My Entries in the Moment Cartoon Caption Contest for January/February 2021

Moment magazine's Cartoon Caption Contest for January/February 2021 rings out the old year and rings in the new. It dates from that recent time when we were optimistic that 2021 would be a much better year than 2020. After the storming of the United States Capitol on January 6 and the subsequent second impeachment and trial of Donald Trump, who can say how much better this year will be? Anyway, I submitted two captions, neither of which were my most inspired efforts. The drawing is by Benjamin Schwartz.

“Skip prison. Take him straight to quarantine.”

“Book ‘im, Danna!”

April 18, 2021 Update:  The Finalists

June 19, 2021 Update:  The Winner

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Mary Gibson: New Year Spoilsport

It seems odd that Mary Gibson's lively New Year's Eve cartoon for the Saturday Evening Post was published in the issue of October 31, 1953, a full two months ahead of the holiday. Still, there's no mistaking the spirited celebration or the dour mood of the husband who refuses to have anything to do with it.

"Go ahead, be a spoil-sport! Don't throw your paper streamer!"
Mary Gibson
The Saturday Evening Post, October 31, 1953

Scan by Dick Buchanan

The basic idea here of a husband unwilling to join the festivities and cheer in the New Year would be revisited two years (and two months) later by William Steig in the pages of The New Yorker. Compared with the complexity of the Gibson cartoon, Steig gives us a simpler, linear array of seated partygoers and an even grumpier husband. The caption is mercifully shorter and punchier without the burden of those unnecessary exclamation points. His cartoon is remembered to this day by cartoon cognoscenti as a classic.

"Either cheer up or take off the hat."
William Steig
The New Yorker, December 31, 1955, page 28

Cartoon by William Steig and advertisement by DuPont

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1955-12-31/flipbook/028/

Note:  Dick Buchanan has come through once again with a high-quality scan of a long-forgotten gag from his legendary cartoon clip files. Dick specializes in rescuing thousands upon thousands of vintage cartoons from obscurity. He contributes regularly to Mike Lynch Cartoons, most recently a post entitled "From the Dick Buchanan Files: Gag Cartoon Clichés Part 10 1949 - 1966." That's right, part 10, with links to parts 1 through 9! And while we're keeping score, this is Dick's 58th contribution to Attempted Bloggery. Thanks so much, Dick!

This post marks Mary Gibson's first appearance on this blog. Michael Maslin's Ink Spill reports that she had a total of eight cartoons published in The New Yorker, all between 1943 and 1950. This means that the vast majority of her work was published elsewhere. Personally, I would be interested in posting some the artist's original cartoons and published rarities.

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Ringing in the New Year with George Booth, Gahan Wilson, and Robert Weber

Scans of three vintage New Year cartoons come to us courtesy of Dick Buchanan's Cartoon Clip Files. Each of the three cartoonists represented here was eventually to become a major New Yorker contributor, but at the time these were published George Booth and Gahan Wilson were still years away from having their first cartoons accepted by the magazine. Robert Weber, though, had been in the New Yorker for a couple of years at the time the cartoon of his shown here was published.

Dick writes that George Booth's silhouette art was published as a "spot drawing which appeared on the last page of the magazine. This page included jokes, humorous verse (what ever happened to that?) and two cartoons. Booth did these spots for, I think, 3 years—1953 to 1955. Long ago I posted all 12 from 1953 [at] Mike Lynch [Cartoons]. Have yet to uncover enough from 1954 & 1955."

George Booth

The American Legion Magazine

January 1954, page 64

Scan by Dick Buchanan

Dick has posted the following Gahan Wilson cartoon to Mike Lynch Cartoons not once but twice now. Still, it's worth a third look to point out just how unconventional Wilson's approach was. The key here is to take special note of the date of publication and then the year of the calendars. Who else would even think of this?

Gahan Wilson
Collier's, January 7, 1955

Scan by Dick Buchanan

Finally, Robert Weber's cartoon has the look of a gag created specifically for the New Yorker but very likely rejected by the magazine, perhaps because the gag is just a little bit forced. Anyway, in this era cartoons were published in a great many venues and cartoonists could peddle their rejects to other downstream magazines and those magazines that were selective enough and paid enough could give their readers humor very nearly on a par with that in the New Yorker. It was what we today would call a win-win for both the cartoonists and for the magazines. To quote the nostalgic Dick Buchanan, "Whatever happened to that?"

