Today's Walk Along the Canal

It was sunny and warm today: the perfect day for a walk along the canal.

Turtle Gazing

Canal Reflections

Trees Downed in the Canal After Four Nor'Easters

Golf Course Bridge

02515

E. Simms Campbell: A Wartime Sacrifice

A wartime "Harem Girls" gatefold cartoon from Esquire shows the ease with which artist E. Simms Campbell could populate his large color cartoons with some two dozen figures, including even three colorful men. The old warrior has been called to fight in the Second World War. Naturally, he seeks help in looking after the home front. The women themselves seldom react to what is transpiring; their role, after all, is to lounge about and look desirable. Still, they don't seem overly upset by the news. It is the sultan whom we get to see overreact in an old-fashioned and exaggerated style of cartooning that seems all too obvious today.

"I've been called to the front, my friend—do you mind taking care of my family?"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, 1940s

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1940s-Esquire-Magazine-Gatefold-Harem-Girl-Pinups-by-E-Simms-Campbell-/381344745322

The fruit doesn't look bad either.

The sultan overreacts

The "Harem Girls" play it close to the vest.

E. Simms Campbell's signature

Of the three men, only the man in the background has an idealized form, whereas all the women share one.

"[?]"
Artist Unknown

Note:  E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971) created an awful lot of cartoons like this. Attempted Bloggery will continue to survey the work of this artist for the next two weeks or so. Readers with access to original Campbell art or to little-known published cartoons such as this one may submit high-resolution scans or photographs to the blog.

This cartoon was published in Esquire presumably between 1941 and 1945. Write if you know precisely when. 

Who is the mystery cartoonist? What is the caption?

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E. Simms Campbell

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02514

E. Simms Campbell: Show That I.D.

A full-color Esquire cartoon by E. Simms Campbell from 1936 or 1937—the eBay seller used both years in different parts of the listing—will resonate with anyone who has ever sewn his or her name label onto an article of clothing. Or perhaps it won't; the situation is clearly preposterous. It makes sense only using the singular logic of men's humor magazines in which women disrobe in public on the merest pretense. The open handbag on the table helps to tell the story, but one wonders how many readers even noticed it.

"M-mm—have you any other identification before we cash that check?"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, 1936 or 1937

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1936-E-Simms-Campbell-Risque-Comic-Art-woman-banker-Esquire-print-9-5-x13/162995829054?hash=item25f34ef93e:g:zsgAAOSwE0Zaz87R

Note:  E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971) drew more cartoons than Attempted Bloggery can hope to ever unearth, but that doesn't mean we can't dream. Readers with access to original Campbell art or obscure published cartoons such as this one may submit high-resolution scans or photographs to the blog.

Future cartoon historians will want to know in which issue of Esquire this cartoon was published. Diligent readers who know the answer should not be shy about revealing it.

Check, please!

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E. Simms Campbell

Esquire

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02513

Best Twitter Notification of the Day

This just in:

Note:  Take a pointer from @sex and follow me on Twitter here.

02512

My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #611

Swoop into my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #611 for April 9, 2018. The drawing is by Ellis Rosen.

"Au contraire, I'll be the more adored because I poop in pellets."

These other captions just weren't classy enough for the New Yorker:

"What I need you to do is sing 'Here I Come to Save the Day.'"
"We'll see who's best at delivering for Amazon."
"With the right technology, even you can be replaced."
"Nothing can stop me now but the pavement."

April 16, 2018:  The Finalists

April 23, 2018 Update:  I voted for the first caption.


April 30, 2018 Update:  Winning Caption

Note:  This is Ellis Rosen's first appearance on the blog. And I submitted a poop joke.

Last week, cartoonist P. C. Vey sent a chef to the slammer. My caption didn't follow the recipe. Deliver a reprieve to Contest #610.

02511

E. Simms Campbell: Sleeping Arrangements

It seems fitting that The Pocket Book of Esquire Cartoons, a 1959 paperback edition of selections from The Esquire Cartoon Album: 25th Anniversary Volume (1957), should have on its cover one of the very popular "Harem Girls" cartoons of E. Simms Campbell. The cartoon is not perfect; it relies on a prominent sign to explain the setting, but then it was usually more of a priority to show off the women than to describe the exotic locale. The Harem Girls, it will be noted, do not change their wardrobe when they go to the market. Like the women's clothing, the caption is brief and to the point.

"Something that sleeps twelve!"
E. Simms Campbell
The Pocket Book of Esquire Cartoons, 1959

https://www.etsy.com/listing...

Back Cover
Fred Lundy

Image added April 13, 2019

https://www.amazon.com/Pocket-Book-Esquire-Cartoons…

First publication:

"Something that sleeps twelve!"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, September 1955, page 100

Image added April 13, 2019

http://classics.esquire.com/article/1955/9/1/something-that-sleeps-twelve

Note:  E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971) is currently having his work surveyed here at Attempted Bloggery. Readers with access to original Campbell art or obscure published cartoons may submit high-resolution scans or photographs to the blog.

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02510

E. Simms Campbell: Stage Direction

This just won't do. An original cartoon by E. Simms Campbell is coming up for auction next week lacking its caption. It could very well be a  black and white Esquire cartoon, but there are other possible publications as well. It seems we're at a dress rehearsal for a musical comedy. A leggy actress carrying a food platter is being directed to...?

"[?]"
E. Simms Campbell
Original art
Esquire?

"[?]"
E. Simms Campbell
Framed original art
Esquire?

