Jack's Copy of The Wild, Wild Women by Virgil Partch

Back in 1951, a buck could buy you a nice, if cheaply bound, cartoon book such as The Wild, Wild Women by the similarly wild, wild Virgil Franklin Partch. A copy originally belonging to someone named Jack is sketched with an original self-portrait of the artist and signed Vip, as he commonly abbreviates himself, on the artist's canvas. It is inscribed "To Jack! from the world's oldest cartoonist," a curious thing to write in the year one turns thirty-five. It must have been an inside joke. Jack's book found its way to the collection of cartoon historian Bill Bush and thence from his estate to Space Cadets of Conroe, Texas, which in turn listed it on eBay.

Virgil Partch
eBay listing ended October 22, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/354804396174?_skw=Wild+Wild+Women+Virgil+Partch&itmmeta=01JC25TC6GPF6M49GA2ACEFHCD&hash=item529bfd708e:g:BdcAAOSwuEdkUcMS&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAABAHoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKk97tvMtXnP9gPZKumuv5YL7U6V0V4Yyv%2FQ7t7Cgb3UI6Xw%2FiHgunUJT0qQu61%2FRM3Zq5--gqrhwZm92M%2FLYErOkdMp

sn1B0eBaexzLBKggUzEe%2FR%2F8mjKLkBjLZ2%2BD1qne5kxDr%2B2sGU6R4mLs%2FHUQC%2BqJclqsplMXssClK7tC2YzeE2wx6YAjqXViiOUZ89yjq9OA4%2FbckZpEWGaIXKTt2aAYpQ8VBm%2F9hnIljVWTLKJhKhQTVTek6F0dZB6t%2BQ5sQ0drlHXPGJLnPNto8WSSFb1oTcAH81IucbXsIwBdNuVZmpAwFe4wnUXeBdPtyPg%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6bD6cXgZA

Virgil Partch
eBay item description

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Virgil Partch: The Babysitter's Report

A couple returns home from a night out and the babysitter tells them what every parent wants to hear: "He's been an angel." Virgil Partch's published cartoon art presents a familiar and easily-readable scenario, yet it is completely off the wall. In pencil, Vip has dedicated the original to Geo. and Reni. 

"He's been an angel."
Virgil Partch

Detail

Detail with dedication, signature, and caption

Virgil Partch's signature

Virgil Partch
eBay listing sold October 16, 2023

https://www.ebay.com/itm/154365071960?hash=item23f0e01258:g:oTAAAOSwEaxgOB~l&amdata=enc%3AAQAIAAAA4KjK3h3sopou1PssOk%2FaHZAS61VsNJk3pW0r%2Bvc5Lg%2BOx4Na3hmJtQ%2FHrNNtyqLF58U%2F11YgfxAedEkqTkpSp9gc5FU4McN2VRb8%2F7LVTZ8e4BpCZfd9kT6KR21%2B4

%2FfQRbLQLY2L1H6yJkN0rdi3ykK7FpKRxTi9kN6eeGEnUY9myXHbva6l0S3rR9J%2F7W3gUIRf4yYAVhORkbUmLUVSOCJtR80MM%2F8Fo%2FIGu4mO5fEnZwkd5Qt6Vr%2FqoAvwy12rvy9YLXhbLQ0V4Y6R9NI79VtuOPecvNmlVhBvyRr3sBic%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9bKnKiaYw

Note:  I wouldn't envy anyone who set out to catalogue the prolific and widespread magazine work of Virgil Partch. For myself, I would be happy just to learn where this single example of Vip art saw print.

04548

Vip for Jensen Phonograph Needles

Jeff Nelson shares my admiration for the wildly creative advertising work of Virgil Partch, or Vip. Jeff writes:

A few weeks back I happened to be browsing through a microfilm reel of Downbeat magazine, looking for something completely different, when I was surprised and delighted to find a long series of Vip ads, running irregularly from 1953 to 1960, for Jensen record needles. They are outstanding! The problem is that the microfilm itself was in poor condition—I doubt that anybody had looked at it in decades, if ever. So the images are dark...


A few of the same ads also ran in Esquire in 1958, so I have added them...

As you can see, Jeff has put together the most comprehensive portfolio you will find anywhere of the Virgil Partch advertising campaign for Jensen phonograph needles. If I still had a turntable, I would go out today and buy some.

Downbeat, April 22, 1953

Downbeat, May 20, 1953

Downbeat, June 3, 1953

Downbeat, July 15, 1953

Downbeat, August 26, 1953

Downbeat, May 2, 1955

Downbeat, May 30, 1955

Downbeat, June 27, 1955

Downbeat, September 19, 1955

Downbeat, October 17, 1955

Downbeat, November 14, 1955

Downbeat, December 2, 1955

Esquire, March 1958,  page 150

Downbeat, March 7, 1956

Downbeat, April 4, 1956

Downbeat, May 2, 1956

Downbeat, May 30, 1956

Downbeat, September 19, 1956

Downbeat, November 14, 1956

Downbeat, December 12, 1956

Downbeat, January 9, 1958

Downbeat, February 5, 1958

Downbeat, March 6, 1958

Esquire, April 1958, page 158

Downbeat, April 3, 1958

Esquire, May 1958, page 150

Downbeat, May 6, 1958

Downbeat, May 23, 1958

Downbeat, June 26, 1958

Esquire, September 1958, page 144

Downbeat, March 19, 1959

Downbeat, April 30, 1959

Downbeat, May 28, 1959

Downbeat, June 25, 1959

Downbeat, July 23, 1959

Downbeat, August 20, 1959

Downbeat, January 31, 1960

Downbeat, February 18, 1960

Downbeat, March 18, 1960

Note:  My sincere thanks to Jeff Nelson for doing his homework. This is his eighth contribution to this blog and it has the highest fidelity of any to date.

Often I ask readers to contribute scans or photos of original art, but published rarities, such as these Vip ads hidden away in obscurity for the past sixty-plus years, are also highly prized here.

For the record—no pun intended—I believe the year 2007 was the last time this advertising campaign by Virgil Partch was given any real play. That was on a blog called I'm Learning to Share. Go ahead, give it a spin here. To be sure, only two Jensen ads appear in the post, but one of them is not a part of Jeff's trove.

03763