Showing posts with label Sizzling Platter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sizzling Platter. Show all posts

Friday, April 21, 2023

Chuck's Copy of Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter

It can't be that unusual for a buyer to show up at a book signing and ask the author to inscribe his book to some other recipient not present. On more than one occasion, New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno employed the formulation he uses here, inscribing a copy of Sizzling Platter (1949) "Peter / to Milt / to Chuck / the best! / Peter Arno." This could be a nod to "Tinker to Evers to Chance," the most famous double play combination in the history of baseball, but that is by no means certain.






Faces That Pass in the Bar

"Ah, M'sieu, I have a table for you now."

"Let's not lose our tempers, sir!"

"We'd better get started, dear. Time and tide, you know . . ."

"Don't breathe a word to anyone—it's a nightgown."

"See anything?"






Peter Arno
eBay listing ended April 12, 2023


Peter Arno
eBay item description




Note:  What are the odds? This blog's archive boasts another copy of Sizzling Platter serially inscribed by Peter Arno to two recipients just as he did here. A double play!



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Saturday, December 16, 2017

Blog Post No. 2400: Sizzling Platter Chatter

It is now time for us to take up the sizzling platter situation. Just imagining what might very well be the specialty of the house can make one’s mouth water. Yet New Yorker cartoonists very deliberately have avoided drawing sizzling platters for... well, decades. Three cartoons in the magazine's storied history specifically mention sizzling platters, but do we ever actually get to visualize the real deal? In 1937, cartoonist Barbara Shermund comes awfully close to drawing one, but there is so much steam there’s just nothing left to see. In other words, it's all sizzle and no platter.

Barbara Shermund
The New Yorker, March 13, 1937


 Likewise, very early in 1949 cartoonist Robert Day does not delineate for us a sizzling platter either, only a couple discussing the fancy menu item. This time it's all talk and no sizzle.
Robert Day, The New Yorker, January 29, 1949


 Thankfully, the subject finds its way to Peter Arno later in 1949, via gag writer Richard McCallister. In Arno's hands, the sizzling platter is no longer really a menu item at all; instead it's an unseen but potently-suggestive double entendre. Note how the provocatively-posed line of showgirls allows the viewer to imagine the comically-horrific incident described. And what a wonderful look of abject concern on the diner’s face! Yet there is paradoxically a complete absence of food anywhere in the drawing; there's not even a dish in sight. Now it's all innuendo and no platter.

Peter Arno, The New Yorker, May 7, 1949

Arno’s midcentury masterpiece put an understandable end to the small run of New Yorker cartoons on the subject of sizzling platters; there is simply no way to top it. So, do we ever actually get to see our talked-about sizzling platter? We certainly do, but it isn't to be found in the pages of The New Yorker. Rather, the long-awaited sizzling platter is finally depicted on the front cover dust jacket illustration for the collection Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter (1949). (You know a cartoon is iconic when it lends a published collection its title!) Arno's self-restraint has finally exhausted itself and it is only now that we get to feast our eyes on a hot sizzling platter...and the food doesn’t look so bad either.
Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter (1949)



Note:  I am grateful to New Yorker cartoonist and Peter Arno biographer Michael Maslin for identifying Richard McCallister as the gag writer of the Arno cartoon. Mr. Maslin's 2016 biography, Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of the New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist, is available on Amazon and elsewhere at a mad, mad discount no Arno fan should pass up. Incidentally, if any reader can identify the gag writer for the two other sizzling platter cartoons by Shermund and Day, or whether they indeed used a gag writer at all, please come forward and tell the epicurean world what we need to know.

Surely Peter Arno produced far more than his share of unsurpassed work throughout his career and Attempted Bloggery humbly begs to bring you more of it. I seek scans or photographs of original cartoon art by Arno as well as examples of rare and obscure published work from outside of the well-thumbed pages of The New Yorker. Please send me something that sizzles.
December 31, 2017 Update:  Peter Arno's original book cover illustration is in Harry's Bar, London. It's in the center on the back wall.
Harry's Bar in London by Mark Birley
Image added May 7, 2020

The Attempted Bloggery Centennial Posts
Blog Post No. 100
Blog Post No. 200:  A Shaggy Dog Story

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

Peter Arno

Robert Day

Richard McCallister

Barbara Shermund

The New Yorker

Attempted Bloggery's Overheated Index

Attempted Bloggery supports net neutrality.

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Friday, May 20, 2016

Daise Terry's Copy of Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter?

Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter (1949)
Bookseller image
Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter (1949) signed and inscribed by Peter Arno
Bookseller Image


Bookseller Peter Ellis in the U.K. offers a signed and inscribed copy of Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter (1949), providing a splendid photo of the book although not of the inscription. Still, when asked, the bookseller promptly provided a photo via email. The inscription reads, "Dear Daisy—/With gratitude for/your endless help/Peter Arno." The bookseller notes, "We have been unable to ascertain who the endlessly helpful Daisy might have been." No? Well, that raises an interesting conjecture.

