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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Dorothy McKay in College Humor, September 1937

Much sophomoric humor—the sort that was published in, appropriately, College Humor—allows the reader to feel intellectually superior to the characters in the gags. Thus Dorothy McKay gives us two cartoons in the September 1937 number with characters who aren't exactly the brightest bulbs in the box. The first—and more disturbing—has fun at the expense of the country bumpkin who apparently knows how to swim but, when his wife is drowning, can't seem to move anything but his lips. And his son is no better.

"Reckon we shoulda learned maw t'swim last summer, Ed!"
Dorothy McKay, College Humor, Vol. 6, No. 1, September 1937, page 41

The second cartoon presents a scenario which might be more familiar to the college student of 1937. It depicts a young woman introducing her mother to the Princeton man voted most likely to succeed. Presumably she is the only one on the porch who doesn't quite grasp the full implication of that honor. Or does she...?

"Oh, mother! This is Mr. Merton of Princeton. He's the student most likely to succeed!"
Dorothy McKay, College Humor, Vol. 6, No. 1, September 1937, page 44

Note:  The May 1937 issue of College Humor is located in the Steven Boss humor magazine collection at Columbia University. It's in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library so don't bother with the stacks. My thanks to Karen Green, Curator for Comics and Cartoons—I love saying that—for her assistance.


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Dorothy McKay
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Tree Removal on Nassau Street

Summer provides a brief window for colleges and universities to spruce up their campuses. Here two large trees near the entrance to Princeton University on Nassau Street come down.

The limbs have already been removed on June 20, 2015

"X" marks the spot, June 20, 2015

Tree stump, August 29, 2015

Note:  See more posts about Princeton University.

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