Peter Arno and Whitney Darrow, Jr.: "A Delightful Addition to Any Child's Bookshelf"?

eBay seller kna_4183 is new to the auction platform, having just joined in November, so perhaps I should go easy on him—but I won't. A current eBay listing offers three cartoon books by New Yorker cartoonist Peter Arno, one by Whitney Darrow, Jr., Uncle Remus and Brer Rabbit (1907) by Joel Chandler Harris, and Colette and the Princess (1965) by Louis Slobodkin. The group is listed under the title "Joel Chandler Harris & Peter Arno • Illustrated Children's Hardcover Book Lot." To which I would only ask, "Are you sure these are really all children's books?"

This is an unconventional grouping, to be sure. There are fifty-eight years and two world wars between the two actual children's books in the lot, those of Harris and Slobodkin. In between are four books by New Yorker cartoonists that collect some of the wittiest and most sophisticated cartoons of their era. These books are Peter Arno's Parade (1929), his Hullabaloo (1930), and his Sizzling Platter (1949), as well as Whitney Darrow, Jr.'s, "You're Sitting on My Eyelashes" (1943). They're not in any way harmful to children, but they were all marketed to adults. The dust jacket to Peter Arno's Sizzling Platter with its delectable double entendre makes that pretty plain.

Here's how the eBay seller describes the listing: "This product is a lot of illustrated children's hardcover books featuring stories by Joel Chandler Harris, Peter Arno, and others. The books are in English and are original editions, with illustrations done by Louis Slobodkin. The stories fall under the genres of fairy tales and fantasy, making them perfect for young readers to enjoy. This collection would be a delightful addition to any child's bookshelf, offering a mix of classic tales and whimsical illustrations to spark imagination and creativity." They are all treated as if they had exactly the same sort of fairy story content and were all illustrated by Slobodkin. But the Harris book has folk tales, not fairy tales, and the Arno and Darrow books have single panel cartoons, not stories. Did the seller ever look inside them?

Peter Arno, Whitney Darrow, Jr., Joel Chandler Harris, and Louis Slobodkin
eBay listing ended March 14, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/147190625647?

Peter Arno, Whitney Darrow, Jr., Joel Chandler Harris, and Louis Slobodkin
eBay item description

Since February 14, this lot has been relisted on eBay every Saturday at the same price, $90.

05228

Whitney Darrow, Jr.: A Good Lesson for Eugene

A 1966 New Yorker cartoon original by Whitney Darrow, Jr., was sold at Heritage Auctions in February. It was from the collection of Irvin Greif, Jr. 

"But, Eugene, it's not enough to                              
be gifted. We've got to do something with our gift."
Original art
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
The New Yorker, November 19, 1966, p. 61

The setting is a suburban classroom, in what is in all likelihood a private school. The teacher wishes to impart an  important lesson to Eugene.

"But, Eugene, it's not enough to                              
be gifted. We've got to do something with our gift."
Framed and matted original art
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
The New Yorker, November 19, 1966, p. 61

It's a good lesson for Eugene. But he does seem skeptical.

"But, Eugene, it's not enough to                              
be gifted. We've got to do something with our gift."
Original art
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
The New Yorker, November 19, 1966, p. 61

On Bainbridge Board

The bidding opened at $1. Who could possibly resist? (But the buyer's premium did start at $49.)

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Heritage Auctions listing of February 6, 2026, some 20 days before the sale

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/whitney-darrow-jr-american-1909-1999-it-s-not-enough-to-be-gifted-new-yorker-cartoon-1966-charcoal-ink-and/a/15263-17110.s?ic10=ExpandedResults-Thumbnail-022817#

It was sold to an internet bidder:

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Heritage Auctions item description

The original art is now toned. It looked great in the pages of The New Yorker:

"But, Eugene, it's not enough to                              
be gifted. We've got to do something with our gift."
Original art
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
The New Yorker, November 19, 1966, p. 61

"But, Eugene, it's not enough to                              
be gifted. We've got to do something with our gift."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
The New Yorker, November 19, 1966, p. 61

With drawings by Al Ross and Whitney Darrow, Jr.

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1966-11-19/flipbook/060/

* * * 

On the facing page, Al Ross's more linear, unshaded style contrasts nicely with Darrow's. Ross comments on the Vietnam War. The speaker is not that many years older than Darrow's children.