Robert Weber
Look, December 31, 1963, page 41

Scan by Dick Buchanan

Note:  Boy, that Dick Buchanan sure knows his way around a scanner! This is Dick's fifty-first contribution to Attempted Bloggery. One more and I'll finally be playing with a full deck. Dick, of course, maintains the matchless Dick Buchanan Cartoon Clip Files. He also regularly contributes to Mike Lynch Cartoons, most recently a post entitled "From the Dick Buchanan Files: All In Fun: Gag Cartoons 1949 - 1968." Me, I just can't double up on colons in a post title like that.

By the way, you can find George Booth's aforementioned 1953 silhouette gags at "1953 George Booth Drawings for American Legion Magazine." It's all there in black and white.

As mentioned above, the Gahan Wilson calendar cartoon appeared twice, both in "Dick Buchanan's Cartoon Files: Gahan Wilson: Early Gag Cartoons 1954 - 1964" and in "Gahan WIlson 1930 - 2019."

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Happy New Year!

George Booth

Gahan Wilson

Robert Weber

Collier's

Look Magazine

Dick Buchanan

Attempted Bloggery's Auld Index

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Ronald Searle: A New Year's Letter to Jean Ellsmoor

December 27, 1961. Ronald Searle, newly-fled to Paris, writes to his London secretary Jean Ellsmoor. How common could it have been then for a busy illustrator to type letters to his secretary? Searle sent her many; the mail seems to have been their primary mode of long-distance communication. Quite a bit of Searle's correspondence with Ellsmoor is still available from Chris Beetles Gallery to which it was consigned a few years ago, circa 2011. This letter indicates Ellsmoor is still handling Searle's transactions with John Locke, his American agent. The cartoonist also stops to wonder how he can possibly do any more of his Imaginary Portraits series for Punch. Finally, he adds festive New Year's greetings in his distinctive decorative lettering because he has a "second intention" besides business, because he can't abide leaving any portion of the paper blank, and because he is Ronald Searle.

https://www.chrisbeetles.com/artwork/5499/typed-letter-to-jean-ellsmoor-wednesday-27-december-1961

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New Year's Resolution: Don't Overpay

Those who don't have an infinite reserve of capital backing them up are advised to exercise care in spending money unnecessarily. Remember, just because something is scarce doesn't mean it's automatically of great value. So even if you are a New Yorker completist who absolutely has to have that hard-to-find copy of the Cartoons from The New Yorker 2010 Day-to-Day Calendar currently offered on Amazon, you might want to think twice before spending an obscene $7,794.01 for it. If thinking twice isn't enough, think three times.

Cartoons from The New Yorker 2010 Day-to-Day Calendar

Cartoons from The New Yorker Day-to-Day  2010 Calendar
Amazon Listing Retrieved January 1, 2019

https://www.amazon.com/Cartoons-New-Yorker-Day-Day/dp/0740782444/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546371678&sr=8-1&keywords=the+new+yorker

So why not shop around, like Momma told you? AbeBooks lists the very same calendar and offers the option of paying as much as $11,206 or as little as $4,000. The disparity is ridiculous but even the lowest price is still insulting!

AbeBooks Listings Retrieved January 1, 2019

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?cm_sp=sort-_-SRP-_-Results&ds=20&kn=Cartoons%20from%20the%20New%20Yorker%202010%20Day-To-Day%20Calendar&sortby=1

My New Year's resolution is to refrain from overpaying, particularly for mass-produced items. Yours should be too. Be patient, wait for your price, and realize you can get along just fine without obsolete publications like the Cartoons from The New Yorker 2010 Day-to-Day Calendar no matter how rare they may now seem to be. Cheaper copies will probably come along. Even if they don't, there are better uses for $4,000. I'll bet you can think of some.

Oh, I could also stand to lose a couple of pounds...

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Leo Cullum

Calendars

The New Yorker

Happy New Year!

