Barbara Shermund: Of Another Stripe

By the Christmas season of 1942, the United States was a full year into the Second World War. Like other cartoonists, Barbara Shermund had adapted her subject matter to meet the moment. Her color cartoon for the December issue of Esquire, for example, has both the holiday season and the war for its setting.

The gag is tame by today's standards, but Shermund's adventuresome young woman still manages to scandalize the staid sales clerk. The original art was sold on eBay in May.

"Do you have any with sergeant's stripes on them?"
Barbara Shermund
Original art
Esquire, December 1942, p. 47

Shermund nicely contrasts the flatness of the pajamas with the roundness of the woman's figure. Compare the sales clerk's big, awkward hands with her petite, gloved ones.  

The fur coat befits the season while establishing her as a woman of means. Note the very different stripes on the pajamas and on the fur.

The salesman reacts with surprise to the woman's request, but his expression isn't overdone.

Pajamas are $4.95—not exactly cheap back then. Perhaps there will be a January white sale.
They are making eye contact.

She has donned makeup and jewelry for her outing.

And, of course, she wears heels as any fashionable woman would.

Barbara Shermund's signature

The December issue drawing received its OK on October 16, 1942.

"Sergeant stripes" became "sergeant's stripes" in print—an improvement.

And let's assume that stamped E is for Esquire.

Barbara Shermund
eBay listing ended May 9, 2026

https://www.ebay.com/itm/137294137303?

Barbara Shermund
eBay item description

Shermund's original works sold in rapid succession.

"Do you have any with sergeant's stripes on them?"
Barbara Shermund
Esquire, December 1942, p. 47

https://www.ebay.com/itm/334479935671

"Do you have any with sergeant's stripes on them?"
Barbara Shermund
Original art
Esquire, December 1942, p. 47

 "Do you have any with sergeant's stripes on them?"
Barbara Shermund
Esquire, December 1942, p. 47

https://classic.esquire.com/article/1942/12/1/do-you-have-any-with-sergeants-stripes-on-them

Note:  Readers can earn their stripes by submitteing orignal art by Barbara Shermund to the blog. 

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Dorothy McKay: Priorities

The original art for a full color, full page 1956 Esquire cartoon by Dorothy McKay is currently available from Honey & Wax Booksellers of Brooklyn.

"Why don't you do something, dear, besides just make money?"
Dorothy McKay
Original art
Esquire, September 1956, p. 88

McKay's frustrating cartooning career with The New Yorker ended in 1936. Yet this Esquire piece from two decades later seems to retain something of a New Yorker cartoon sensibility. One can imagine a black-and-white version being perfectly at home in its pages. Fortunately, the drawing was appreciated by Esquire's editors and it found a good home away from home. 

"Why don't you do something, dear, besides just make money?"
Dorothy McKay
Original art
Esquire, September 1956, p. 88

Dorothy McKay
Honey & Wax Booksellers listing accessed August 3, 2024

https://www.honeyandwaxbooks.com/pages/books/1003790/dorothy-mckay/why-don-t-you-do-something-dear-besides-just-make-money

"Why don't you do something, dear, besides just make money?"
Dorothy McKay
Esquire, September 1956, p. 88

https://classic.esquire.com/issue/19560901/print

Note:  Are you burdened by original Dorothy McKay art going unshared despite the ready availability of the internet? Are you in need of a suitable blog to realize your dream of letting the world at large appreciate what's in your collection? I stand eager to share images of your treasures.

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