Showing posts with label drunk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label drunk. Show all posts

Saturday, July 4, 2020

Twelve by William Steig

David from Manhattan reports on a group of twelve unpublished drawings by New Yorker cartoonist William Steig that were sold at Swann Galleries on September 29, 2016. In keeping with yesterday's subject matter, The Art of the Redraw, we'll start with a variant of a New Yorker cartoon that rivals and quite possibly outshines the published version. Though technically not a redraw done after publication, it is an alternative version very likely intended by the artist to appear in the magazine as the final version. Why didn't it? I believe the magazine's editors requested, somewhat unnecessarily, that Steig make it clearer this man returning home is inebriated, hence the too-obvious bottle of liquor in his pocket. But I'll let David tell the story of all twelve drawings his own way. He writes:

The drunk cartoon with penciled caption has had a chunk of paper torn off at left. Possibly an earlier version of something published, as it is definitely not a rough. Luckily I had some matching paper, and that, plus a matte, makes it quite presentable.
The drawing "Where's the reception committee?" falls into the different, better version category. The final version appeared [in The New Yorker of] Apr. 3 '65. The caption is an improvement, but the drunken husband falls short I think. Of course, Steig I suspect would have been quite content to draw drunken husbands all day long if he was in the mood.



Cartoon by William Steig
Businessman dragging a clock. Scan is on the Swann website. A curious drawing which has grown on me.


Stairway to the stars. Again, scan on website. As a reader, and book buyer, this obviously appeals to me, and looks very nice on the wall. Probably done around the time of the clock drawing.



William Steig





The dog and sleeping master is my favorite.

The satyr drawing is another favorite.
Watercolor: 10 x 10 but my scanner cut it off at the sides. The children are a bit generic for Steig, but the explosion of plants and color is quite nice. Unsigned.



The lovers: similar size to the above, and once again my scanner couldn't quite handle it. Looks like a rejected or preliminary drawing for Male/Female.




Small sketch of a man. Reverse has the handstamp of a Lewis Nichols of West 10th St. struck many times and clearly cut from a larger sheet. Perhaps Steig rescued some free art materials as he was strolling through the Village on garbage day.
Portrait of a woman. One of Steig's "odd ducks" to quote his widow. Signed in pencil.

Bird cage in the garden. Sweet but nothing special.


Medieval king. Unsigned, wear, notes in the same ink on back giving info on a Louise Spillia, including what appears to be a social security #, 2 addresses and 2 phone #s! In spite of the faults I rather like the guy!

Desk on the mountain. Smeared, in anger it seems, with the same pinkish ink as the clock drawing. Utterly without charm. Idea for some dopey ad or commercial? Awful.




Note: And there you have it. My sincere thanks to David from Manhattan for providing all these images as well as the informative commentary. This is his thirty-ninth contribution to Attempted Bloggery.

I am still hoping to publish a few posts with the heading The Art of the Redraw. The problem is I don't have any further examples of redraws which surpass the published version. Readers are invited to submit examples of redrawn cartoons or other variants that can be said to be superior in some way to the published originals.
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Thursday, March 8, 2018

E. Simms Campbell in Black and White: Esquire Cartoons from 1935

African-American cartoonist E. Simms Campbell created as many as four full page black and white cartoons in each issue of Esquire aside from his well-known color work. His specialty was beautiful women, but he was a skilled draftsman who took on a variety of subjects. A selection of cartoons on Amazon from issues of the magazine published in 1935 show his versatility.

The year starts off in January with a sugar daddy cartoon:
E. Simms Campbell
"Why, you darling!  I can take this back and exchange it for just what I want!"
Esquire, January 1935, page 121


How often does one see an African tribe cartoon drawn by an African-American cartoonist? 
E. Simms Campbell
"He's been that way ever since he went to Oxford[.]"
Esquire, February 1935, page 105

The worldly bellboy announces the play-by-play.
E. Simms Campbell
"Why, th' big dummy——th' big greenhorn!"
Esquire, January 1935, page 147


You just can't please some people.
E. Simms Campbell
"—and tell 'em this last brandy was lousy[.]"
Esquire, February 1935, page 97

What a wardrobe malfunction looked like in 1935:
E. Simms Campbell
"Well, you aren't saying anything——tell me what you think of it[.]"
Esquire, February 1935, page 161

Uh-huh.
E. Simms Campbell
"Thank God I'm a bachelor[.]"
Esquire, March 1935, page 31



How to throw a doctor off his game:
E. Simms Campbell
"Just be calm, Mrs. Marsden—I'll be with you just as soon as I answer the phone[.]"
Esquire, March 1935, page 87
The old drunk-at-a-costume-party routine:
E. Simms Campbell
"Y' jush been standin' there all evening—why'ncha grab a girl an' dance?"
Esquire, March 1935, page 111

