Mischa Richter: Visiting Hours

Cartoonist Mischa Richter certainly appreciated a good turn of phrase. Presumably so did writer Melvin Shestuck, who was the recipient of this original art in 1945. And I'm sure the patient here was grateful as well.

"We want to visit another patient here tonight—sort of killing two birds with one stone."
Mischa Richter
Original cartoon art

Mischa Richter's signature

"To Melvin Shestuck
with regards—
Nov. 17, 1945  Richter"

Unless someone can make out these markings on the back, the place where this was published is lost to history. Some eighty years later, the artwork changed hands on eBay.

Verso

Mischa Richter
eBay listing ended July 19, 2024

https://www.ebay.com/itm/375530332688?_nkw=Mischa+Richter+signed&itmmeta=01J7A5G1Q4VFA9240R857K2E8Z&hash=item576f5a2210:g:bvMAAOSwQvZmjpz8&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA0HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKndUZy1%2B%2Bw5cnJej3cFUJ%2Bqd42LACulPio3YxctnO7cSe5pUgf5xX5952uBsxoaWRePz0SzGpO2pLXRv--giyLrmL0D2yVTl6nUbEAfJWDoQXuXUGolAMaVwVRhKLvlOywAly58qICyv2OKM12NvE1L9Q3PWMIzlo5i6UQ%2FmO5XNnw13IcR1mg6WRyNeJqSZzuPDfR8ET%2FYMsaIwGjXVM9Vc0YXLYOqfLFmBe1NB%2FiQODpD3djWfhmRgYqv2IvPvAQ%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9CbwMW6ZA

Mischa Richter
eBay item description

Note:  As with any of my posts, if you know more than I do about what I have presented here—such as publication history—please share it. I am always eager to share original work by Mischa Richter.

04744

Latrine Duty: John's Copy of Chas Addams' Black Maria

These days, with the new animated Addams Family movie haunting theaters, it's easy to think of Charles Addams exclusively as the progenitor of his famously creepy family. His prodigious talents as a cartoonist also took him in a great many other directions, and not always to those refined subjects one might expect of a New Yorker cartoonist. Predictably, most original Addams drawings found in his cartoon collections and inscribed to friends and fans depict various members of the Addams Family, but a book personalized to one John currently offered on eBay shows instead a hapless military serviceman engaged in what might be considered latrine duty. This then is a rare Addams example of deadpan bedpan humor.

                              "Is it anyone we know?"

Charles Addams
eBay Listing Retrieved October 20, 2019

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1960-BLACK-MARIA-CHARLES-ADDAMS-FAMILY-SIGNED-FIRST-EDITION-WITH-COMIC-DRAWING/122409813368?hash=item1c80318578:g:8FEAAOSwHPlWdHat

Charles Addams
eBay Item Description 

Note:  Stop me if you've heard this before. If you have access to a book like this one containing an original Charles Addams drawing like this one—or even not like this one—you are encouraged to scan or photograph it and send it along to Attempted Bloggery for possible inclusion in a future blog post.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Charles Addams

The Addams Family

Signed Books with Original Drawings

Attempted Bloggery's Pisser of an Index

03064

Howard Baer: All Wrapped Up

In 1937, cartoonist Howard Baer presented Esquire readers with a case of mistaken identity. This is why we use wristbands today.

"I'm sorry[,] Mrs. Smith, but your husband is in room thirty-three[.]"
Howard Baer
Esquire, April 1937, page 74

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1937-ESQUIRE-MAGAZINE-Comic-Page-Im-sorry-Mrs-Smith-but-your-husband/163028012269?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D2%26asc%3D40971%26meid%3Dc99e68a7b843433fa2456439f5364860%26pid%3D100623%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D163028012270%26itm%3D163028012269&_trksid=p2047675.c100623.m-1

September 28, 2018 Update:

https://archive.esquire.com/issue/19370401/print

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Howard Baer

Esquire

Attempted Bloggery's Caring Index

02690

Adolph Schus in College Humor, January 1940

The January 1940 issue of College Humor includes two appearances by cartoonist Adolph Schus, already twice the number he ever had in the New Yorker. In the first of these, the Native American depicted honing his aim has abandoned the traditional bow and arrow. As he's adopted a popular pub game in their place, this gag very well could be making a tasteless reference to Indians and their penchant for alcohol.

Adolph Schus
College Humor, January 1940, Vol 11, No. 1, page 33

The second cartoon takes place in a hospital operating room setting few find reassuring. Who among us feels comfortable with gags premised on running out of general anesthesia?

"We're all out of ether, so I brought a cup of hot milk."
Adolph Schus

College Humor, January 1940, Vol 11, No. 1, page 36

Note:  Adolph Schus is new to the blog. According to Ink Spill, he published one and only one drawing in the New Yorker in 1938.

02616

Eldon Dedini: Putting Up Antibiotic Resistance

Eldon Dedini's New Yorker cartoon of December 9, 1967 may have been the first cartoon in that magazine's storied history to mention antibiotic resistance, usually not an especially robust wellspring for humor. Still, if it helps bring to light just a touch of the marital blame game, who can fault it? Not much changed between the preliminary version of this gag seen last year on eBay and the final published version, but the husband became less angry and more passive, making him a somewhat more sympathetic figure and rendering the mood more somber.

Eldon Dedini, "George, you must stop resisting the antibiotics."
Preliminary art, The New Yorker, December 9, 1967, page 60

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1967-12-09#folio=060

"Preliminary sketch for New Yorker cartoon"

Eldon Dedini's signature

Gift inscription dated a year after publication
"Nov 15 '68
San Francinsco
Eldon"

eBay Listing as of December 25, 2016

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eldon-Dedini-Original-Cartoon-Sketch-for-The-New-Yorker-/252691675902?hash=item3ad598fafe:g:x6oAAOSwo4pYWHPk#viTabs_0

Eldon Dedini, "George, you must stop resisting the antibiotics."
Preliminary art, The New Yorker, December 9, 1967, page 60

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1967-12-09#folio=060

Eldon Dedini, "George, you must stop resisting the antibiotics."
The New Yorker, December 9, 1967, page 60

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1967-12-09#folio=060

Eldon Dedini, "George, you must stop resisting the antibiotics."
The New Yorker, December 9, 1967, page 60

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1967-12-09#folio=060

This year the price has been reduced:

Note:  Resist!

I mean, listen to your spouse! Attempted Bloggery continues to seek scans or photographs of original cartoon art by Eldon Dedini and other New Yorker artists to help end the scourge of antibiotic resistance.


Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Eldon Dedini

Preliminary New Yorker cartoon art

Attempted Bloggery's Bedside Index

02319