J. B. Handelsman: Why Mr. Dobkin Is Not Walt Whitman

In yesterday's post on New Yorker cartoonist J. B. "Bud" Handelsman, I asked for additional pieces of original art to share here. Longtime contributor David from Manhattan came through with a fine New Yorker drawing. He writes:

The cartoon, 11" x 8", is from Feb. 2, 1987. I bought this years ago on eBay, with Condé Nast the seller for a client who owned that iconic Sam Gross frogs' legs cartoon that brought $30,000 at auction. The attraction for me was the poetry reference in the caption, though taking the photo I was reminded of the artist's care in making sure each man's clothing was rendered in a different shade, even managing a hint of brown in the prosecutor's suit and gray blue in the stubborn gentleman in the witness chair.

"Walt Whitman may well have contradicted himself, Mr. Dobkin, but chances are he wasn't under oath at the moment."
J. B. Handelsman
Original art
The New Yorker, February 2, 1987, p. 75

Detail of the witness

Detail of the judge and attorney

Here's what we see in print:

"Walt Whitman may well have contradicted himself, Mr. Dobkin, but chances are he wasn't under oath at the moment."
J. B. Handelsman
 The New Yorker, February 2, 1987, p. 75

"Walt Whitman may well have contradicted himself, Mr. Dobkin, but chances are he wasn't under oath at the moment."
J. B. Handelsman
Original art
 The New Yorker, February 2, 1987, p. 75

With a spot drawing by Tom Funk and a cartoon by J. B. Handelsman

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1987-02-02/flipbook/074/

* * * 

Spot drawing
Tom Funk

Note:  For those who don't recognize the poem "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman, the relevant lines are:

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

My thanks to David from Manhattan for keeping the discussion of J. B. Handelsman going with today's post. This is David's sixty-seventh contribution to Attempted Bloggery and they're all worthwhile.

Let me repeat my call to action since it met with such success yesterday. There is a lot of original art by Bud Handelsman in private collections and very few blogs willing to put it out there for the world to see. Remember, this is a big blog. It can contain multitudes. 

04942

J. B. Handelsman: Gone Fishing

An original New Yorker cartoon by J. B. Handelsman (1922-2007) was sold ealier this month in Sudbury, Massachusetts. The tranquility of the setting is undercut by the caption with not one but two exclamation points. 

"Three days without so much as a nibble! By God, Charlie,
I may switch my account to another agency!"
J. B. Handelsman
Framed original art
The New Yorker, July 29, 1967, p. 38

The drawing revels in cynicism about the dealings of the business world with its revelation of an unsatisfactory quid pro quo. It was probably a fairly cutting-edge example of humor in its day, although by current standards it seems fairly tame. In 1967, when this cartoon was published, Handelsman was living in England and contributing regularly to Punch, yet maintaining a strong presence in the American market.

"Three days without so much as a nibble! By God, Charlie,
I may switch my account to another agency!"
J. B. Handelsman
Original art
The New Yorker, July 29, 1967, p. 38

After fifty-eight years, much of probably spent hanging on a wall, the original art has acquired significant toning. 

Caption

J. B. Handelsman's signature

J. B. Handelsman
Tremont Auctions listing ended May 4, 2025

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/204094415_jb-bud-handelsman-original-illustration-for-the-new-yorker-watercolor-and-ink-on-paper-signed

J. B. Handelsman
Tremont Auctions item description

[End of auction listing]

The artwork was quite striking on the printed page:

"Three days without so much as a nibble! By God, Charlie, I may switch my account to another agency!"
J. B. Handelsman
The New Yorker, July 29, 1967, p. 38

"Three days without so much as a nibble! By God, Charlie, I may switch my account to another agency!"
J. B. Handelsman
Original art
The New Yorker, July 29, 1967, p. 38

With a cartoon by J. B. Handelsman and an ad for Germaine Monteil

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1967-07-29/flipbook/038/

Note:  There's room on this blog for more original art by J. B. Handelsman. As the anglers say, drop me a line.

04941

A Treasury of TV Jibes

During the heyday of TV Guide magazine, TV Jibes was a popular feature, consisting of television-themed cartoons created by some leading practitioners of the art. A dozen pages of these cartoons were collected in A Treasury of TV Jibes, which was included as an insert with the magazine. Hence there is no price on the cover. Alas, there is also no copyright date.

Johnny Carson
Ronald Searle
TV Jibes

Scan by Tom Bloom

Even without a date of publication, we know TV Jibes couldn't have appeared before Ronald Searle's TV Guide cover of 1968 featuring Johnny Carson, and most likely it didn't appear immediately afterward either. Hence, a reasonable estimate for the publication date is 1970.

Johnny Carson
Ronald Searle
TV Guide, August 31-September 6, 1968

Here then is the rest of this issue of TV Jibes, the whole kit and kaboodle, as heroically scanned by Tom Bloom.

