James Thurber: Out of Fix

On June 13, 1934, an amendment to the Code was adopted, which established the Production Code Administration (PCA) and required all films released on or after July 1, 1934, to obtain a Seal of Approval before being released.

—Wikipedia

Leave it to the cartoonists of The New Yorker to find the humor in such moral high-handedness. And, in this case specifically, leave it to James Thurber, whose original cartoon art on the subject was sold yesterday at Heritage Auctions. He does have a way with domestic scenes.

"She's out of fix because they've cleaned up the movies."
Original art
James Thurber
The New Yorker, September 29, 1934, p. 13

What a great idea it was for Thurber to portray the indignation of the young girl here—she still has a doll!—the very sort of person the Hays Code was allegedly trying to protect. 

To me, it's an odd turn of phrase to say, "out of fix." It sounds wrong to my ear, but I take it to be close to "out of joint" or "bent out of shape."

"She's out of fix because they've cleaned up the movies."
Framed, original art
James Thurber
The New Yorker, September 29, 1934, p. 13

"October 6th or before," reads the notation on the back. The New Yorker knew it had a timely cartoon on its hands. It was published in the September 29 issue while the topic was still fresh in the public's mind.

Verso

James Thurber

Heritage Auctions listing accessed 22 days before the sale

https://fineart.ha.com/itm/mainstream-illustration/james-thurber-american-1894-1961-she-s-out-of-fix-new-yorker-cartoon-september-29-1934ink/a/8245-71294.s?ic=homepage-myrecommendations-IllustrationArt-item-052114&tab=MyRecommendations-080216

James Thurber
Heritage Auctions item description

The present work, of course, translates well onto the printed pages of The New Yorker:

"She's out of fix because they've cleaned up the movies."
James Thurber
The New Yorker, September 29, 1934, p. 13

"She's out of fix because they've cleaned up the movies."
Original art
James Thurber
The New Yorker, September 29, 1934, p. 13

With cartoons by Alain and James Thurber

https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/1934-09-29/flipbook/012/

Sold!

* * *

On the page opposite the Thurber drawing, that old romancer Alain gets a little forward with the body language. Thurber's body language by comparison is rather restrained, at least in this issue. 

            "Go on, don't give
me that personality stuff!"
Alain
The New Yorker, September 29, 1934, p. 12

Note:  This blog will remain out of fix indefinitely.

05252

Mischa Richter: With the U.S. Army Censor

A single-panel cartoon by Mischa Richter is set in the office of the U.S. Army Censor during the Second World War, very likely in 1944. In July, Westport Auctions offered up the original work with a broad presale estimate of $50 to $10,000. The hammer price was more narrow: $50.

"I'll thank you to mind your own business!"
Mischa Richter
Original cartoon art

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Detail

Mischa Richter
Westport Auction listing of July 16, 2024

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/181589787_mischa-richter-1910-2001-political-cartoon

Note:  Please send word if you know where and when this cartoon was published.

04745

China Advances

Last month I noted that China had suddenly appeared in my blog statistics as the country with the eighth greatest number of Attempted Bloggery page views. Prior to February of this year, it scarcely appeared at all. Now this month it has moved up in rank to seventh among all nations.

Attempted Bloggery Monthly Page Views by Country, April 23, 2013

This raises an interesting question, one which I don't think has an answer: Where would China rank in my blog statistics if there were absolutely no restrictions there on internet access? This is not an easy question. It could very well be that linguistic and cultural differences might serve to keep my blog unpopular, at least on a per capita basis. To some degree, though, technology like Google Translator could make this blog very accessible even to someone with no knowledge of English. I don't know if the Chinese would have much cultural affinity with this blog's typical subject matter, which is often humorous artwork of American or European origin. On the other hand, though, the sheer number of Chinese could potentially push this nation to the top of my statistics. How would all of this balance out?

Well, I just don't know. I would expect India, with 1.22 billion people and widespread use of English to be high on my list, but it isn't. On the other hand, I'm continually surprised by Russia's very strong showing here. It's only a guess, but I'd like to think a China with complete freedom from internet censorship would be ranked around third or fourth in page views.

For reference, here are the page view rankings by country since the inception of the blog. Note the prominence of English-speaking countries and of Europe:

Attempted Bloggery All-Time Page Views by Country, April 23, 2013

June 8, 2013 Update:  Despite constant internet censorship by the Chinese authorities, readership of this blog continues to increase in that country. Over the six weeks since this post was first published, China has advanced in the standings and is now tied for sixth place among all nations of the globe in monthly page views. The Chinese have caught up with the Canadians in the number of monthly page views emanating from the country, and indeed China was even a bit ahead of Canada yesterday. To be honest, I'm more surprised to see Turkey and Ukraine among the top ten countries, nudging out India (only recently active here), Spain, and Brazil.

Attempted Bloggery Monthly Page Views by Country, June 8, 2013

Note:  Last month's post on China's unanticipated increase in activity on this blog can be found here. To see my comments on Google Translator's French version of this blog, take a look here. If you'd like to see what Attempted Bloggery looks like in Chinese, by all means check it out here.

0702

The Great Leap Forward

Is it possible for my blog statistics to provide insights into global political shifts? For more than a year and a half, this blog has scarcely been viewed by anyone inside China. While there could be many cultural and linguistic reasons for this, I have always assumed the government has been blocking free access to the internet. Now that may be changing in a small but significant way. Last month, for the first time, China made it into the top ten of countries from which this blog is viewed. This month it is in the top eight. What's going on?

Attempted Bloggery Page Views by Countries for this Past Month

It's not really a big deal that from a country with over 1.3 billion people, I'm getting just over 100 page views per month, but it is a very significant change. Now why would China have been blocking access to my blog? I've never criticized the Chinese government except for its tacit acceptance of female infanticide; its refusal to permit free speech, a free press, or freedom to practice religion; its horrendous human rights record including widespread intolerable working conditions for many factory and farm workers; worldwide theft of intellectual property including tolerance of widespread counterfeiting of luxury items and unauthorized reproduction of copyrighted books; coordinated hacking of sensitive institutions in the United States and around the globe; a ghastly domestic environmental record; unconscionable support for a psychopathic tyrant in North Korea; and an unwillingness to use its international political clout to rein in any other despotic governments. Aside from those things, and the lack of democratic institutions and free elections, I have very little to say against the Chinese government.

I'm not sure what's going on now. Either the Chinese government has loosened the reins on internet access, or these page views are all the work of government hackers trying to bring my blog down. I don't believe opinions voiced here in my little corner of cyberspace are of any strategic importance to the Chinese, and it would be foolish of them to waste their energy on someone as peripheral as I am. Still, I suspect that if they wanted to hack my blog, they most probably could.

More likely though, the Chinese are relaxing their strictures on internet access just a bit, perhaps only on a trial basis. Who would have thought that even a few dozen of those 1.3 billion souls would have chosen to come here and view my little blog? I'd be delighted to learn that the Chinese people have gained the right to visit any website in the world as a guaranteed freedom. Only then will I personally really feel the magnitude of the more than 1.3 billion Chinese who stay away from this site. But then it will be by choice. Their choice.

0662