They sat my party next to Arno's New Yorker cover of January 30, 1965 depicting a dinner party. What a glorious restaurant this is, I beamed. Yet I wonder how many of the restaurant's patrons knew what they were looking at.
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| Peter Arno Original cover art The New Yorker, January 30, 1965 |
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| Peter Arno The New Yorker, January 30, 1965 |
Not far away was a Syd Hoff original cartoon from the January 1958 Esquire. All the cartoons I photographed were on the subject of food and drink. Mostly drink.
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"When I told you to step outside and say that, I didn't mean I was coming with you!" Syd Hoff Original cartoon art Esquire, January 1958 |
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"When I told you to step outside and say that, I didn't mean I was coming with you!" Syd Hoff Esquire, January 1958 |
I photographed three Arnos with oversized, typeset captions that I initially mistook for originals. I now believe these to be prints from a series.
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"Fill 'er up." Peter Arno The New Yorker, July 9, 1949, page 24 |
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"Will that be all, Sir?" Print Peter Arno |
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| "Will that be all, sir?" Peter Arno The New Yorker, October 23, 1943, page 26 |
This one might not be from The New Yorker at all:
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"Now let me tell you about my troubles!" Print Peter Arno |
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| "Now let me tell you about my troubles!" Peter Arno |
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| Dean Cornwell |
There are some murals in the men's room as well. Vive la différence.
And, by the way, the food was good too.
Note: To put it plainly, these aren't the finest photographs I ever took. They also aren't anywhere close to a full survey of the cartoon art in the 21 Club. I'm sure that some of the thousands of patrons who dined there over the years must have taken a few high-quality snaps of the art and perhaps they are willing to share those memories here on Attempted Bloggery. I await their documentary photographs with readiness. In the meantime, farewell to the 21 Club, at least in its most recent form. Perhaps it may reopen in some other incarnation.
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