Michael ffolkes: Mistletoe Mistake?

Michael ffolkes's 1970 Playboy cartoon depicts a lifestyle of casual sex that was surely more male fantasy than reality. The mistletoe looks to be patched on by the artist; hence the slight irregularity in the thickness of the string where the white and yellow meet. Having mistletoe hung over the bed is a stretch, but it's the basic assumption of the cartoon. 

"Why, Mr. Bernstein, you didn't remember to kiss me."
Michael ffolkes
Playboy, January 1970, p. 258

https://www.ebay.com/itm/265502645676?...

The lit cigarette in bed was an old cliche even then, obviously intended to tell us this is a postcoital scene. Like many Playboy cartoons, it's conceived for what is today often referred to as the male gaze, he in pajamas and she with her gravity-defying breasts exposed. This cartoon raises a number of questions I don't have the answers to. Did Mr. Bernstein in fact bother to undress for sex, or did he put the pajamas on afterwards? Is she an employee of his? Is it his bed? Hers? Why give him a Jewish surname if there is mistletoe hung over the bed—or does that explain why he didn't know to kiss her? The humor hangs on a very sad, to me, assumption that both parties were willing to have sex without kissing. The Playboy lifestyle indeed!

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Helen E. Hokinson: Decorating the Tree

A color Christmas illustration by Helen E. Hokinson was sold on eBay unseasonably in June. Accompanied by no fewer than four servants, one of Hokinson's inimitable matrons is shown adding the garland to a miniature Christmas tree. The star and ornaments are held in readiness on serving trays by the female staff. The dog wears mistletoe around its neck, adding some festivity to the unusually restrained scene. This original watercolor is signed twice, signifying that a portion of the two servants at the extreme right must have been cropped out of the published art.

Detail of the figures on the left

Detail of the female servants

Helen E. Hokinson's dual signatures

Verso

Helen E. Hokinson
eBay listing ended June 7, 2020

https://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-WATERCOLOR-PAINTING-CARTOON-by-NEW-YORKER-ARTIST-HELEN-E-HOKINSON-/224027023071?hash=item34290d16df%3Ag%3ATRgAAOSwRXxe0FP5&nma=true&si=WEtIFz5%252FkfY9UxP8WWeB%252FCaqeVQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Helen E. Hokinson
eBay item description

Helen E. Hokinson
eBay bid history
The last bidder wins it.

Know what? The winner of this eBay auction has gone public here.

December 16, 2025 Update:  There's more today on Michael Maslin's Ink Spill here.

Note:  On the off chance that anyone knows where this obscure piece was published, please come forward with the details.

Original art by Helen E. Hokinson is desired for potential use in future posts on this blog. Please send scans or photos.

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Charles Addams: Under the Mistletoe

Perhaps it's worth relating something of the haphazard process by which things come to be published on this blog. Joel Jacobus, who told us all about a rarely-seen Addams Family scarf in yesterday's post, originally contacted me last year after I posted images of another scarf designed by New Yorker cartoonist Anatol Kovarsky. While Joel was searching about for the Addams scarf he came upon another item of interest to fans of Charles Addams. I'd better let him relate the story:

I've also randomly included a photo of [a] Christmas sketch by Addams from 1971 (which was next to the scarf when I finally uncovered it in the closet). I don't know who "Greta & Bob" are but he didn't tend to draw himself (and Alice B. Curr) unless it was for friends so I assume it was someone he knew. 

Joel has owned this sketch for more than ten years.

The sketch was being sold by a book dealer on the Advanced Book Exchange who had no info about it.

Here's the drawing:

Inscribed "Merry Christmas to Greta & Bob
Chas Addams
              1971"
with a sketch of Addams (with mistletoe) and Alice B. Curr

From the collection of Joel Jacobus

It's tempting to speculate who Greta and Bob (Bobs?) may have been. Addams traveled in rather exclusive circles and he even had dated Greta Garbo. But if the reclusive actress is the Greta of the inscription, then who is Bob? A pet? Perhaps he knew Greta and Robert H. N. Ho, who were noted philanthropists. They even share a remote Colgate University connection with Addams, although Addams was only there for a year and there was more than a two decade age difference between Charles Addams '33 and Robert H. N. Ho '56.


Note:  My thanks to Joel Jacobus for his first-rate contribution to today's post, easily his best effort since…well, yesterday's post. 

It would be gratifying to hear from anyone who can better identify the recipients of this drawing. In the absence of facts, speculation is welcome.

For more on Addams' dog Alice B. Curr—I assume the name is a nod to Alice B. Toklas—see the aterrier site.

Attempted Bloggery is a fine place to publish rare Charles Addams art and memorabilia from all over. Help the world to gain a renewed appreciation of Addams' genius. Help Joel compile his compendium of licensed Addamsiana. That's not really a word, is it?

Quick Links to the Attempted Bloggery Archives:

Charles Addams

Dogs

Souvenir Drawings

Christmas

Presidents' Day Weekend

Attempted Bloggery's Manspreading Index

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Peter Arno's Mistletoe

Peter Arno published a mistletoe gag?  Gee, I didn't see that one coming.

This original artwork by Arno set at a a servicemen's canteen was published in The New Yorker's Christmas issue in 1942. Some fifty years later it was given by the magazine's editor Tina Brown to Richard Avedon, whom Brown brought into the magazine as its first staff photographer. It may be hard to remember now, but there was a time when The New Yorker never ran photographs.

Brown walked away from the magazine in 1998. I just wonder how things are going for her now over at Newsweek.

Peter Arno,
"Be careful. The place is simply lousy with mistletoe."
Original artwork
The New Yorker, December 26, 1942, page 14

http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2005/property-from-the-estate-of-richard-avedon-n08091/lot.134.html



Peter Arno, "Be careful. The place is simply lousy with mistletoe."
The New Yorker, December 26, 1942, page 14

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