Peter Arno: The Fireman's Pledge

An early cartoon original by Peter Arno was sold by Clarke Auction Gallery of Larchmont in 2020.

"Now remember your promise!"
Peter Arno
Original art
For Members Only (1935)

Arno imbues the rescue scene with all the bawdy innuendo he can muster. That fireman is surely brave, but he is no match for the mature, stout, playful woman descending the ladder in her flimsy nightgown.

"Now remember your promise!"
Peter Arno
Framed original art
For Members Only (1935)

Alas, there is some surface loss to the original.

Conveniently, a caption has been written on the back: "Now remember you promised!"

The back of the frame

The handwritten caption differs slightly from what is printed in For Members Only.

The caption

Peter Arno
Clarke Auction Gallery listing of April 26, 2020

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/peter-arno-american-1904-1968-now-remember-50-c-01241b78bb

Peter Arno
Clarke Auction Gallery item description

https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/clarke/fine-art-jewelry-antiques-asian-midcentury-auction-5040?page=2#catalog

Febrary 11, 2026 Update:  The cartoon was published in the 1935 collection Peter Arno's For Members Only with the caption "Now remember your promise!" I therefore have corrected the caption slightly from "Now remember, you promised!"

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My Entry in The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #951

In The New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #951 from the issue of July 7 & 14, 2025, two demons in hell observe a despondent man on a sofa sleepily extending his arm holding a TV remote. The demon who is not holding a pitchfork speaks. My entry appears below. The drawing is by Akeem Roberts.

"It only plays 'Fire Country.'"

This caption just wasn't cool:

"Don't tell him I swiped the batteries."

July 26, 2025 Update:  The Finalists

August 1, 2025 Update:  I voted for the caption from New Britain.

August 10, 2025 Update:  The Winner

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Gloria's Copy of The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995

On September 15, 1995, editor Tina Brown threw a launch party for Lee Lorenz's book The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995. Gloria (glorbrue on eBay), then an employee of the magazine, took the opportunity to purchase a copy and have it signed and personalized by a group of artists at the Lincoln Center event.

A minor scorch mark on the book prompted fire-related drawings from cartoonists Jack Ziegler, Danny Shanahan, and Lee Lorenz, plus a fire-quenching comment from Ed Fisher. Roz Chast contributed her own admonitory drawing to the page, while Gretchen Dow Simpson added a wistful inscription.

Meanwhile, Victoria Roberts left a disarmingly poignant emendation to the book's title. Her fanciful bird drawing prompted a mock-angry reaction from Bob Mankoff, who depicted himself packing heat and prepared to shoot. George Booth, positioning himself on the page above the fray, reacted to the gun play and the bird by having a bullet ricochet between his chickens.

Let's take a closer look. The following detail gives a better view of the drawings by Chast and Ziegler, both of which have faded over the intervening years.

Mankoff's enraged gunman has some rudimentary stippling, a hallmark of his style.

Is it a flamingo? A detail of Roberts's bird shows the somewhat meandering neck.

Booth's chickens seem unperturbed by all the action.

Shanahan and Lorenz address the burning issues of the day.

Bidding started on eBay at $250 with a buy-it-now price of $500. One low bid was all it took to seal the deal:

The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995
eBay listing ended February 7, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156036847523?epid=494627&itmmeta=01HV5JC18VPP170KGD6R6Q7PTC&hash=item24548557a3:g:3qUAAOSwMQZlunoq&itmprp

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CjwaSwdB9b2%2BDSDmyzRyQHK5jEJwWeNszrswu4wVDpAeFhEQ9Agx0mE74qIDzX7G1E8jCriIuO8AzT%2BCrd5RsPYvhLo3qHsUeAUraZCGdGBLV5bNqA5tx%2FV5B

4e5offYrCe3Q2vBIAOmBE2mY0F6aL%2FJLv%2FLYrAYpEoR72YC3449tEBEdXJE8lANMmWDxexql9JYxXq2xpwK%2B%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR8CUsLLZYw

The Art of The New Yorker 1925-1995
eBay item description
". . . and two signatures I can't make out. Ed Koren? Bill Hamilton?" Try Ed Fisher and Bob Mankoff.

Note:  Believe it or not, this is the fourteenth copy of this book to appear here on the blog. Many of these copies are from the signing event at Lincoln Center. I'd be pleased to post additional copies of the book signed by New Yorker cartoonists. I would also love to hear from anyone in possession of photographs taken at the event.

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The CartoonStock Cartoon Caption Contest No. 173

I'm not entirely sure what's going on in the CartoonStock Caption Contest #173, but in many ways it looks like just another day at the office. There's a man sitting at a laptop in his cubicle talking to a female coworker while in the background the imposing landscape burns as if consumed by the fires of hell. The rules of the monthly cash prize contest are the same: five dollars buys up to three entries. Real cash prizes are $500 for first place and $100 for each of five runners up. As of this writing, I've put $90 into the first eighteen pay-to-play contests and this nineteenth one brings my total cash outlay up to $95. After two previous runner-up entries, I've collected $200, so I'm still doing very well. In fact, so few contestants enter that the odds are generally quite favorable for all. My three entries are shown below. The cool cartoonist is Drew Panckeri.

