Showing posts with label James Thurber. Show all posts
Showing posts with label James Thurber. Show all posts

Saturday, July 18, 2026

Blog Post No. 5300: James Thurber's "The Masculine Approach" Scarf for Richard A. Farrar

"The Masculine Approach" is a scarf designed around a series of drawings by The New Yorker's James Thurber. It is currently listed on eBay.

"The Masculine Approach"
By
James Thurber


"The Masculine Approach"
By
James Thurber

The humorous drawings purport to inform us of various schemes and techniques men use for getting their way with women.
The Harpo Marx Attack

The Indifference Attitude
Does the indifference apply to spelling as well?

The Continental-Manners Technique

The Just-a-Little-Boy System

The Sudden Onslaught

The Let-'em-Wait-and-Wonder Plan

The Pawing System

The Sweep-'em-Off-Their-Feet Method

The Heroic, or Dangers I Have Known, Method



James Thurber
eBay listing accessed July 8, 2026

James Thurber
eBay item description



This tie on eBay may or may not have a label, but a similar tie in the same green and black color scheme currently listed on Etsy clearly bears the name Richard A. Farrar.




The Just-a-Little-Boy System


Thurber's series "The Masculine Approach" got its start in The New Yorker.
"The Masculine Approach"
The Sudden Onslaught
The Continental-Manners Technique
The I'm-Not-Good-Enough-for-You Announcement
James Thurber 
The New Yorker, February 12, 1938, p. 19

With cartoons by Helen E. Hokinson and James Thurber



The entire series may be found in Men, Women & Dogs (1943) beginning on page 187. Alternatively, if you don't like reading the pages sideways, it's available online in portrait PDF format here. Or you can just read the scarf.

* * *


Helen E. Hokinson's wonderful dog show drawing, on the page opposite the three Thurbers, balances out the magazine spread with darker tones and shading.
"I'm the one that should be lying down somewhere."
Helen E. Hokinson
The New Yorker, February 12, 1938, p. 18



Note:  I can't thank enough the multitalented Joel Jacobus for alerting me to this eBay listing. For our purposes, Joel is a specialist in Charles Addams collectibles but he still manages to get sidetracked at times, thank goodness.


Richard A. Farrar's tie designs by or based on the works of New Yorker artists—Charles Addams, Sam Cobean, Anatol Kovarsky, Mischa Richter, Otto Soglow, William Steig, and, of course, James Thurber—were often manufactured in a variety of colors. I would love to see examples of any other varieties that are out there. Below, for example, is an old New Yorker advertisement that provides evidence of one Thurber scarf manufactured in five colors and two sizes. It has yet to be located in any variation, but I am patient . . . 

Richard A. Farrar advertisement
The New Yorker, October 31, 1953, p. 72


The blog archives are now home to a number of scarves by Richard A. Farrar representing the work of a variety of New Yorker cartoon luminaries in various color schemes. All of these posts may be read, studied, pondered, and reread here. I am always at the ready to add new designs and color schemes. Joel reports there is a scarf out there by Helen E. Hokinson, whose cartoon is on the page opposite "The Masculine Approach" in The New Yorker, which has yet to be imaged. Who wants to be the first to send it to me?


I like to think that every hundred posts are extra special. Let me know if you agree:


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





05300

Posted by at 1 comment:
Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, April 22, 2026

James Thurber: Out of Fix

On June 13, 1934, an amendment to the Code was adopted, which established the Production Code Administration (PCA) and required all films released on or after July 1, 1934, to obtain a Seal of Approval before being released.
—Wikipedia


Leave it to the cartoonists of The New Yorker to find the humor in such moral high-handedness. And, in this case specifically, leave it to James Thurber, whose original cartoon art on the subject was sold yesterday at Heritage Auctions. He does have a way with domestic scenes.

"She's out of fix because they've cleaned up the movies."
Original art
James Thurber
The New Yorker, September 29, 1934, p. 13

What a great idea it was for Thurber to portray the indignation of the young girl here—she still has a doll!—the very sort of person the Hays Code was allegedly trying to protect. 

To me, it's an odd turn of phrase to say, "out of fix." It sounds wrong to my ear, but I take it to be close to "out of joint" or "bent out of shape."
"She's out of fix because they've cleaned up the movies."
Framed, original art
James Thurber
The New Yorker, September 29, 1934, p. 13

"October 6th or before," reads the notation on the back. The New Yorker knew it had a timely cartoon on its hands. It was published in the September 29 issue while the topic was still fresh in the public's mind.
Verso




James Thurber
Heritage Auctions listing accessed 22 days before the sale


James Thurber
Heritage Auctions item description



The present work, of course, translates well onto the printed pages of The New Yorker:
"She's out of fix because they've cleaned up the movies."
James Thurber
The New Yorker, September 29, 1934, p. 13

"She's out of fix because they've cleaned up the movies."
Original art
James Thurber
The New Yorker, September 29, 1934, p. 13


With cartoons by Alain and James Thurber

Sold!





* * *

On the page opposite the Thurber drawing, that old romancer Alain gets a little forward with the body language. Thurber's body language by comparison is rather restrained, at least in this issue. 
            "Go on, don't give
me that personality stuff!"
Alain
The New Yorker, September 29, 1934, p. 12





Note:  This blog will remain out of fix indefinitely.




