Ben Simms's Copy of The Pious Friends and Drunken Companions by Frank Shay and John Held, Jr.

A savvy book publisher, perhaps struggling during the Great Depression, who wanted to capitalize on two popular volumes, My Pious Friends and Drunken Companions (1927) and More Pious Friends and Drunken  Companions (1928), both written by Frank Shay with illustrations by John Held, Jr., could simply reissue the pair together, say in 1936, as an omnibus volume. All that would be needed is a new title for the compendium—something unimaginative like The Pious Friends and Drunken Companions might even work. This new edition could be promoted with a book signing or two featuring that quintessential illustrator, Held, whose work so well embodied the Roaring Twenties but who may have had some time to spare in the 1930s.

Held added to one Ben Simms's copy of the book an unflattering self-portrait. He gave himself three chins and a rather pruny complexion. Cartoonists!

As I have previously noted, The Rumrunner's Sister-in-Law is Held's very first New Yorker woodcut, published in the issue of April 11, 1925. You remember, page 5.

At post time, the book is still available from Sequitur Books of Boonsboro. That's not a non sequitur.

John Held, Jr.
AbeBooks listing accessed September 27, 2024

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=31897489881&searchurl=attrs%3Dsgnd%26ds%3D30%26kn%3DJohn%2BHeld%2BJr%26p%3D1%26rollup%3Don%26sgnd%3Don%26sortby%3D17%26sp%3D0%26spo%3D30&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-image29

Note:  I have never before seen a book in which John Held, Jr., left his signature, let alone a drawing. I would hope there are other examples to which my pious friends and drunken companions could introduce me.

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John Held, Jr.: My Pious Friends and Drunken Companions

In 1927, amidst the backdrop of Prohibition and its discontents, Frank Shay collected My Pious Friends and Drunken Companions. The book is "magnificently illuminated" by the cartoonist John Held, Jr., showing off his deliberately old-fashioned woodblock style. What caught my eye right off was the bold frontispiece illustration, The Rumrunner's Sister-in-Law. This had been Held's very first New Yorker illustration, appearing in the issue of April 11, 1925.

The Rumrunner's Sister-in-Law
John Held, Jr.
The New Yorker, April 11, 1925, page 5

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1925-04-11/flipbook/004/

An illustrator of Held's popularity gets his name to appear with the same prominence as the author's.

The book is marred by a hand-written dedication, which may have meant something in 1927, and by numerous emendations to the songs.

The tipped-in photo purports to show Held "At 3 A.M. in the Roaring Twenties." He was a night owl, evidently.

The Table of Contents is illustrated with a detail from Bygone Days, below.

The previous owner's notations document some variation of the song, perhaps based on a recording. The published lyrics highlight the mainstream acceptance of racist language at the time.

Variations on such lyrics were common:

"Way Down Yonder in the Cornfield"

Imperial Quartet, 1915

The Curse of the Opera House demonstrates how unsatisfying it is to look at a vertical image horizontally.

There, that's better:

Image added January 17, 2021

More notations to song lyrics:

Bygone Days shows what nostalgia for drinking looked like in the 1920s.

John Held, Jr.
eBay listing accessed January 13, 2021

https://www.ebay.com/itm/My-Pious-Friends-and-Drunken-Companions-by-Frank-Shay-1927-1st-edition/324407172757?hash=item4b882c9e95:g:RicAAOSwjJdfzSY4

John Held, Jr.
eBay item description

Cartoon by John Held, Jr.

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1925-04-11/flipbook/004/

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