"Even so, it beats telemarketing."
"Before I get up, are you wearing anything today?"
"What I really can't take is that calendar."

November 23, 2023 Update:  The Winner

The Judges Deliberate

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The CartoonStock Caption Contest #148

I might have to take a little heat for my entries in the CartoonStock Caption Contest #148. My captions are shown below. The cave drawing is by Mick Stevens.

"Let's not ruin it by inventing a smoke alarm."
"Care to come over to my wall?"
"Who knew we could fit everything into a studio?"

February 15, 2022 Update:  My first caption was noted by Lawrence Wood in his Caption Contest Commentary. This is my sixteenth mention there.

February 16, 2022 Update:  The Winner

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Robert Day: Rescue Options

Robert Day's original New Yorker cartoon of April 2, 1932 depicts a crew fighting a fire and staging a rescue in a high-rise apartment building. The scene is handled with considerable skill, visually setting off the busy fire crew on the ground from the pair of figures all the way up at the top of the ladder. Large billows of dark smoke provide a dramatic contrast to the sprays of water. In print, the cartoon cuts a bold diagonal across the page accentuated by having the magazine's type set in two stepped columns. The original drawing was inscribed by Day to comics artist Morris Weiss (1915-2014). When it was sold framed and matted for just $131.45 by Heritage Auctions in 2015, no mention was made of its New Yorker history. It seems Weiss's heirs didn't know what they had—and neither did Heritage.

"Malcolm! She wants you!"
Robert Day
Original art
Inscribed "To Morris Weiss
with best wishes
Robt. Day"
The New Yorker, April 2, 1932, page 11

"Malcolm! She wants you!"
Robert Day
Framed original art
Inscribed "To Morris Weiss
with best wishes
Robt. Day"
The New Yorker, April 2, 1932, page 11

Robert Day
Heritage Auctions June 14, 2015

https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/paintings/robert-day-cartoon-illustration-original-art-undated-/a/121524-12026.s#

"Malcolm! She wants you!"
Robert Day
The New Yorker, April 2, 1932, page 11

"Malcolm! She wants you!"
Robert Day
Original art
Inscribed "To Morris Weiss
with best wishes
Robt. Day"
The New Yorker, April 2, 1932, page 11

https://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1932-04-02#folio=010

Note:  Attempted Bloggery seeks additional examples of outstanding original art by Robert Day. And by Malcolm.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Robert Day

Original New Yorker Cartoon Art

Attempted Bloggery's Slow-Burning Index

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E. Simms Campbell: Life Net Leering

Even pin-up girls need to be rescued sometimes. An original Playboy cartoon from 1962 by E. Simms Campbell shows a firefighter taking advantage of what ordinarily would be considered a life-threatening situation but is not presented as a danger to anything but the woman's modesty. Cartoons of this sort attempt to make us co-conspirators in a preposterously elaborate scenario concocted for the sole purpose of allowing us to leer at an attractive woman. At the same time, we are dared to imagine the view the firefighter on the left must have. The tone is meant to be playful and the message  to men is meant to be reassuring: "We enjoy looking at what you enjoy looking at." It has been repeated time and time again in countless men's magazines and pin-up calendars. 

E. Simms Campbell
"Wow....let's toss her up a few more times!"
Original art
Playboy, March 1962, page 61

E. Simms Campbell
Christie's Sale 2367, The Year of the Rabbit:  The Playboy Collection, Lot 30
New York, December 8, 2010

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/posters-signage-advertising/e-simms-campbell-wowlets-toss-her-march-5395452-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5395452&sid=5a5acdc1-93a9-466d-afe6-d1acf2951a2a

Things haven't changed all that much in the last 200 years.

Jean-Honoré Fragonard
The Swing, c. 1767
The Wallace Collection, London

Note:  Let's keep looking at the art of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). Attempted Bloggery seeks scans or photographs of original Campbell art or rare published works new to the internet.

