My Copy of Where There's Smoke, There's Dinner by Jennifer Hayden

On Wednesday evening, I went to Labyrinth Books in Princeton to hear comix memoirist Jennifer Hayden in conversation with Summer Pierre. The event was a promotion for Hayden's new book Where There's Smoke, There's Dinner: Confessions of a Cartoonist Cook.

The shop window was decorated with a timely display celebrating women comix artists.

The bookstore was well-stocked for the occasion.

Hayden, left, talks about her adventures in comix and cooking with Pierre, right.

Inspired no doubt by "Hill Street Blues," the artist personalized this copy to me on the dedication page.

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Arnold Roth: From the Collection of Paul P. Goldberg

Cartoonist Arnold Roth presented collector Paul P. Goldberg with an autograph drawing of the artist's self-portrait bust on a pedestal body, walking. The nose, befittingly for Roth, is a pen nib. The effort on Roth's part seems to be greater than required; he clearly loves to draw. The card is very specifically dated and postmarked February 12, 1968. It was mailed in Princeton.

Arnold Roth
eBay listing ended December 14, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/176086813052?hash=item28ff97897c:g:6LQAAOSw-FllckQi

Arnold Roth
eBay item description

Arnold Roth
eBay bid history
The winning bid comes in at least two seconds after all the others.

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Patrick McDonnell: Princeton Loves Pets

A pin-back button featuring the characters Mooch and Earl from the Mutts comic strip was distributed at Patrick McDonnell's 2017 appearance at the Princeton Public Library. The design, dominated by the town's orange color, promotes the #PrincetonLovesPets hashtag. At this writing, the hashtag has appeared in twenty-two Instagram posts.

https://princetonlibrary.org/oldevent/celebration-companion-animals-patrick-mcdonnell/

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John Held, Jr.: Peacock Inn Speakeasy Murals

A little more than a decade ago the Peacock Inn of Princeton, New Jersey, underwent an extensive renovation. Down in the basement, long forgotten murals were discovered hidden under wallpaper. They proved to be decorations from an abandoned speakeasy. The artist was John Held, Jr., the hugely popular American illustrator of the 1920s. The rediscovered murals, lost treasures of the jazz age, were preserved by cutting them out of the the walls and mounting them in frames. They now hang on the main level in the Perch restaurant. The mural images are all in black and white. I found myself sitting under this one upon my first visit to the restaurant and unable to take my eyes off it:

Still life:

That darts player is a lefty:

A dancing flapper:



Is this an exhausted couple, or are they just so bored with it all?

The brilliant mathematician John von Neumann was apparently known locally for motoring around Princeton somewhat heedlessly while reading a book. As my waiter explained, this was the rough equivalent of texting while driving today. Fair enough. Von Neumann's appearance in this most impressive mural would date it to fairly late in Prohibition, as he wasn't invited to Princeton until 1929 and Prohibition was repealed in 1933.

The Perch restaurant's menu is outstanding and I would recommend dining at the Peacock Inn even if the Held murals weren't there. That's pretty much my highest recommendation. How about that! Check out the menu online and see if it's for you.

Note:  Original art by John Held, Jr., is just the sort of thing I like to show here on Attempted Bloggery. For our purposes, Held's block prints may be regarded as original cartoons, as there certainly aren't very many of them for any given image. Please email images of prized Held art to a friendly blog near you.

I would love to see more photographs of murals by New Yorker cartoonists, especially those of the lost-and-found variety like these. See what you can come up with.

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License Plate for a Doga Teacher?

I kid you not.

"YOGA DOG"
Virginia license plate

Note:  Attempted Bloggery appreciates finding amusement on and off the road. Readers are invited to safely contribute clever license plates to the old blog.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

License Plates

Dogs

Attempted Bloggery's Unlicensed Index

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Today's Walk: Stand Here

Today, you just might want to follow in my footsteps. Shazam!

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Robert Day and the Princeton Tiger

Princeton University's colors are orange and black and its mascot is, appropriately, the tiger. Awareness of that school mascot is the key piece of information needed to follow Robert Day's Princeton-themed cartoon original sold on eBay four years ago. The eBay seller notes that the artwork was purchased directly from the artist and it was never published in the New Yorker.

"Princeton expelled him, as I understand the story, and he has been getting even ever since."
Robert Day
Original cartoon art

Robert Day's signature

Caption

Verso

Glue residue

Robert Day
eBay Listing Ended May 13, 2015

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Robert-Day-Princeton-Cartoon-Original-Print-Art-Signed-New-Yorker-Cartoonist-/171780663514?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27feece8da&nma=true&si=Zv4PhLp6HocGRC23iqci2JeQ2LI%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Robert Day
eBay Item Description

Robert Day
eBay Bid History

The winning bid was placed in the final two seconds of the auction, a collegiate strategy if ever there was one.

Robert Day, as it turns out, did actually get one Princeton tiger cartoon into The New Yorker:

"This is he."
Robert Day
The New Yorker, October 22, 1960, page 36

https://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1960-10-22#folio=03

Note:  So, if this elaborate original drawing by Robert Day did not appear in the New Yorker, where might it have been published? Was it published at all? Attempted Bloggery would like to hear from any reader with knowledge of where and when this cartoon may have appeared in print. Come on, show your stripes.

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Fall Preview

From my recent walks, here's a little fall preview:

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An Al Kaufman Self-Portrait

Who can blame New Yorker cartoonist Al Kaufman for choosing to depict himself with his family on his mind? In addition to the more surreal aspects of this cartoon, the eyeballs have been drawn as twin smiling faces. This unusual self-portrait bears printer's markings and came out of a Princeton estate. It was sold last year on eBay.

Al Kaufman
Self-Portrait

Detail

Al Kaufman
eBay Listing Ended October 31, 2017

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cartoonist-AL-KAUFMAN-034-Ink-Spill-New-Yorker-Magazine-034-Orig-Pen-amp-Ink-Self-Portrait-/232544945938?hash=item3624c24712%3Ag%3AEAsAAOSwjkdZ7oeE&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Al Kaufman
eBay Item Description

The illustration is featured—and explained—in Ink Spill's capsule biography of the artist:

Al Kaufman's capsule biography on Ink Spill
The New Yorker Cartoonists A-Z

http://michaelmaslin.com/new-yorker-cartoonists-z/

What do you know? The new owner announced his acquisition on Twitter:

Al Kaufman tweet

https://twitter.com/broomewithaview/status/928406743805317122

Al Kaufman
Self-Portrait

Note:  Alas, I did not look up the eBay auctions of the other seven self-portraits by New Yorker cartoonists from the same estate. Does anyone by chance have pictures of these?

I would also like to hear from anyone who can identify where this drawing was originally published.

Readers are referred to the post "Al Kaufman Photos Surface" from December 3, 2013 on Ink Spill for more about this artist.

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