The Perfect Piece of Toast: H. T. Webster and Harry Bliss

Yesterday's syndicated Bliss panel calls to mind H. T. Webster's 1948 classic from his series The Thrill That Comes Once in a Lifetime:

The Thrill That Comes Once in a Lifetime:
Newlyweds['] First Breakfast
H. T. Webster
November 27, 1948
The Best of H. T. Webster, 1953

http://hairygreeneyeball2.blogspot.com/2009/10/thrill-that-comes-once-in-lifetime.html

Harry Bliss visits the same territory. He substitutes a dog for the woman at the table. This is something we saw him do in a 2017 panel inspired by a James Thurber New Yorker cartoon, so it certainly looks like a pattern.

Harry Bliss
Bliss
July 13, 2022

https://store.harrybliss.com/product/incredible-once-again/

Stop me if you've heard this one already. In 2008, Harry Bliss famously borrowed from comic book legend Jack Kirby for a New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest without crediting him. You can read about that controversy here. I have previously documented examples where his cartoon panels seemingly come very close to well-known work by Charles Addams, William Steig, and James Thurber. Coincidence? Tributes? Appropriation? Something else? You decide. Those posts can all be reviewed here. 

Note:  Does that cartoon by H. T. Webster look familiar? It's a favorite of mine and I have discussed it on this blog before. Revisit my musings here.

04015

A Toast to E. Simms Campbell and H. T. Webster

Last week's big post on cartoonist E. Simms Campbell led off with an Esquire gag about a young woman burning the toast. There is a long and unhappily sexist tradition of cartoons about women who can't cook, and the introduction of the modern pop-up toaster in 1925 seems to have provided another angle, the idea being that even a woman who can't cook should at least be able to toast a slice of bread. The Esquire cartoon deliberately conflates using a toaster with cooking. It was mean-spirited and didn't sit well with me. Part of the reason is that this same territory is covered by my favorite H. T. Webster cartoon, from the gag panel series The Thrill That Comes Once in a Lifetime. In a 1948 panel Webster takes the opposite tack, and the woman who says she can't cook nevertheless has mastered the toaster and is now proclaimed a genius. Of course, it is implicit in the Webster cartoon and understated in the Campbell cartoon that each man's attitude toward the woman's "cooking" reflects the quality of the sexual relationship.

"Damn!  Can't you even cook?"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, April 1935, page 43

https://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Original-Illustration-art-Authentic/dp/B00YGAGM70/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&qid=1522203837&sr=8-32&keywords=Simms+Campbell+Esquire+1935

The Thrill That Comes Once in a Lifetime:
Newlyweds['] First Breakfast
H. T. Webster
November 27, 1948
The Best of H. T. Webster, 1953

http://hairygreeneyeball2.blogspot.com/2009/10/thrill-that-comes-once-in-lifetime.html

Note:  H. T. Webster (1885-1952) is new to the blog today. E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971) at this point is decidedly not. Readers with access to original art by either artist are encouraged to submit high-resolution scans or photographs for consideration. Don't tell me you can't. You're a wizard.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

E. Simms Campbell

Esquire

Attempted Bloggery's Warm and Toasty Index

Attempted Bloggery supports net neutrality.

02507