External Links:

E. Simms Campbell's Wikipedia Entry

E. Simms Campbell on Ink Spill

E. Simms Campbell in Christopher Wheeler's Cartoon(ist) Gallery 

E. Simms Campbell in Print: Insider Histories: Black Cartoonist E. Simms Campbell. Robert C. Harvey intervied by Michael Dooley. March 3, 2015

E. Simms Campbell on We Too Were Children, Mr. Barrie. October 6, 2012

E. Simms Campbell at American Art Archives

E. Simms Campbell on Eli Stein Cartoons.com:  "We All Have to Start Somewhere" Department. Case in Point No. 15. September 6, 2011

E. Simms Campbell in Potrzebie. October 10, 2007


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

E. Simms Campbell

Playboy

Fire

Go Ahead! Look Up Attempted Bloggery's Index

Attempted Bloggery Supports Net Neutrality

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E. Simms Campbell: The Flaming Gourmet

What strikes me about E. Simms Campbell's cartoon for the July 1961 Playboy is how it tries to be sexy even though the gag doesn't require it. The redheaded woman in the low-cut gown is statuesque and imposing, standing a full head taller than her husband, perhaps a full chef's hat taller. Despite the height difference, her criticism is rightly intended to put him down further than nature already has. I think there's a deliberately unspoken idea here which goes beyond the cartoon to the message of the magazine, ensuring even the diminutive, ne'er-do-well male reader that there's a tall, curvy woman available for him despite his all-too-apparent shortcomings.

E. Simms Campbell
"You...and your flaming gourmet dishes!"
Original art
Playboy, July 1961, page 71

E. Simms Campbell
Christie's Sale 2367, The Year of the Rabbit:  The Playboy Collection, Lot 27
New York, December 8, 2010

http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/posters-signage-advertising/e-simms-campbell-youand-your-flaming-gourmet-5395449-details.aspx?from=searchresults&intObjectID=5395449&sid=5a5acdc1-93a9-466d-afe6-d1acf2951a2a

Note:  It's time for us to explore the art of E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971), a leading African-American cartoonist. Attempted Bloggery seeks scans or photographs of original Campbell art or obscure published works.

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives

E. Simms Campbell

Playboy

Fire

Attempted Bloggery's Flaming Index

Attempted Bloggery Supports Net Neutrality

02462

Peter Arno: Getting the After-Theatre Crowd

In New York, everyone likes to play to a crowd! Peter Arno understands this—after all, he does a bit of it himself—and he uses it to good effect in the cartoon "We were lucky to get the after-theatre crowd, weren't we?" The drawing depicts firefighters and well-dressed bystanders at a raging blaze somewhere in the area of Times square. The gag was originally published as a full page cartoon in the New Yorker of January 24, 1942. It was subsequently included in the 1944 collection Peter Arno's Man in the Shower. The original New Yorker artwork was sold on eBay in December of 2010 after several unsuccessful tries. This eBay listing has not been seen on the internet in over five years.

"We were fortunate in getting the after-theatre crowd, weren't we?"
Peter Arno, Original artwork
The New Yorker, January 24, 1942, page 22
Man in the Shower, 1944

Detail

Detail

Peter Arno's signature

Detail

Caption

Detail

"We were fortunate in getting the after-theatre crowd, weren't we?"
Peter Arno, Original artwork
The New Yorker, January 24, 1942, page 22
Man in the Shower, 1944

Two Arno originals!

"We were fortunate in getting the after-theatre crowd, weren't we?"
Peter Arno, The New Yorker, January 24, 1942, page 22

eBay Q & A

[End of eBay Listing]

"We were fortunate in getting the after-theatre crowd, weren't we?"
Peter Arno, The New Yorker, January 24, 1942, page 22

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1942-01-24#folio=022

From Peter Arno's Man in the Shower, 1944

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Peter-Arnos-Man-in-the-Shower-1st-1st-Hardcover-w-Jacket-Humor-Cartoons-1944-/141953303404?hash=item210d13836c:g:dtgAAOxyoA1RQOcQ

Note:  Do you know what this blog post needs? If you read the Q & A you do. It needs a photograph showing this original art when it was hanging in the 21 Club. This is a tall order, I know, but if you've got the goods, please don't be shy about it. Usually I ask for much easier stuff and almost no one responds anyway.

For example, something I'd consider far easier would be for you to send me an example or two of original New Yorker cartoon art. This blog has a nice virtual collection of it and I'm always looking for more. Collectors take note: you can remain anonymous if you wish. Politicians take note: sure you can have some free publicity.

Would you like to know a little more about Peter Arno? Well, this is your lucky day. Peter Arno: The Mad, Mad World of The New Yorker's Greatest Cartoonist by Michael Maslin was just published last week. If you're reading this blog, my guess is you should be reading this book.

While you're waiting for the book to arrive from Amazon, why not check out these helpful Arno links?

Peter Arno posts on Ink Spill. It's as if Arno's biographer had written them.

Peter Arno in Chris Wheeler's Cartoon(ist) Gallery. It's as if a great cartoon book collector were showing off his holdings.

Peter Arno in April's Vanity Fair. It's as if a leading national magazine that doesn't publish cartoons really cared about this cartoonist.

Peter Arno in the March 29 Wall Street Journal article. It's as if the financial district were a temple of high culture.

Peter Arno posts here on Attempted Bloggery. It's as if I had nothing better to do.

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