"Did you ever realize that one of those little things will destroy everything within 
a half mile, regardless of race, creed, or color?"
Al Ross
The New Yorker, November 19, 1966, p. 60

05227

Whitney Darrow, Jr.: Farewell to Helen & George

In the spring of 1955, a couple, Helen and George, relocated from Connecticut to Vermont. Their friends, Middy and Whitney Darrow, Jr., sent them off with a personalized farewell card. Whitney Darrow, of course, was a celebrated New Yorker cartoonist; if you don't know, someone has helpfully written it on the back. Darrow's pencil drawing depicts a circus act in which a young girl is lighting the fuse to launch a human cannonball (George?) while a woman (Helen?) in a two-piece costume anticipates the blast and holds her ears.

The artwork is available from Between the Covers Rare Books, Inc.:

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
AbeBooks listing accessed June14, 2025

https://www.abebooks.com/signed/Going-Away-Card-Original-Drawing-Whitney/32224287366/bd?cm_ven=nl&cm_cat=trg&cm_pla=want_CM&ref_=pe_aep_AEP_wants_buyer-wants&cm_ite=viewbook_high

04972

eBay 101: The 1937 New Yorker Album

Occasionally I offer a few helpful tips for eBay sellers who want to improve their listings. I base the suggestions in this post on a recent auction for a worn copy of The 1937 New Yorker Album with no dust jacket. First off, sellers, in your photographs, don't let the shadow of your smart phone fall on the item you wish to sell:

That goes for the back cover too.

If you're not selling your finger, it doesn't belong in your photos, I always say.

Remember what I said about smart phone shadows? It's still relevant.

If you're going to show cartoons from the book, for heaven's sake don't cut off the captions or indeed any part of the drawing. I can add the captions here as a public service but it would be preferable to see the full cartoons.

"Hey, Mr. Raboldi! Surprise!"
Charles Addams

"Maybe they'd like us to say 'good night' already."
(dating couple on a couch to the right)
Syd Hoff

"Ready or not, they say she's never been known to miss a cue."
Whitney Darrow, Jr.

In a perfect world, the listing should get the book's title correct:

The 1937 New Yorker Album
eBay listing ended November 16, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156506425704

The 1937 New Yorker Album
eBay item description

Despite this eBay seller's less-than-ideal presentation of the book, I saw the listing and was surprised to find I didn't have this book in my library. So I took my fifteen bucks and entered the fray.

The 1937 New Yorker Album
eBay bid history
One last minute bid from your neighborhood blogger is met with success.

04849 

Lawrence Richter Quinn's Copy of The Office Party by Corey Ford and Whitney Darrow, Jr.

A copy of Corey Ford's The Office Party (1951) sold this past October by Space Cadets of Conroe, Texas, once belonged to financial writer Lawrence Richter Quinn. It was personalized for him by the book's illustrator, New Yorker cartoonist Whitney Darrow, Jr., in 1987, thirty-six years after publication. Later the book became the property of comics historian Bill Bush.

While the world of acceptable office humor in The New Yorker had changed greatly over those intervening years, one might not surmise that change from Darrow's lively drawing of a curvaceous blond secretary shown from behind. She wears a revealing party dress and sits at a manual typewriter.

Whitney Darrow, Jr.
eBay listing ended October 22, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304950140054?_skw=Whitney+Darrow+signed&itmmeta=01JDKA6GBSHFND4PTWNJ1M10AK&hash=item470071dc96:g:uR0AAOSwSrhkUcDH&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKnC%2B5C3Dm2BlAEuKQshT7j8kH5A%2FF0mD2prkTNmgE8apM1X

5kDqYdMJuCQX9bh0jhrD7MMDXsd%2BMmEnUgZtbEnEzdBwusY%2B50KEeT4yvl1skbedROV52EvBBfYaq6PaHfC%2FOWPpzvroHF%2FYHJiCDWKejXEyhZyGodbdIragHrIN7JanSgbW8d4Nx9zYtAjIuGy7uKhTj%2FWS1KGa7Rermsk0EDk%2B8

BvnjFa98sZ0lTyhw0DFXxxk%2FSWx4XGrU%2BY%2F%2B4HneUYn6xqXu23cW1gr6LDs1d7wcdMad8DMYJUfq06FxQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4CGmursZA

04814

Whitney Darrow, Jr.: A Child's Garden of Misinformation

A Child's Garden of Misinformation is the subtitle to Kids Sure Rite Funny!, Art Linkletter's 1962 compendium of children's classroom writing that turned out to be unintentionally humorous. The illustrator is The New Yorker's Whitney Darrow, Jr. A generous promotional magazine excerpt is shown here. Now it's election season in the U.S. and our unique brand of misinformation is in the headlines, so it might be nice to be misled for a change by the innocent youngsters of yore.

