On Sunday, a cement carrier named NACC New Yorker made its way up the East River accompanied by a tug boat. The ship flies under the Portuguese flag out of Madeira. Yes, the New Yorker.
05305
Showing posts with label The New Yorker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The New Yorker. Show all posts
Thursday, July 23, 2026
Saturday, July 18, 2026
Blog Post No. 5300: James Thurber's "The Masculine Approach" Scarf for Richard A. Farrar
"The Masculine Approach" is a scarf designed around a series of drawings by The New Yorker's James Thurber. It is currently listed on eBay.
.webp) |
| "The Masculine Approach" By James Thurber |
%20nn.webp)
.webp) |
| "The Masculine Approach" By James Thurber |
.webp) |
| The Harpo Marx Attack |
.webp) |
| The Indifference Attitude Does the indifference apply to spelling as well? |
.webp) |
| The Continental-Manners Technique |
.webp) |
| The Just-a-Little-Boy System |
.webp) |
| The Sudden Onslaught |
.webp) |
| The Let-'em-Wait-and-Wonder Plan |
.webp) |
| The Pawing System |
.webp) |
| The Sweep-'em-Off-Their-Feet Method |
.webp) |
| The Heroic, or Dangers I Have Known, Method |
.webp)
.webp)
 |
| James Thurber eBay listing accessed July 8, 2026 |
 |
| James Thurber eBay item description |
 |
| The Just-a-Little-Boy System |
Thurber's series "The Masculine Approach" got its start in The New Yorker.
 |
| "The Masculine Approach" The Sudden Onslaught The Continental-Manners Technique The I'm-Not-Good-Enough-for-You Announcement James Thurber The New Yorker, February 12, 1938, p. 19 |
 |
| With cartoons by Helen E. Hokinson and James Thurber |
The entire series may be found in Men, Women & Dogs (1943) beginning on page 187. Alternatively, if you don't like reading the pages sideways, it's available online in portrait PDF format here. Or you can just read the scarf.
* * *
Helen E. Hokinson's wonderful dog show drawing, on the page opposite the three Thurbers, balances out the magazine spread with darker tones and shading.
 |
| "I'm the one that should be lying down somewhere." Helen E. Hokinson The New Yorker, February 12, 1938, p. 18 |
Note: I can't thank enough the multitalented Joel Jacobus for alerting me to this eBay listing. For our purposes, Joel is a specialist in Charles Addams collectibles but he still manages to get sidetracked at times, thank goodness.
Richard A. Farrar's tie designs by or based on the works of New Yorker artists—Charles Addams, Sam Cobean, Anatol Kovarsky, Mischa Richter, Otto Soglow, William Steig, and, of course, James Thurber—were often manufactured in a variety of colors. I would love to see examples of any other varieties that are out there. Below, for example, is an old New Yorker advertisement that provides evidence of one Thurber scarf manufactured in five colors and two sizes. It has yet to be located in any variation, but I am patient . . .
 |
| Richard A. Farrar advertisement The New Yorker, October 31, 1953, p. 72 |
The blog archives are now home to a number of scarves by Richard A. Farrar representing the work of a variety of New Yorker cartoon luminaries in various color schemes. All of these posts may be read, studied, pondered, and reread here. I am always at the ready to add new designs and color schemes. Joel reports there is a scarf out there by Helen E. Hokinson, whose cartoon is on the page opposite "The Masculine Approach" in The New Yorker, which has yet to be imaged. Who wants to be the first to send it to me?
I like to think that every hundred posts are extra special. Let me know if you agree:
The Attempted Bloggery Centennial Posts 💯
Blog Post No. 100
Blog Post No. 200: A Shaggy Dog Story
Blog Post No. 2900: My Copies of The Ultimate Cartoon Book of Book Cartoons
Blog Post No. 3000: The Vatican Museums 2019
Blog Post No. 3100: Frank Beaven's Dickensian Christmas
Blog Post No. 3200: St. Patrick's Day 1938—Will Cotton Original New Yorker Cover Art
Blog Post No. 3300: "Give Up?" by Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Blog Post No. 3400: The 1942 Navy Relief Show Program
Blog Post No. 3500: William Steig's "What is Art?"
Blog Post No. 3000: The Vatican Museums 2019
Blog Post No. 3100: Frank Beaven's Dickensian Christmas
Blog Post No. 3200: St. Patrick's Day 1938—Will Cotton Original New Yorker Cover Art
Blog Post No. 3300: "Give Up?" by Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Blog Post No. 3400: The 1942 Navy Relief Show Program
Blog Post No. 3500: William Steig's "What is Art?"
05300
Wednesday, March 11, 2026
William James, Jr.'s, Copy of Conclusive Evidence by Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Nabokov's memoir Conclusive Evidence retailed for $3.00 when it was published in 1951. Chapter 6 is "Butterflies," which was originally published in The New Yorker. In 1952, the author, a lifelong lepidopterist, signed a copy for William James, Jr., and added a detailed drawing of a butterfly. This exquisite copy of the book, with James's printed name and Cambridge address, isavailable today from Whitmore Rare Books, Inc., of Pasadena, for $35,000.
 |
| Vladimir Nabokov AbeBooks listing accessed March 10, 2026 |
 |
| Vladimir Nabokov AbeBooks item description |
Chapter 6 got its start in The New Yorker of June 12, 1948.
 |
| With a cartoon by Robert Day, left, and then a spot drawing of a mailbox by Esther Pressoir on the first page of "Butterflies" by Vladiimir Nabokov |
April 19, 2026 Update: Sold, apparently.
05224
Wednesday, January 21, 2026
A Century of The New Yorker at the New York Public Library
On Sunday I visited the New York Public Library to catch the exhibition "A Century of The New Yorker." The show's banner is behind the library lion known as Patience.
Introduction with some of the magazine's library covers:
Preliminary art from 1934 is by Reginald Marsh for "It's her first lynching."
A spot drawing of a bus stop sign by K. Sterne:
A 1939 photograph of Dorothy Parker:
A lovely 1947 spot drawing by Susan Flint:
A 1946 pony edition of The New Yorker sent to servicemen overseas has a cover by James Thurber featuring several varieties of his dogs.
A 1940 photograph of "Letter from Paris" correspondent Janet Flanner, or Genêt, is by Carl Van Vechten.
A Fact Checking Department banner by Anne Mortimer-Maddox, c. 1970:
A 1948 photograph of New Yorker staff members and a fact checking memo from Frederick Packard to Ross:
An after-hours spot drawing by Garth Williams:
"This is going on all over!" The magazine increases its circulation outside of New York City.
A synchronous spot drawintg by Virginia Snedeker:
Original cartoon art by Helen E. Hokinson:
 |
| "I want to report a winking man." |
And original art by Charles Addams, c. 1945. You may recognize the witch as Morticia, but this is well before Addams Family members had been given names.
A full issue in 1946 was dedicated to John Hersey's "Hiroshima."
Copycat!
Cover by Charles Alston:
A dynamic 1948 spot drawing by Esther Pressoir:
A 1975 spot drawing by Tom Funk:
A weighty 1982 spot drawing by Margit Steig:
 |
| "Oh, I couldn't make it Friday—I've so many things to do. It's the thirteenth, you know." |
A full issue in 1946 was dedicated to John Hersey's "Hiroshima."
Onward!
Lillian Ross and William Shawn in an undated photograph:
Office typewriters of Lillian Ross and William Shawn:
Hannah Arendt's draft of "Eichmann in Jerusalem:"
A 1973 spot drawing by David Preston:
Don't forget to look up.
.webp){kind=link}
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)