Attempted Bloggery's Bargain Basement Index

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Ted Key: The Whoopee Party

It is the morning of New Year's Day eighty years ago as seen in the pages of Collier's. Cartoonist Ted Key's young master has returned home from a night on the town. His gentleman's gentleman, it would seem, has also been busy celebrating.

"On behalf of the staff and myself, sir—whoopee!"
Ted Key
Collier's, January 7, 1939, page 44

Scan by Dick Buchanan

Note:  A New Year's toast to Dick Buchanan for providing this scan of a long-forgotten Ted Key cartoon. What Ted Key is best remembered for, of course, is the panel strip Hazel. Today marks Dick's forty-first contribution to Attempted Bloggery, not that I'm keeping track or anything. Dick maintains the celebrated Dick Buchanan Cartoon Clip Files. He also contributes regularly to Mike Lynch Cartoons, most recently a post entitled "From the Dick Buchanan Files: More Vintage Gag Cartoons 1947 - 1962." Go have a look. Share them with your valet.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Ted Key

Dick Buchanan

Parties

Collier's

Happy New Year!

Attempted Bloggery's Formal Index

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Rick Parker: Harold Lloyd

Time's almost up! As we count down the hours and minutes to the the start of 2019, I'd like for us momentarily to put aside our contemporary watches and smart phones and to recall instead the iconic image of Harold Lloyd hanging from the clock face in the 1923 silent classic "Safety Last!" This comes, of course, from the climactic scene in which Harold—the character shares Lloyd's full name—is forced to climb a skyscraper as a publicity stunt. The colorful image shown here this New Year's Eve is an interpretation by Rick Parker.

Rick Parker
Harold Lloyd

The striking thing is that the famous shot doesn't seem to occur in the film.

Video Still 1:04:06

See for yourself, starting at around 1:03:00.

Harold Lloyd

"Safety Last!" (1923)

The iconic view we are all familiar with is evidently a publicity still:

Publicity Still

It becomes apparent that the camera angle in this publicity still is different from that in the film. We can see more of the adjacent window and it is here fully closed. The word Majestic is visible just to the right of the clock, while we don't even see that near corner of that building during the clock business in the actual film. There is an awful lot of sleight of hand that went into the filming of the movie's thrilling final scene, and that trickery evidently  extended into the shooting of the publicity still as well. Note that Rick Parker, in creating his image, had to deal with Lloyd's blurry feet in the photo. He opted to clarify their outlines.

Note:  Thanks to Rick Parker for providing his wonderful image just in time to welcome in the new year. This is Rick's first appearance on Attempted Bloggery. Happy New Year, Rick! 

And a Happy New Year to all!


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Happy New Year!

Attempted Bloggery's Timeless Index

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Perry Barlow: Sizing Up the New Year

It is New Year's Eve eighty years ago in the pages of Collier's. Perry Barlow's older couple has not quite gotten into the spirit of the festivities. Note how deftly Barlow sets the scene and contrasts the impassive couple in the foreground with the energetic partygoers everywhere else.

"Now, let's see, I take about a seven and three eighths[.]"
Perry Barlow
Collier's, January 7, 1939, page 43

Scan by Dick Buchanan

Note:  Hats off to Dick Buchanan for sending along this scan of a festive Perry Barlow cartoon. This is Dick's fortieth contribution to Attempted Bloggery, but then I have been known to undercount. Dick's claim to fame is that he keeps the monumental Dick Buchanan Cartoon Clip Files. From these he contributes regularly to Mike Lynch Cartoons, most recently a post entitled "From the Dick Buchanan Files: More Vintage Gag Cartoons 1947 - 1962." Go visit. You won't find these anywhere else. Yes, you can wear your party hat.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Perry Barlow

Dick Buchanan

Parties

Collier's

Happy New Year!

Attempted Bloggery's Heady Index

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New Year's Balloons: Arnie Levin New Yorker Cover Art

If you're going to throw a spectacular New Year's Eve party, you need to have certain things: a band, a dance floor, party hats, noisemakers, champagne glasses—and, of course, festive balloons! Check! Arnie Levin's 1984 New Yorker cover makes all the right preparations to help ring in the New Year in style. The original art was sold two weeks ago at Swann Galleries.