A Child's Garden of Misinformation
From Kids Sure Rite Funny! (1962) collected by Art Linkletter
Whitney Darrow, Jr.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/266913663268_skw=Whitney+Darrow+signed&itmmeta=01JBB1V0YH4S2BF06C30A62T6Q&hash=item3e254b4924:g:9AYAAOSwmtFmmyyJ&itmprp=

enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKltEi6oXC93F4sXp6aPabwqhaJAPPM5oGYCYhP18oEus2IlA4RyP0bT2reMOLSjyVEwNIgYzxZ10XQfJbOWNE1tNOLQP23WSialDEFPR%2

Bgd1XWFiVIXiHTwsklWiSSxprCxX%2FjRdd7cMmcRwMBtJauzV1ZyB0HiC07ZGD64lxSS4yezGAC4feB7sItXiKHHEeG31GYuXKUPwlYZXO7WhAsRI8KcdSZT3lZXrLwBqEfSI5E%2BxAuIL

T2PwEKYZQ%2B8SvtLbQQ43IDV8X9RiRlOnwd1QXR%2FveYG6FATZwKkmw9cjQ%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR6qP7OHaZA

04788

Whitney Darrow, Jr.: Brother Francis

David from Manhattan sends photographs of an original Whitney Darrow, Jr., New Yorker cartoon our way. He writes:

The attached pics came from a Fla. estate sale in August 2007 and sold on eBay, including matte and frame, for $270. It came from a collector you've mentioned before, in connection with a George Price cartoon, Leon F. Thorpe of Pittsburgh, Pa., and a Fla. retiree who died in 2006. Most importantly I suppose, he was a customer of the Nicholls Gallery. The Darrow was priced at $600 in October 1983. Pen & ink with wash on 13 3/4" x 10 3/8" paper and a caption in the artist's hand, this May 27, 1972 New Yorker cartoon was published a few years after Darrow stopped choosing cartoons for one of his clothbound collections, and ten years before he retired, but he hadn't lost his touch, with either a caption or his pictorial strengths. "Woolgathering" is a far wittier choice than "daydreaming" and an expression the monastic brothers didn't have to reach for when discussing Brother Francis, who wasn't at all perturbed to be spoken of within earshot. He seems content, which was probably a goal of his at some point in the past.

"Do you ever get the feeling Brother Francis isn't meditating at all—that he's just woolgathering?"
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, May 27, 1972, p. 33

Detail of monks

The signature of Whitney Darrow, Jr.

Detail of bird

Photos courtesy of David from Manhattan

"Do you ever get the feeling Brother Francis isn't meditating at all—that he's just woolgathering?"
Whitney Darrow, Jr.
Original art
The New Yorker, May 27, 1972, p. 33

A spot drawing of the Central Park Zoo by R. MacMillan and a cartoon by Whitney Darrow, Jr.

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1972-05-27/flipbook/032/

Note:  My thanks to David from Manhattan for sharing this original art by Whitney Darrow, Jr., as well as his knowledge of the piece's history. This is David's fifty-sixth contribution to this blog, if I haven't lost count somewhere.

The George Price drawing listed on the Nicholls Gallery invoice from 1983 was posted here on Attempted Bloggery back in 2019. The 1957 Darrow cartoon, alas, is not anywhere on this blog but I'd very much like to hear from whoever has it now.

Cartoon collector Leon F. Thorpe's obituary may be found here. 

The spot drawing of the Central Park Zoo is by R. MacMillan. A print by the artist with a clearer signature may be seen here. I know nothing about this artist and would be grateful for some information.

Spot drawing of the Central Park Zoo
R. MacMillan

04427