionally fertile, but he somehow has been responsible for a prodigious number of concurrent multiple births—and this in the era before fertility drugs, not to mention Viagra!

"This one was appendicitis[.]"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, 1939

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1939-Original-Vintage-E-Simms-Campbell-Sketch-Illustration/323146331751?hash=item4b3d05b667:g:gdoAAOSwOtVaqJls

Note:  Attempted Bloggery seeks your scans and photographs of obscure published gag cartoons by E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971) and by other New Yorker artists. Make Mom proud.

This cartoon was published in Esquire in the year 1939, but in what issue and on what pages? Obstetrical science needs to know. 

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E. Simms Campbell

Esquire

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02545

E. Simms Campbell: Paparazzi on the French Line

The violation of a young starlet's privacy is the subject of a full-page Esquire magazine color cartoon by E. Simms Campbell that appeared in 1938. A ship's cabin door has been pushed open to reveal three paparazzi outside on the deck, cameras in hand. The discarded luggage tags read CGT or Compagnie Générale Transatlantique, popularly known as the French Line. Like so many of the magazine's cartoons, the gag depends not so much on a clever turn of phrase as on a sexually suggestive situation. The awkward encounter here is one that men are supposed to find appealing, with the caption working up to the implication of nudity. This is but one example of how generations of men were encouraged to laugh at what we now consider sexual harassment.

"—Beg pardon[,] Miss Yvetti, but would you mind posing on the ship's rail—after you slip something on, of course[.]"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, 1938

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1938-E-Simms-Campbell-risque-Comic-art-Esquire-shipboard-reporters-print/152997702679?hash=item239f5fac17:g:DekAAOSwHdVa4PDk

Note: You know how it works here. No blog post about a published cartoon is complete without issue and page number. Help me put this one to sleep.

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E. Simms Campbell

Esquire

Attempted Bloggery's Intrusive Index

02529

E. Simms Campbell: Blondes or Redheads?

Cutie Quips were the Sunday color pages of E. Simms Campbell's syndicated newspaper panel cartoon Cuties.

"It's a quiz show.  They want to know which has the worst temper, blondes or redheads. You answer him, dearie; you've been both!"
E. Simms Campbell
Cutie Quips, November 2, 1952
Photograph

https://www.amazon.com/Photo-Cuties-cartoon-Campbell-approximately/dp/B06VY5PW65/ref=sr_1_109?ie=UTF8&qid=1521685054&sr=8-109&keywords=E.+simms+campbell

Note:  Well, it's brunettes, of course!

Attempted Bloggery is finishing up its revue of the work of prolific cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). Motivated readers—that's you—can assist incurable bloggers—that's me—by providing high-resolution scans or photographs of outstanding original Campbell art or perhaps of obscure published cartoons such as this one. 

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

E. Simms Campbell

Attempted Bloggery's Temperamental Index

Attempted Bloggery supports net neutrality.

02528

E. Simms Campbell: That Awful Moment of Truth

In this full page cartoon by E. Simms Campbell, our subject, quite a substantial figure himself, here faces a triple threat, a rival with no fewer than three names followed by three formidable honorifics: Doctor of Medicine, Victoria Cross, and Member of Parliament.

Egad!

"My wife!  And the Right Honorable Percy Gilcannon Cleep, M.D., V.C., M.P.!"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, February 1937, page 179

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1937-ESQUIRE-MAGAZINE-Comic-Art-Page-My-wife-And-the-Right-Honorable/163006385322?_trkparms=aid%3D444000%26algo%3DSOI.DEFAULT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20170221122447%26meid%3Da7177aaa7cce46f1ad38dda501621bb7%26pid%3D100752%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D372282051337%26itm%3D163006385322&_trksid=p2047675.c100752.m1982

Note:  We are now in the home stretch of our survey of the work of E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). Readers with access to original Campbell art or to rarely-seen published cartoons may submit high-resolution scans or photographs to the blog for inclusion in a future post.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

E. Simms Campbell

Esquire

Attempted Bloggery's Unfaithful Index

Attempted Bloggery supports net neutrality.

Despite almost seven years of almost daily online subversion, I have been unable to get the word bloggery into any print dictionary. The word, which I was not the first to coin but was the first to overuse, is listed only in the online Urban Dictionary where it was defined in 2006 as a sort of blog blather. Even worse, to the OED it is a non-word. I therefore urge careful writers to use the noble new word bloggery whenever appropriate, particularly in print, and to forward any and all citations to those stodgy lexicographers at the OED.

02527