05252
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Saturday, September 6, 2025

James Thurber: A Dog and a Globe

A dog by cartoonist James Thurber attentively contemplates the state of the globe in a drawing made more than a year before America's entry into the Second World War. Behind the dog there is a bird—perhaps it is a hopeful sign, the dove of peace.


Thurber's art bears the notation "For Thursday / (no caption)." If, as seems likely, this was created for The New Yorker, why was it needed for Thursday? The magazine, in those years, carried a Saturday publication date and the art meetings, I believe, were held on Tuesdays.


The Chris Beetles Gallery of London offers the original, calling it "Possibly drawn for The New Yorker, 1940." That certainly sounds reasonable enough. The title A Dog and a Globe comes from the gallery, which first showed the piece in 2024 in the annual exhibition The British Art of Illustration.



James Thurber
Chris Beetles Gallery listing accessed July 12, 2025
https://www.chrisbeetles.com/artwork/44058/a-dog-and-a-globe


https://issuu.com/chrisbeetles/docs/illustrators_2024


Note:  Naturally, I would like to hear from anyone who can take a break from contemplating the state of the globe and instead document this James Thurber cartoon's appearance in print.

At this moment in time, 1,450 pounds sterling is about $1,958.60 US.



05055

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , ,

Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Grok 3 Analyzes @doc_nad

"I wasn't lookin' but somehow you found me"
"Nobody Does It Better" (1977)
Carole Bayer Sager


I maintained my Twitter account even when the site was rebranded as X and I continue to post there regularly. Today I have some 99,100 posts on the site, most of which relate to this blog. They do get read and even generate a few responses as I gingerly approach that big milestone of 100,000.

Not all my readers are people. I was surprised to discover that Grok 3, xAI's chatbot launched almost six months ago, has been keeping tabs on me. I usually try to avoid AI results in my searches, but it is becoming more difficult. Anyway, if I'm the subject, I figure it's worth a look. Here's what I found on my iPhone, inadvertently, on July 27:

I never considered myself a "nostalgic blogger," but I can certainly see the argument. I don't approve of "their" as a singular pronoun, let alone one of my pronouns, but I suppose I don't get a say here. I definitely don't like the construction "celebrating New Yorker cartoonists and covers"—that's just bad writing. Why not write "New Yorker cartoonists and cover artist?" Calling Ronald Searle and Edward Koren icons is not something I would do casually, although not because I disagree. Readers can decide for themselves who is and isn't an icon. Finally, my interest in wrestling is news to me.

I repeated the search the next day with similar, but far from identical, results:

There is a newer iteration of the technology called Grok 4 included with a premium subscription. I have no plans to upgrade.





05030
Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Sunday, July 20, 2025

James Thurber's Copy of Black Mischief by Evelyn Waugh

Black Mischief, Evelyn Waugh's third novel, was published in 1932. Humorist James Thurber's copy has his signature penciled in above The New Yorker's office address, then 25 West 45th Street. In 1935, the magazine moved out of its original office and went to 25 West 43rd Street where it remained until 1991.





Evelyn Waugh
AbeBooks listing accessed July 19, 2025

Evelyn Waugh
AbeBooks item description





05007

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , ,

Friday, June 27, 2025

Charles Addams: Striking Back at Modernist Architecture

Cartoonist Charles Addams, revered for his work in The New Yorker and, of course, especially for "The Addams Family," was a lifelong student of architectural form. His tastes ran to the gothic and the macabre; the Addams Family mansion, always a magnificent ruin but never drawn the same way twice, is a case in point.


But what were his feelings toward the modernist architectural movement? Well, his New Yorker cartoon of June 20, 1959, (created, incidentally, a full five years before "The Addams Family" television series) may offer a humorous hint. 

Charles Addams
Original art
The New Yorker, June 20, 1959, p. 29

Addams chose a church upon which to vent the wrath of God. It's a real one, or it was, the Church of the Good Shepherd in Kansas City, Missouri. It was built, apparently, in the postwar period. If it still stands today, it has metamorphosed into something entirely more traditional in appearance.
Charles Addams
Framed and matted original art
The New Yorker, June 20, 1959, p. 29




In some ways, modernist architecture is too easy a target for a wit as sly as Addams's. Even sophisticated readers of The New Yorker may have taken umbrage at the most recent changes to the national landscape. With the Addams cartoon, we can take a certain delight as we identify with the irritation of the man upstairs.

Last year the original art was sold at Bonhams. The auction house correctly identified the building Addams so convincingly depicted, but seemed ignorant of the drawing's publication history.
Charles Addams
Bonhams auction listing of October 24, 2024




Hammer price $6,000


Charles Addams
The New Yorker, June 20, 1959, p. 29

Charles Addams
Original art
The New Yorker, June 20, 1959, p. 29

With a spot drawing by Judith Shahn and a cartoon by Charles Addams. The text is James Thurber's.

A 1951 press photo shows the church at ground level. Could this have been Addams's reference photo?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/326622409789? . . .




* * * 

Before we go, would you care for some tea?
Spot drawing
Judith Shahn




04984

Posted by at No comments:
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)