   TV Jibes                                   The Young Set
J. B. Handelsman                                  Claude Smith       
Henry Martin                              Charles Rodrigues
Charles Rodrigues                                   Chon Day        

TV Jibe:  Debatable Tactics                                   TV Jibes     
             Brian Savage                              Copper[?]          Hageman[?]
                                                                 Al Kaufman

         TV Jibes                                 TV Jibe:  The Younger Set
Charles E. Martin                                       Sidney Harris      
Henry Martin                                                          
Charles Rodrigues                                                        

TV Jibe:  It Must Be Football                                  My Fellow Americans...
Paul Peter Porges                                                 Brian Savage

TV Jibe:  And Now a Pause for the Program...             TV Jibe:  An Evening at Home
          Sidney Harris                                             Charles Rodrigues
                                                                     Paul Peter Porges
                                                                     Larry [Terence Parkes]

TV Jibes                                     TV Jibe:  Poor Reception
Charles Rodrigues                       Larry [Terence Parkes]
Mort Gerberg                                       Joseph Farris
Val                                           Charles Rodrigues

Note:  First off, my sincere thanks to Tom Bloom for this contribution. As I've already called his scanning heroic, I haven't left myself too much else to add. This is Tom's seventeenth contribution to Attempted Bloggery.

We are not alone. Postino writes informatively about this very TV Jibes cartoon booklet in the blog Insomnia Notebook here.

Cover artist Ronald Searle's extensive TV Guide work is surveyed in Perpetua, the Ronald Searle Tribute blog, here. There's no mention of TV Jibes, though, but that could change. 

Numerically speaking, Ronald Searle's centenary closed on March 3, which marked 101 years since the artist's birth. Nevertheless, since the pandemic interrupted any proper recognition of his achievement, I have taken the lead from the Wilhelm Busch Museum in Hanover, Germany, and will continue to celebrate his centenary. Indefinitely.

Three of the cartoonists shown above in the pages of TV Jibes are unfamiliar to me. I will tentatively identify them as Copper, Hageman, and Val, although I am not sure I'm reading the first two signatures correctly. Does anybody recognize the cartoonists or know a little something about them? Do tell.

Also--can anyone tell me with which issue this insert was distributed? I'm kind of a stickler for these things, especially when they're of no importance.

03573

Whitney Darrow, Jr.: Down in the Valley

Jacqueline Susann's novel Valley of the Dolls created a sensation in 1966, eventually selling over 31 million copies. The movie followed in December of 1967, receiving poor reviews yet grossing over $50 million. It wasn't until 1968 that the New Yorker recognized the phenomenon with a cartoon, one by Whitney Darrow, Jr., fairly low-key compared with its source material. His original art is currently available through the Argosy Book Store.

"Well! The Valley of the Dolls!"
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, July 13, 1968, page 23

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Argosy Book Store Listing Accessed June 14, 2020

https://www.argosybooks.com/pages/books/225880/whitney-darrow-1909-1999/original-ink-wash-drawing

"Well! The Valley of the Dolls!"
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, July 13, 1968, page 23

Cartoons by J. B. Handelsman and Whitney Darrow, Jr.

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1968-07-13/flipbook/022/

"Valley of the Dolls" Trailer (1967)

Note:  At the time of this posting, the original art remains available at Argosy.

Attempted Bloggery seeks other examples of original cartoon art by Whitney Darrow, Jr.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Whitney Darrow, Jr.

Original New Yorker Cartoon Art

Attempted Bloggery's Drug-Free Index

Tomorrow's post:  Beyond the Valley of the Dolls!

   

03303

The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #35

I got thrown out of the bar before I could write my entry in the Cartoon Collections Caption Contest #35. The drawing is by J. B. Handelsman (1922-2007).

August 14, 2019 Update:  The Winner

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

J. B. Handelsman

Bars

The Cartoon Collections Caption Contest

The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest

The Moment Magazine Cartoon Caption Contest

All These Cartoon Caption Contests and More

Attempted Bloggery's Well-Funded Index

03002

The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker: Five Signed Prints

After The Complete Cartoons of the New Yorker was published in 2004, an enterprising collector printed at least six cartoons apparently from the accompanying CD-ROM and went about obtaining signatures of the five corresponding cartoonists: J. B. Handelsman, Henry Martin, Leo Cullum, Edward Koren, and Jack Ziegler. Koren and Ziegler signed and inscribed these prints; Handelsman and Cullum signed them and added sketches. Martin provided an original drawing on a separate printed sheet of stationery; he did not sign either of two prints. This may indicate that all the signatures were obtained by mail, possibly through the New Yorker's office.

The Koren print gives us an approximate date for all of these: 9/27/2005. It also gives us the recipient's name, William Dutcher. Martin's card is made out to a Timmy, but it is Dutcher's name that corresponds to the eBay seller dutc.will. His eBay biography indicates that he was editor and publisher of something called the Jasoomian in the 1970s.

Dutcher joined eBay on March 11, 2015 but today is no longer a registered user. In May of 2015, he put these prints up for sale on eBay. Interesting curiosities, they sold for a few dollars each.

J. B. Handelsman

Henry Martin

Leo Cullum

Edward Koren

Jack Ziegler

J. B. Handelsman
eBay Listing Ended May 16, 2015

Another eBay seller purchased three of these signed pieces—the Martin, Ziegler, and Cullum—and relisted them with about a tenfold markup or sometimes more. He took new and better photos but retained the misspelling of Leo Cullum's name. I subsequently lost track of these, but today the Martin remains available on eBay at a discounted price.

Henry Martin

Henry Martin

Henry Martin

Henry Martin

Jack Ziegler

Jack Ziegler

Leo Cullum

Leo Cullum

October 9, 2020 Update:  Sold!

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Leo Cullum

J. B. Handelsman

Edward Koren

Henry Martin

Jack Ziegler

Attempted Bloggery's Name-Dropping Index

02992