The New Yorker: "Something Different"

"Let's get something different." It is the characteristic tribal cry of the advertiser.

Maybe it is. "Something Different" was published by The New Yorker's business office in August of 1927 when the magazine was just 2 ½ years old. It describes itself as "An Exhibit of 80 Advertisements which have appeared from time to time in The New Yorker." From time to time? How nonchalant!

Cover by Julian de Miskey

The cover design does not even include the book's title, but instead a longish quotation from "The Mikado" (1885) that also appears at the top of the title page. It's hard to read it without beginning to hum along. Gilbert and Sullivan's operetta was still wildly popular in 1920s New York, but it's difficult to see what particular relevance these lyrics from "A More Humane Mikado" have to the mission of this volume, which is to direct more upscale advertising to the magazine. It's almost as if the business department couldn't settle on a single title for the book, so it went with two. Most likely the quotation is meant to signal a certain level of urbane sophistication that suggests a bond between The New Yorker and its would-be advertisers. The book's cover, by Julian de Miskey, illustrates the antic goings-on in the town of Titipu.

The book presents the gorgeous advertisements accompanied by text and spot drawings. The spot of the police chase opposite the La Salle ad is by J.F.

The spot drawing opposite the Renault ad is by stalwart New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno.

The small spot drawing on the right in the middle column might be the work of Eldon Kelley:

"Something Different"
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"Something Different"
eBay listing ended July 29, 2021
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"Something Different"
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Note:  Who is spot illustrator J.F.?

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Jim Dine's Short Sharp Shock

Jim Dine created an unusually disturbing poster for the New York City Center Gilbert and Sullivan Company's 1968 season. The poster's graphics recall the threatened beheading that is central to the plot of "The Mikado" (1885), although the image's tone is more chilling and less amusing than what is presented onstage. "The Mikado," set in the fictitious Japanese town of Titipu, is one of five comic operas that was performed at City Center in April and May of that year. "Yeomen of the Guard," which was also presented, has a potential beheading in its plot as well.

Jim Dine, City Center - Gilbert & Sullivan, 1968, 22/144

A limited edition copy of this poster is offered at Skinner:

Skinner Listing Closing June 1, 2015

http://skinnerlive.auctionserver.net/view-auctions/catalog/id/176/lot/79848

Of course, "The Mikado" actually deals with the morbid subject of beheading rather lightly. Here Pooh-Bah, Ko-Ko, and Pish-Tush contemplate which one of them must be sacrificed by beheading in order to comply with the Mikado's stern decree:

"I Am So Proud" from "The Mikado" (1885) by Gilbert & Sullivan

Stratford Festival, 1982

Richard McMillan as Pooh-Bah

Eric Donkin as Ko-Ko

Alan Stewart-Coates as Pish-Tush

Conducted by Berthold Carriere

This 1968 Playbill cover illustrates a scene from "The Pirates of Penzance," one of the five Gilbert and Sullivan works performed by City Center's Gilbert and Sullivan Company. In contrast to the poster, the lighthearted tone of this illustration seems more in keeping with the spirit of the plays.

Playbill, City Center Gilbert & Sullivan Company, 1968

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Playbill-Gilbert-Sullivan-Company-City-Center-Theatre-May-1968-FREE-SHIPPING-/111251546353

The five works performed by the New York City Center Gilbert and Sullivan Company in the spring of 1968:

From The Complete Book of 1960s Broadway Musicals by Dan Dietz, Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. Appendix F:  Gilbert and Sullivan Operettas

https://books.google.com/books?id=6NBiAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA555&dq=Appendix+F:+Operettas+following+chronological+list+operettas+revived&hl=en&sa=X&ei=CkxhVezzD9LLsATXyYLwCg&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Appendix%20F%3A%20Operettas%20following%20chronological%20list%20operettas%20revived&f=false

Note:  See my other blog posts about Jim Dine.

There are a few posts here about Gilbert and Sullivan as well.

Can anyone identify the photo used by Jim Dine in the poster? How about the illustrator of the Playbill cover?

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Edward Gorey's Mikado Poster

In true 19th century aristocratic fashion, the Mikado enters riding--a penny-farthing! Edward Gorey's 1983 poster for Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado" (1885) reveals the Mikado in his true light as a product of Victorian England, Japanese in name only.

Edward Gorey, "The Mikado" poster, signed and numbered edition, no. 89/100, 1983

http://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/asp/fullCatalogue.asp?salelot=2349+++++267+&refno=++687874&saletype=

Note:  If you like this image, why not check out my other blog posts about Edward Gorey?

There are a few Gilbert & Sullivan posts lying about as well.

Goreyography.com has numerous images from Edward Gorey's production of Gilbert & Sullivan's "The Mikado."

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