Art editor James Geraghty was hired by the New Yorker in 1939.
—Michael Maslin
Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist
New York:  Regan Arts, 2016, p. 121

Could this Daisy then be Daise Terry, the New Yorker's office manager? As a liaison between the cartoonists and New Yorker editor Harold Ross, she would certainly qualify as the "endlessly helpful" recipient of Arno's gratitude. We also know that at least some of her library has made its way to the market. We may not be able to say for sure, but it seems tantalizingly probable that Daise Terry is the Daisy we're looking for.


Peter Ellis, Bookseller Abe Books listing. The price is 250 GBP.

Abe Books Item Description


Note:  Santa Lurch? See what cartoonist Charles Addams drew one Christmas for Daise Terry.

Getting enough Peter Arno? Lately, this blog has been wall-to-wall Peter Arno.

Signed books? Yes, signed books are a thing around here this week.

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Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter Inscribed, Part 2

In marked contrast to the beautiful presentation copy of Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter (1949) shown in this space last post, here is a cruder copy from my own collection picked up on eBay some years ago.  There is no dust jacket and the inscription is written hastily in blue ballpoint at the very top of the front free endpaper. The signature with the rounded A is closer to Arno's early signature from the 1920's, and perhaps it is the way he signed his name when he wasn't being artistic.

Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter (1949) inscribed "To my friend Nuddie/from your boy/Peter Arno"




Note:  Yes, there are quite a few signed books on view in the blog archives. Most of them look better than this one.
Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist by Michael Maslin has just been published. I have my copy. Do you have yours?

More Arno links:

Peter Arno posts on Ink Spill.

Peter Arno in Chris Wheeler's Cartoon(ist) Gallery where, I might add, none of the signed Arno books look remotely like this one. Hmm...

Peter Arno in April's Vanity Fair.

Peter Arno in a recent Wall Street Journal article.

Peter Arno posts here on Attempted Bloggery.

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Sunday, April 17, 2016

Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter Inscribed

This month a signed and inscribed copy of Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter (1949) turned up on eBay. The book is inscribed to two people, making for an unusual inscription.


Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter (1949) inscribed "Peter/to Rider/to Jack/The Best!/Peter Arno"





eBay Listing Ended April 6, 2016

eBay Item Description


eBay Bid History. Four bids were placed, three in the last minute.



Note:  More signed books may be seen in the blog archives.
Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist by Michael Maslin will be released on this week.

Michael Maslin will join Edward Sorel in conversation on April 18 at Columbia University.

 More links:

Peter Arno posts on Ink Spill.

Peter Arno in Chris Wheeler's Cartoon(ist) Gallery.

Peter Arno in April's Vanity Fair.

Peter Arno in a recent Wall Street Journal article.

Peter Arno here on Attempted Bloggery.

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Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Peter Arno Book Promotions

How do you sell a new cartoon book? Take a look at a few vintage ads and other promotions for books by Peter Arno.

Whoops Dearie!, 1927
The New Yorker, April 30, 1927, page 51
Whoops Dearie!, 1927

Not a cartoon collection, but illustrated by Arno:
France on Ten Words a Day, 1927
The New Yorker, May 21, 1927

France on Ten Words a Day by H. McCarty-Lee, 1927

Advertisement for Peter Arno's Circus
The New York Times Book Review, January 11, 1931
Image added March 18, 2022
Photo by Scott Burns

Advertisement for Peter Arno's Circus
The New Yorker, December 14, 1931, page 91
Image added March 28, 2022



Circus, 1931
Image added March 18, 2022






"Briefly Noted"
The New Yorker, July 27, 1940, page 68
Image added June 7, 2016



Where are the Customers' Yachts? by Fred Schwed, Jr., 1940
Image added May 21, 2017


Man in the Shower, 1944
The New Yorker, November 4, 1944, page 80

Man in the Shower, 1944
The New Yorker, December 9, 1944, page 107
Man in the Shower, 1944

Sizzling Platter, 1949
Holiday book blurb from The New Yorker, December 10, 1949, page 143

Sizzling Platter, 1949

Ladies & Gentlemen, 1951
The New Yorker, November 24, 1951, page 159
Ladies & Gentlemen, 1951


Lady in the Shower, 1967

Lady in the Shower, 1967



Note:  For good measure, here are some Charles Addams book promotions.

But let's get back to Peter Arno:

Peter Arno's biography by Michael Maslin is coming our way on April 19. Get ready.

Peter Arno will be the subject of a conversation between Michael Maslin and Edward Sorel at Columbia University's Butler Library on April 18.

Peter Arno posts on Ink Spill include some images never before seen on the internet.

Peter Arno is a in full force at Chris Wheeler's Cartoon(ist) Gallery. See many of Arno's books in their rare original dust jackets!

Peter Arno is in April's Vanity Fair.

Peter Arno also made a recent Wall Street Journal article.

Peter Arno posts are presented with pride here on Attempted Bloggery.

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