The title of a current eBay listing says quite a lot: "Claude Smith Original Cartoon For The New Yorker...Accepted-Then Rejected." There's a word for New Yorker cartoons that are purchased by the magazine and subsequently returned to the artist without being published, and that word is killed. Killed New Yorker art is initially accepted and prepared for publication, but then someone in the editorial department has a change of heart. Claude Smith's 1969 drawing of two young boys unable to read a stop sign but willing to make an assumption about it comes with two alternate captions, one on a pencil rough. The eBay seller states the rough bears the reworked caption, but I suspect it's the other way round.
Why was this gag killed? We can't know for sure, of course. Possibly it suffered its fate because it had preliterate children discuss the kind of language the magazine refused to publish at the time. Perhaps the boys' lopsided understanding of reading was too implausible. At any rate, here's a case study of a cartoon that was almost deemed good enough to run in the New Yorker. Would you have accepted it or rejected it? Or both?
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"I don't know what it says, but I know one thing—it's a four letter word!"
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| Verso |
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| Kill notice included |
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| "I can tell you one thing—it's a four letter word—and man! I stay clear of those!" Claude Smith Rough |
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| Caption: "I don't know what it says, but I know one thing—it's a four letter word!" |
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| Claude Smith eBay Listing Accessed May 14, 2020 |
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| Claude Smith eBay Item Description |
Note: At the time of posting, this artwork remained available on eBay.
Attempted Bloggery remains on the lookout for scans or photos of original art by Claude Smith, whether killed or not.
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