Peter Arno's Side-Show for January 1937

The final two pages of Peter Arno's "Side-Show" currently in my possession come from the January 1937 issue of College Humor. What do you suppose all those clever undergraduates found amusing during the Great Depression?

"By gad! I wish I were you father for about five minutes."
Peter Arno
College Humor, January 1937, p. 18

"Anything she does now will be an anti-climax."
"See here, Prentice—it's all right to look, but you needn't cheer them on!"
Peter Arno
College Humor, January 1937, p. 19

"Side-Show"
Peter Arno
College Humor, January 1937, pp. 18-19

Barbara Nicholls handled the original art for the full page cartoon. A photo of it appeared on a 1985 contact sheet from her New York gallery provided to the seller.

"By gad! I wish I were your father for about five minutes."
January 1937

Eventually she sold the piece not in her gallery but at a Guernsey's illustration art auction:

"By gad! I wish I were your father for about five minutes."
January 1937
Guernsey's March 1986 illustration art auction catalogue, Lot A726

Nicholls also handled the original art for the biology lab cartoon:

"See here, Prentice—it's all right to look, but you needn't cheer them on!"
January 1937

The original art was later sold at auction, but I don't have any idea where or when:

"See here, Prentice—it's all right to look, but you needn't cheer them on!"
Peter Arno
Original art at auction
College Humor, January 1937

http://www.artnet.com/artists/peter-arno/gag-cartoon-teacher-admonishing-adult-students-at-c2gIAc6HbdUwh3VSJ7EDeQ2

Note:  So where is the original art for "Anything she does now will be an anti-climax?" Perhaps Peter Arno sold that one himself. Some say a decent blog can never have enough original Arno art. Share yours here and I'll be sure to cheer you on.

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Dorothy McKay in College Humor, May 1937

The first of Dorothy McKay's cartoons in the May 1937 issue of College Humor is set at a burlesque show featuring a striptease. Such shows were still extremely familiar, presumably, even during the Great Depression. In any event, the audience as depicted by Ms. McKay consists strictly of older male patrons, not college-age students, and the joke is made at their expense. Clearly, these middle-aged men don't even remember what they're supposed to be looking at.

"Look, Marcus! Isn't that one of our dresses?"
Dorothy McKay, College Humor, May 1937, page 44

Not bad! This predates by more than two years a classic Peter Arno New Yorker cartoon with a similar, but perhaps not identical, take:

Peter Arno, The New Yorker, December 10, 1938

Some nefarious criminal plot is being hatched in this next one, but just exactly what? One thing is certain: Helen, whoever she is, had better watch out! (Could this be perhaps a bad Helen Keller joke?)

"Hello—Helen?"
Dorothy McKay, College Humor, May 1937, page 50

March 29, 2017 Update:  Rob At The Beach gives a very plausible reading of this gag on Twitter:

In another well-considered opinion, Columbia comics librarian Karen Green notes that the unsavory group consists of two men and a woman, So Helen is being asked to even out the party at two and two.

I think the caption allows for too much ambiguity. Wouldn't it have been clearer to say either "Hello, Helen? Don't wait up for me" or "Hello, Helen? Are you free tonight?"

Note:  The May 1937 number of College Humor can be found in the Steven Boss humor magazine collection at Columbia University tucked away in the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, naturally. My thanks to Karen Green, the—ahem!—Curator for Comics and Cartoons, for her able assistance in guiding me to it.

If anyone can shed some light on the "Hello—Helen?" gag, please go ahead and shed.


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