Thomas Nast: Enter the Elephant

Among his many accomplishments, cartoonist Thomas Nast was largely responsible for establishing the elephant as the symbol of the Republican Party. He first introduced a pachyderm labeled "The Republican Vote" in a Harper's Weekly cartoon from the November 7, 1874, issue. The parable of "The Ass in the Lion's Skin" is from Aesop, not Shakespeare.

The Third-Term Panic.
"An Ass, having put on the Lion's skin, roamed about in the Forest, and amused himself by frightening all the foolish Animals he met with in his wanderings."—Shakspeare or Bacon.
Thomas Nast
Harper's Weekly, November 7, 1874, p. 912

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)#/media/File:NastRepublicanElephant.jpg

Two weeks later, he revisited the idea, showing the hapless Republican elephant "Caught in a Trap—The Result of the Third-Term Hoax." Nast, a Republican, was reacting in both cartoons to unfounded speculation that Ulysses S. Grant would run for an unprecedented third presidential term in 1876. Argosy Book Store has a copy of the November 21 page in its inventory.

Caught in a Trap—The Result of the Third-Term Hoax.
Thomas Nast
Harpers Weekly, November 21, 1874, p. 960

Thomas Nast
Argosy Book Store listing accessed May 29, 2025

https://www.argosybooks.com/details.php?record=328173&jump=1&pkd_source=_newarr&utm_source=website&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=emaillists

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Mary Gibson: Our Little Suburb

John Lindgren writes of his mother, the cartoonist Mary Gibson. She was born in Montclair, New Jersey, in 1914 and passed away in Palm Coast, Florida, in 2007 at the age of 93. Her married name was Lindgren, but she signed her work with her maiden name.

John has hundreds upon hundreds of her original cartoons. One, an unsigned rough, apparently, bears a typewritten caption. He dates it to circa the 1940s but it may have something to say to our own time as well.

"Our little suburb is so quaint and full of atmosphere—inhabited solely by Republicans."
Mary Gibson

Ever the editor, I have corrected the typo soley to solely.

Note:  Was this rough by Mary Gibson ever worked into a finished cartoon and published? I'm lobbying for a bipartisan fact-finding commission to investigate.

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And Then There Was Trump

It's time for a postscript to Barry Blitt's New Yorker cover of July 27, 2015. Blitt shows Donald Trump entering the Republican Presidential candidate "pool" with a graceless belly flop as Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Chris Christie seek cover. Now that Marco Rubio has suspended his bid for the Republican nomination this evening, Trump is the only one of these five candidates still in the race. He is still facing Ted Cruz and John Kasich for the Republican Party nod, but they were not among the candidates shown on this July magazine cover.

Barry Blitt, "Belly Flop," The New Yorker, July 27, 2015

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2015-07-27#folio=CV1

Note:  The blog archives contain posts about Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump, but mostly about Trump.

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Donald Trump Caricatures by David Levine

The estate of caricaturist David Levine (1926-2009) has taken advantage of Donald Trump's recent political ascent to offer two drawings of the real estate developer at auction.  The 1988 caricature of Trump wearing diapers over his suit trousers did not find a buyer in 2015 but sold for a hammer price of $1,500 earlier this year perhaps owing to his current notoriety. On the other hand, the drawing from 2000 of the famous builder carrying a 2 by 4—more than a mere chip on his shoulder—failed to sell.

U.S. Presidential candidates are caricatured frequently during primary season and much more so if they make it to the Oval Office. The question implicit in this sale is whether purchasing a decades-old  drawing by a major caricaturist of a possible future President is a sound investment. It probably is, but many people still reject the idea that Donald Trump will be our next President.

David Levine, Original art, Donald Trump, 1988
The New York Review of Books, May 22, 1988

Swann Auction Galleries, January 28, 2016

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=2403+++++188+&refno=++714349&saletype=

David Levine, Donald Trump, 1988
The New York Review of Books, May 22, 1988

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1988/05/12/big-shots/

David Levine, Original art, Donald Trump, 2000
The New York Review of Books, December 21, 2000

Swann Auction Galleries, January 28, 2016

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullcatalogue.asp?salelot=2403+++++189+&refno=++713580

David Levine, Donald Trump, 2000
The New York Review of Books, December 21, 2000

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2000/12/21/golden-boy/

Note:  Rebecca Rego Barry wrote about these political caricatures pre-auction on Fine Books & Collections. She believes these Levine drawings will prove underpriced should Mr. Trump become President and who can argue with that?

The archives contain a couple of earlier posts on the remarkable David Levine including one about his unprecedented concurrent appearances on the covers of Time and Newsweek.

Donald Trump is simply too big not to be mentioned on this blog, and I'm not talking about his hands.

Levine archivist David Leopold has been mentioned here in his capacity as Creative Director of the Al Hirschfeld Foundation.

There's more here about the art of caricature as well.

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Belly Flop: Donald Trump Signs the New Yorker

Donald J. Trump entered the Presidential race in July and the event was commemorated on the cover of the New Yorker with "Belly Flop" by Barry Blitt. The "pool" of candidates includes Rand Paul, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Chris Christie, The magazine cover makes it clear that Mr. Trump's candidacy is expected to be disruptive, but no one at the time would have predicted the degree to which this candidate would come to dominate the polls—and the headlines. A copy of the issue was signed by the Donald at a campaign event last week in Cedar Falls, Iowa. The candidate apparently was not deterred by his unflattering depiction. The collectible issue is available right now on eBay.

Barry Blitt, "Belly Flop," The New Yorker, July 27, 2015 signed by Donald Trump

Donald Trump's signature

eBay Listing Copied January 18, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DONALD-TRUMP-Signed-2016-The-New-Yorker-Magazine-AUTOGRAPH-AUTHENTIC-AUTO-/321979642763?hash=item4af77b738b:g:DmcAAOSwGotWnDKT

eBay Item Description

The unsigned cover:

Barry Blitt, "Belly Flop," The New Yorker, July 27, 2015

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2015-07-27#folio=CV1

And from the same eBay seller at the same price:

Mark Fredrickson, Mad #537, February 2016, signed by Donald Trump

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DONALD-TRUMP-Signed-2016-MAD-Magazine-AUTOGRAPH-AUTHENTIC-AUTO/321979638213?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3D600605d045f943be982db079e0ce7c27%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D5%26sd%3D321979642763

Donald Trump's signature

The unsigned, undefaced cover:

Mark Fredrickson, Mad #537, February 2016

http://madtrash.com/item/040001573/

January 26, 2016 Update:  Sold!

Note:  The blog archives contain some more posts with signed magazines.

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Mark Alan Stamaty: The Dapper Pachyderm

In honor of the first Republican primary debate tonight, enjoy this original 1987 drawing by cartoonist Mark Alan Stamaty of the G.O.P. elephant all dressed up. He drew the dapper pachyderm in a copy of his collection More Washingtoons (1986).

Note:  If nominated, I will strive to avoid becoming the target of Mark Alan Stamaty. If elected, I will add to this blog many more books with original drawings. Trust me.

Tomorrow, equal time for Hillary.

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