E. Simms Campbell's signature

E. Simms Campbell
Champagne Auctions
Canadian, Inuit and International Fine Art
April 11, 2018
Lot 66

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/simms-campbell-elmer-1906-1974-usa-argument-c734f11b56

Champagne Auctions Item Description

April 12, 2108 Update: Unsold.

Note:  Recognize this cartoon? If you know the original caption or the magazine in which this was published, give a holler. Or a stage direction. 

E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971) remains the subject of a mini-retrospective here at Attempted Bloggery. This leading African-American artist was quite prolific, so we'll have to continue just a bit longer. Readers with access to original drawings by this artist are asked to submit high-resolution scans or photographs to the blog for our scholarly consideration and so we can take a look at the women.

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E. Simms Campbell

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02509

E. Simms Campbell: Getting Frisky

Let's be clear:  the unbecoming conduct described in a 1938 Esquire cartoon by E. Simms Campbell would be regarded as unprofessional and, it is to be hoped, unacceptable according to any real-world police standards. But by the slightly less rigorous standards of a cartoon published in a leading men's magazine of the 1930s, we are, it seems, supposed to identify solely with the lecherous officers and to take pleasure in the pretty woman's predicament. The female subject under interrogation, if that's the word for it, is given about two thirds of the page, with the three policemen relegated to the remaining third. In addition, the woman shows more skin than the three men combined, and she is depicted from a high enough vantage point that we may more enjoy her discomfort and dishevelment. The ultimate insult to her—and indeed the very point of the cartoon—is that she is not smart enough to understand the ulterior motives behind what she has just been subjected to under the falsest of pretenses.

"Well[,] you've all frisked me! Now are you
convinced I haven't a gun!!"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, 1938

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1938-E-Simms-Campbell-Esquire-Comic-art-print-youve-all-frisked-me-police-woman/162979503660?hash=item25f255de2c:g:wOcAAOSwjX1aw76z

Note:  No doubt the very talented E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971) gave the Esquire reader what he wanted, and probably more so than any other cartoonist. Attempted Bloggery is hard at work bringing this often overlooked artist back into public view. Therefore readers with access to original works by this artist are asked to submit high-resolution scans or photographs for consideration on the blog. Images of long-forgotten published works such as this one are also welcome.

At post time, this old magazine page is still available for purchase on eBay, so gun for it if you wish.

In what issue of Esquire did this cartoon appear? If you know, I want to know.

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02508

A Toast to E. Simms Campbell and H. T. Webster

Last week's big post on cartoonist E. Simms Campbell led off with an Esquire gag about a young woman burning the toast. There is a long and unhappily sexist tradition of cartoons about women who can't cook, and the introduction of the modern pop-up toaster in 1925 seems to have provided another angle, the idea being that even a woman who can't cook should at least be able to toast a slice of bread. The Esquire cartoon deliberately conflates using a toaster with cooking. It was mean-spirited and didn't sit well with me. Part of the reason is that this same territory is covered by my favorite H. T. Webster cartoon, from the gag panel series The Thrill That Comes Once in a Lifetime. In a 1948 panel Webster takes the opposite tack, and the woman who says she can't cook nevertheless has mastered the toaster and is now proclaimed a genius. Of course, it is implicit in the Webster cartoon and understated in the Campbell cartoon that each man's attitude toward the woman's "cooking" reflects the quality of the sexual relationship.

"Damn!  Can't you even cook?"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, April 1935, page 43

https://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Original-Illustration-art-Authentic/dp/B00YGAGM70/ref=sr_1_32?ie=UTF8&qid=1522203837&sr=8-32&keywords=Simms+Campbell+Esquire+1935

The Thrill That Comes Once in a Lifetime:
Newlyweds['] First Breakfast
H. T. Webster
November 27, 1948
The Best of H. T. Webster, 1953

http://hairygreeneyeball2.blogspot.com/2009/10/thrill-that-comes-once-in-lifetime.html

Note:  H. T. Webster (1885-1952) is new to the blog today. E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971) at this point is decidedly not. Readers with access to original art by either artist are encouraged to submit high-resolution scans or photographs for consideration. Don't tell me you can't. You're a wizard.

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E. Simms Campbell

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02507

No Parade: E. Simms Campbell and Al Johns Share a Caption

A 1935 Esquire cartoon we looked at last week in the big post on E. Simms Campbell has a truly memorable caption about a parade that isn't happening. So does a Saturday Evening Post cartoon from the 1950s by Al Johns that was featured on Mike Lynch Cartoons back in 2010. The two cartoons are quite different but the captions are the same. And who doesn't love a parade?

"I don't see any parade[.]"
E. Simms Campbell
Esquire, 1935

https://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Illustration-art-Cartoon-Magazine/dp/B017I41BJO/ref=sr_1_19?ie=UTF8&qid=1522203513&sr=8-19&keywords=Simms+Campbell+Esquire+1935

"I don't see any parade."
Al Johns
The Saturday Evening Post, c. 1950s

http://mikelynchcartoons.blogspot.com/2010/11/saturday-evening-post-scrapbook-part-7.html

Note:  Al Johns is new to the blog. It is E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971) whose work we have been surveying. Readers with access to original art by either artist are encouraged to submit high-resolution scans or photographs.

It's for you. In the following video at the 11:50 mark, cartoonist Michael Maslin discusses selling The New Yorker several cartoons each with the same caption.

Four New Yorker Cartoonists

The Hotchkiss Library

Sharon, CT

September 30, 2012

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02506