Attempted Bloggery: swimming

Showing posts with label swimming. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Claude Smith: An Immersive Competition

A six-panel color cartoon by Claude Smith appeared in the February 1958 issue of Playboy. The original art was sold at auction in Brooklyn over the weekend by Antique Arena, Inc. The panels are numbered top to bottom, left to right, and the wordless cartoon must have been printed across two facing magazine pages:

This multi-panel cartoon shows a wealthy, middle-aged man sitting at his swimming pool while hosting a couple of attractive female companions. Over the wall, he observes his neighbor's well-attended pool party and feels compelled to outdo him. It's an example of keeping up with the Joneses while following the supposed Playboy lifestyle. The young women in bathing suits, then, are commodities the men use to compete against each other.

There's an assumption in a great many cartoons of this type that money buys sexual success. It's a belief of which many a young and impoverished man is easily convinced. It might even be true.

Claude Smith
Antique Arena, Inc., listing of June 15, 2024

https://antiquearena.com/lot/70281

Note: Sure I'd love to see your original cartoon art by Claude Smith, who signs his art Claude. Thanks for asking. And thanks for the invitation to your pool.

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Thursday, March 1, 2018

E. Simms Campbell and Dorothy McKay: Eight Cartoons from Esquire

A group of five color cartoons by E. Simms Campbell torn from copies of Esquire in the 1930s are listed together on eBay. As luck would have it, on the back of three of these are cartoons by Dorothy McKay. Let's have a look at how these two distinctive cartoonists helped to define Esquire's brand of humor in the 30s.

First off, for 1939, this E. Simms Campbell "Harem Girls" swipe at Hitler seems disappointingly tame:

E. Simms Campbell
"It's Adolph Hitler. He wants to know if he can borrow some dancers[.]"
Esquire, July 1939, page 42

This gag cartoon from 1939 retains some political relevance today:

E. Simms Campbell
"He won't pay for the oil. He said it was stolen from him anyhow!"
Esquire, August 1939, page 35

In a Father's Day gag, Dorothy McKay's sly saleswoman (on the flip side of the Hitler cartoon) wants to know a little too much about the children's young father. The size of the family says it all.

Dorothy McKay
"Well, now, let's see—what does your daddy do in his spare time?"
Esquire, July 1939, page 41

The "Harem Girls" are back again, this time in a labor dispute that leaves the sultan flummoxed. This gag would have mirrored some of the widespread social upheaval during the Great Depression. As a practical matter, though, are the women in the harem really employees?

E. Simms Campbell
[Harem Girls on Strike]
Esquire, August 1934, page 39

On the other side of the page, Dorothy McKay illustrates one of the hazards faced by susceptible swim instructors. Her female bather appears less glamorous than Mr. Campbell's typical women.

Dorothy McKay
"He was teaching me to swim[.]"
Esquire, August 1934, page 40

Swim instructors aren't the only ones with a weakness for attractive women, it seems. Here Mr. McGregor works closely on his student's form:

E. Simms Campbell
"—but when do I hit the ball[,] Mr. McGregor?"
Esquire, July 1937, page 72

On the opposite side of the page, Dorothy McKay's priest attempts to return a foul-mouthed parrot to the pet shop. Just look at his body language!

Dorothy McKay
"That's the reason I sold him to you, Reverend—I thought you'd reform him[.]"
Esquire, July 1937, page 71

The final cartoon in the set pretends to leave everything to our imagination but we all know exactly what's going on, don't we? This seems a good time to ask a basic question about gag cartoons: Why have them in color? If the color doesn't add to the joke, does it add to the atmosphere enough to justify its use? Does color need to be justified at all? To help you decide, here's a cartoon with almost nothing but atmosphere:

E. Simms Campbell
"Don't look now of course, George—but the moon is simply marvelous tonight!""
Esquire, September 1939, page 71

E. Simms Campbell
eBay Listing Ended January 25, 2018

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1930s-Esquire-Magazine-Full-Page-Cartoons-E-Simms-Campbell-5-pgs-ESQ5-/323003424076?hash=item4b34811d4c%3Ag%3AZpkAAOSwcgNZCl8q&nma=true&si=YQGb25QThn5Fxe78BW8tTy6VzZY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

E. Simms Campbell
eBay Item Description

Note: Perhaps you've noticed. Attempted Bloggery is looking at the work of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). I seek scans or photographs from readers of original Campbell art or rare published works not already available on the internet. Sure, I'll take work by Dorothy McKay as well. I'm not so particular.

Do we need more color cartoons today? Certainly color cartoons can be lovely to look at, but why are the world's best cartoons in black and white? Or are they? Your opinions are welcome in the comments section. Simply scroll down and you'll find it. I promise.

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

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Saturday, May 13, 2017

Claude: "Honey, I'm Home."

Sometimes eBay sellers are at their best when they offer a bit of unsolicited home decorating advice. For example, an eight-panel original New Yorker cartoon from the late summer of 1950 by Claude Smith depicts a husband coming home from work and greeting his wife at a lakeside summer home. The seller advises that this piece, which is on two sheets, "would look great framed in a vacation cottage on a lake!" To this there is really nothing to add except "or anywhere else."

Leonard Dove, The New Yorker, September 2, 2017

Claude Smith, original art, sheet one of twoThe New Yorker, September 2, 2017, pages 18-19

Claude Smith, original art, sheet two of twoThe New Yorker, September 2, 2017, pages 18-19

Claude Smith, The New Yorker, September 2, 2017, pages 18-19

Verso, sheet one of two

Claude Smith
eBay Listing Ended October 27, 2016 with Best Offer of $90

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Original-New-Yorker-Magazine-Art-Work-from-1950-/262082784630?hash=item3d0559ed76:g:-88AAOSw4SlV8EgN

Claude Smith
eBay Item Description

Reduced from $175 to $135, then purchased with a best offer of $90

Claude Smith, original art, sheet one of twoThe New Yorker, September 2, 2017, pages 18-19

Claude Smith, original art, sheet two of twoThe New Yorker, September 2, 2017, pages 18-19

Sequential drawing by Claude Smith
The New Yorker, September 2, 1950, pages 18-19

http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=1950-09-02#folio=018

Note: The present work is now framed but it has not been relocated to a vacation cottage on a lake.

Attempted Bloggery's quick links:

Claude Smith

Original New Yorker Cartoon Art

Leonard Dove

Attempted Bloggery's Summery Index

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Monday, April 20, 2015

Stepping into the Ocean with Lee Lorenz

An early example of original cartoon art by Lee Lorenz was offered on eBay in 2013. The eBay seller thought it was a New Yorker cartoon, but then, sellers will be sellers. The price was reduced from $875 to $675 and then $499 without attracting a bid. Whether or not it was ever published anywhere, it's a buoyant example of Mr. Lorenz's cartoon art.