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Merry Morticia
Fifty-one years ago in the New Yorker the Addams Family struggled to cope with the Christmas season. In 1964 "The Addams Family" television series began its run and these characters created by Charles...
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Richard Scarry: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Richard Scarry's cover illustration for the Little Golden Book reissue of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer looks very familiar. Either I owned the book or else a close friend did. I'm quite sure I didn't...
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The Holly and the Hergé
Tintin and Snowy send their Christmas greetings in this original greeting card art by Hergé. The drawing in india ink of Tintin and his dog is very appealing, although perhaps to American sensibilities...
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W. Heath Robinson: Stocking Stuffers
Here's a fine watercolor illustration by W. Heath Robinson. It shows the correct way to stuff a stocking.W. Heath RobinsonNote: I'm not sure where I found this image; perhaps it was from a Chris...
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Salvation Army Santa: Leonard Weisgard Proposed New Yorker Cover Art
Leonard Weisgard illustrated over 200 children's books but he illustrated only two covers for the New Yorker, both in the late 1930's. This proposed New Yorker cover, Salvation Army Santa, reportedly...
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A Day at the Races: Leonard Weisgard Proposed New Yorker Cover Art
This beautiful illustration of a harness race is by Leonard Weisgard. It is a proposed cover for the New Yorker magazine and reportedly dates from the 1940's. Weisgard sold two covers to the magazine...
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Children Playing: Leonard Weisgard Proposed New Yorker Cover Art
This original illustration by Leonard Weisgard is reportedly a proposed New Yorker cover from the 1950's although it lacks the typical strap along the left side of the image. Weisgard's skill with the...
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Broadway Theater Aisle: New Yorker "Probable Cover" Art
Two well-dressed, older couples make their way slowly down a Broadway theater aisle after everyone else is already seated. The men, without benefit of an usher, look somewhat lost as they extend their...
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The Fortune of the Night
I'm beginning to suspect my Chinese fortune was plagiarized."Open up your mind. Let your fantasies unwind."The relevant lyrics are at about 2:21 in this video recording of "The Music of the Night:""The...
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J. C. Leyendecker: Study for the 1938 New Year's Baby
J. C. Leyendecker's study for the January 1, 1938 cover of the Saturday Evening Post is an important preliminary work by a major illustrator. It depicts the New Year's baby of 1938. The original...
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My New Cell Phone Case
On November 3rd, I publicly reviewed my selection process for a new cell phone case, but I had not yet announced a final choice. Now the final decision has been made and my new iPhone 5s is protected...
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New Year's Dread from Edward Koren
Five years ago cartoonist Edward Koren helped Christopher Buckley and the New York Times welcome in the New Year 2009. A look back at "What New Yorkers Should Dread in the New Year," the old New Year,...
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Summing Up 2013
Attempted Bloggery has been around for two and a half years now, so I no longer feel like the new kid on the block. This year, the blog published 433 individual posts, which is more than eight a week...
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Blog Post No. 1000: Happy New Year, Lurkers and All!
Happy New Year 2014. Welcome, by the way, to my one-thousandth blog post! You do not need to remove your party hat before reading this.When I'm not pondering why my blog isn't being discussed on...
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Kate Greenaway: "Just a Line to Wish a Happy New Year"
Bauman Rare Books offers an autograph letter signed with an original illustration in watercolor by Kate Greenaway. She wishes her correspondent, Frederick Locker-Lampson, a Happy New Year. I first...
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My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #409
Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #409 for December 23, 2013. The cartoon you can't refuse is by Mike Twohy. The caption is all mine."Right off, I can think of three good...
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Growing Up Addams
About twelve years ago, Swann Galleries of New York sold this signed copy of Nightcrawlers (1957) which boasts an original drawing by Charles Addams. It shows Wednesday of the Addams Family admiring...
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Charles Addams: Lemonade, Anyone?
Well, here we have a typically eerie drawing by Charles Addams that takes us to a run-down and overgrown neighborhood setting. The dilapidated Addams Family mansion can be seen off to the right....
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Liza Donnelly: Women on Men
Liza Donnelly's new cartoon book Women on Men (2013) arrived in the mail yesterday and it looks great. For once, men don't have much to say for themselves; the amusing commentary is all from a woman's...
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Charles Addams: Any Wednesday
Here are two related examples of original drawings by Charles Addams. Both depict Wednesday, the somewhat morbid daughter of the Addams Family who is here depicted as a more-or-less ordinary teenage...
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