Arnie Levin
Original art
The New Yorker, January 2, 1984

Arnie Levin
Original art
The New Yorker, January 2, 1984

Arnie Levin
Swann Galleries Sale 2465, Lot 298, December 14, 2017

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=2465+++++298+&refno=++739689&image=0

Arnie Levin
The New Yorker, January 2, 1984

Note: Happy New Year! Attempted Bloggery seeks scans or photographs of original works of art by Arnie Levin.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

Arnie Levin

Original New Yorker Cover Art

New Year's Eve

Attempted Bloggery's Overinflated Index

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Peanuts: Happy New Year from the Bakers of Butternut Bread

Fewer than three weeks into writing this blog I happened upon some original artwork by Charles M. Schulz from an advertising campaign for Butternut Bread. The resulting post remains my most popular ever. One of the many pieces of promotional art that I had documented for that piece came up on eBay recently and sold for a surprisingly inexpensive price. Snoopy, Linus, Charlie Brown and Lucy wish you a "Happy New Year from the bakers of Butternut Bread!"

Charles M. Schulz
Original advertising art

"Happy New Year from the bakers of Butternut Bread!" 

Charles M. Schulz
Original advertising art
"Happy New Year from the bakers of Butternut Bread!" 

Charles M. Schulz
eBay Listing Ended November 10, 2017

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Schulz-Drawing-New-Year-Ink-original-Snoopy-dog-art-cartoon-old-signed-Peanuts-/192355419178?hash=item2cc946c42a%3Ag%3ArHgAAOSwTEJZ-FYU&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Charles M. Schulz
eBay Item Description

eBay Bid History

It's a five-day auction, but all four bids are placed in the final 40 seconds. Unusually, it is the first bid chronologically that wins it.

Charles M. Schulz
Original advertising art
"Happy New Year from the bakers of Butternut Bread!" 

January 1, 2017 Update:  Today on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/doc_nad/status/947059954564902912

The real deal:

https://twitter.com/GabocheArs/status/947482316296814592

I have got to be more careful!

Note:  Follow the link for my original post on "Butternut Bread Peanuts Promotions."


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

Charles M. Schulz

Advertising Art

Happy New Year!

Attempted Bloggery's Auld Index

Attempted Bloggery supports net neutrality.

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Victor Herbert's Auditorium Festival March

Auditorium Festival March is an orchestral piece composed by Victor Herbert in 1901. Named for Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan's Auditorium Theatre in Chicago, it is sometimes referred to simply as Festival March. Herbert wrote it for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, which he hoped to take to the Auditorium Theatre. The score includes a familiar auld theme.

Victor Herbert, Auditorium Festival March

Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava)

Keith Brion, conductor

Naxos, 2000

Auditorium Theatre interior view, Chicago, 1914 postcard

https://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com/2013/07/05/postcard-chicago-auditorium-theatre-louis-sullivan-interior-view-1914/

Auditorium Theatre exterior view, Chicago, 1914 postcard

https://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com/postcard-chicago-auditorium-theatre-building-louis-sullivan-carriages-tinted-1914/

Attempted Bloggery's quick links:

New Year's Eve

Attempted Bloggery's Festive Index

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Constantin Alajálov: Midnight Approaching

It's that time again....

Constantin Alajálov, The Saturday Evening Post, January 1, 1940

http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/constantin-alajalov

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Kate Greenaway: "Just a Line to Wish a Happy New Year"

Bauman Rare Books offers an autograph letter signed with an original illustration in watercolor by Kate Greenaway. She wishes her correspondent, Frederick Locker-Lampson, a Happy New Year. I first noted this letter on Bauman's website in late 2012. It is available for $6,500.

http://www.baumanrarebooks.com/rare-books/greenaway-kate/autograph-letter-signed-with-original-watercolor-drawing/61336.aspx

January 1, 2017 Update:  This item has been sold.


Note:  Other letters on this blog including some with original illustrations may be seen here but none are addressed to quite as colorful a name as Frederick Locker-Lampson.

You can take a last look at the New Year's posts here.

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