How uncomfortable!
E. Simms Campbell
The Tight Shoe
Esquire, March 1935, page 127






Making fun of the large woman with a taste for the petite:
E. Simms Campbell
"My deah boy—these simply tear me to pieces!"
Esquire, April 1935, page 75


Here's Esquire's little insight into how to drive your bartender crazy:
E. Simms Campbell
"She ordered it because it had a cute name[.]"
Esquire, April 1935, page 107




It's no funnier in the Arctic:
E. Simms Campbell
"Pre-shrunk—bah! I told you to get it half a size larger[.]"
Esquire, April 1935, page 127



Military discipline isn't what it used to be, if it ever was...
E. Simms Campbell
"Sorry Sir—but I never wear a hat."
Esquire, May 1935, page 115







The going rate:
E. Simms Campbell
"You're giving up a family—but I'm giving up twenty-eight fifty—every week!"
Esquire, July 1935, page 75


Showing a little too much initiative:
E. Simms Campbell
"Young man—if you work any more around here after hours—you're fired!"
Esquire, July 1935, page 115







Radio days:
E. Simms Campbell
"—we're going off the air, folks, but remember—send the cardboard wrappers to the Titsa Bitsa Biscuit Company[.]"
Esquire, August 1935, page 121



I feel the same way about my smart phone:
E. Simms Campbell
"We got to go back to the village again—he's forgotten his wrist watch[.]"
Esquire, August 1935, page 127










Onward and upward:
E. Simms Campbell
"Glad to know you—each year we get a higher type of man up here[.]"
Esquire, September 1935, page 149





Prosperity is just around the corner...
E. Simms Campbell
"Marie—get me that 1928 list of telephone numbers!"
Esquire, September 1935, page 83

A new relic:
E. Simms Campbell
"It's a bar bill—from the Explorers' Club[.]"
Esquire, September 1935, page 121

Sensitive ears:
E. Simms Campbell
". . . so I said, O. K. Toots—get out and walk then[.]"
Esquire, October 1935, page 23

A witty retort from 1935. But what on earth is she doing?
E. Simms Campbell
"Madam, are you in quest of a kick in the pants?"
Esquire, 1935, page 24B

Ah, Romance!
E. Simms Campbell
"My husband, poor dear—he's working late again[.]"
Esquire, 1935, page 54

Put a helpless husband in the kitchen and you have an instant gag:
E. Simms Campbell
"Yes, dear, I know how buyers are—but you will be home this evening?"
Esquire, 1935


To the Esquire reader, a hazard of working late at the office is receiving a proposition from the cleaning staff. Presenting the woman as lower class and promiscuous is one thing, but her being overweight is supposed to be the joke. Why? Is this an "If only it were someone else" moment? And since when does Psst take an apostrophe?
E. Simms Campbell
"P'sst[.]"
Esquire, 1935, page 112



People in all climates just want what they can't have:
E. Simms Campbell
"But honey—I can't afford no cloth coat this year!"
Esquire, 1935, page 42

It's hard to believe that this sort of joke is still at the forefront of American humor in 1935.
E. Simms Campbell
"All right then, Mr. Frisbee—we won't insist on the castor oil[.]"
Esquire, 1935, page 98

Like father...
E. Simms Campbell
"His sister's fer puttin' him in a reform school but I wants him to be near his old man[.]"
Esquire, 1935, page 42


Be careful what trophy you go after. Why on earth is Zebra capitalized?
E. Simms Campbell
"The Zebra head would look much better over the mantel, dear[.]"
Esquire, 1935, page 80

Those oh-so-amusing drunkards...
E. Simms Campbell
"Wait—wait—le'mme tell you 'bout my trouble!"
Esquire, 1935, page 42


Never waste a good line.
E. Simms Campbell
"Aw honey, gee whiz—yuh may never see me again[.]"
Esquire, 1935, page 68

Not bad, but Harvard grads might want to skip this one:
E. Simms Campbell
"All they keep sending, sir, is Yale 6, Harvard 0—Yale 6, Harvard 0—"
Esquire, 1935, page 68

In our February 23 post, we saw a color cartoon by E. Simms Campbell about the Dionne quintuplets from the January 1936 issue. The quintuplets remained a big story for a long time.
E. Simms Campbell
"What are you thinking of, my love?"  "Mrs. Dionne!"
Esquire, 1935, page 48
Note:  At press time, all of these cartoons are available for purchase on Amazon except for "Thank God I'm a bachelor." You just weren't quick enough for that one. Follow the aqua link below each image.

 Psst! Attempted Bloggery is going to continue looking at the work of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). Readers can help in this noble cause by providing high-resolution scans or photographs of original Campbell art or of obscure published works like these.

The Esquire cartoons in the latter part of this post have years and page numbers, but no month. Can anyone rid me of this affliction?

02481
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