Attempted Bloggery: Peter Arno's Parade

Showing posts with label Peter Arno's Parade. Show all posts

Sunday, March 15, 2026

Peter Arno and Whitney Darrow, Jr.: "A Delightful Addition to Any Child's Bookshelf"?

eBay seller kna_4183 is new to the auction platform, having just joined in November, so perhaps I should go easy on him—but I won't. A current eBay listing offers three cartoon books by New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno, one by Whitney Darrow, Jr., Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit (1907) by Joel Chandler Harris, and Colette and the Princess (1965) by Louis Slobodkin. The group is listed under the title "Joel Chandler Harris & Peter Arno • Illustrated Children's Hardcover Book Lot." To which I would only ask, "Are you sure these are really all children's books?"

This is an unconventional grouping, to be sure. There are fifty-eight years and two world wars between the two actual children's books in the lot, those of Harris and Slobodkin. In between are four books by New Yorker cartoonists that collect some of the wittiest and most sophisticated cartoons of their era. These books are Peter Arno's Parade (1929), his Hullabaloo (1930), and his Sizzling Platter (1949), as well as Whitney Darrow, Jr.'s, "You're Sitting on My Eyelashes" (1943). They're not in any way harmful to children, but they were all marketed to adults. The dust jacket to Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter with its delectable double entendre makes that pretty plain.

Here's how the eBay seller describes the listing: "This product is a lot of illustrated children's hardcover books featuring stories by Joel Chandler Harris, Peter Arno, and others. The books are in English and are original editions, with illustrations done by Louis Slobodkin. The stories fall under the genres of fairy tales and fantasy, making them perfect for young readers to enjoy. This collection would be a delightful addition to any child's bookshelf, offering a mix of classic tales and whimsical illustrations to spark imagination and creativity." They are all treated as if they had exactly the same sort of fairy story content and were all illustrated by Slobodkin. But the Harris book has folk tales, not fairy tales, and the Arno and Darrow books have single panel cartoons, not stories. Did the seller ever look inside them?

Peter Arno, Whitney Darrow, Jr., Joel Chandler Harris, and Louis Slobodkin
eBay listing ended March 14, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/147190625647?

Peter Arno, Whitney Darrow, Jr., Joel Chandler Harris, and Louis Slobodkin
eBay item description

Since February 14, this lot has been relisted on eBay every Saturday at the same price, $90.

05228

Friday, May 29, 2020

Peter Arno's Parade: The American and British Covers

Peter Arno's first cartoon collection was Parade published in New York by Horace Liveright in 1929. The dust jacket illustration does show a parade of sorts: recognizable Arno types dressed to the nines—or not dressed at all—in a not entirely coherent procession moving approximately left to right. Arno was already wildly popular in the States through his groundbreaking work in the New Yorker and the cover only needed to remind potential book buyers of his distinctive style and of the sort of familiar characters they could expect to find within.

Peter Arno's Parade. New York: Horace Liveright, 1929.

Two years later, when it was time to introduce Arno's work to the British public, a different approach was considered. This time the dust jacket was divided into four quadrants and an Arno cartoon complete with minuscule caption was placed in each corner. These four gags may have been the first Arno cartoons many English readers saw:

Peter Arno's Parade. London: John Lane, 1931.

The four captions, clockwise from top left, are "See, darling, I told you we couldn't have a Platonic friendship," "Not a very homey boat, is it?," "I was discussing the Mexican situation with Bottomley today. It seems fraught with interest," and "He fought a beautiful war, sir." Half of these are saucy bedroom gags and all four of them feature luxurious, upscale settings. That may not be a bad way to sell books...

Those familiar with Arno's American editions may notice that the Platonic friendship cartoon is out of place in Parade. Instead it is the leadoff cartoon to Peter Arno's Hullabaloo (New York: Horace Liveright, 1930). So the British edition of Parade collects at least some material that is not in the American edition.

The particular copy of the American edition of Parade shown here is from the library of writer Carl Van Vechten:

Peter Arno's Parade
Locus Solus Rare Books Listing Accessed May 28, 2020

https://www.locussolusrarebooks.com/pages/books/204946/peter-arno/peter-arnos-parade

The British edition of Parade listed on AbeBooks has a dust jacket that even the book dealer acknowledges is in poor condition. The price of $8.26 corresponds to 6.50 GBP. American fans of Arno might find the $37 transatlantic shipping cost prohibitive.