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Whitney Darrow, Jr. for Minute Tapioca
"Who's Having More Fun?" asks this 1951 advertisement for Minute Tapioca. It isn't such an easy question when the Dad gets to fly the kite. This illustration of windy-day fun is by Whitney Darrow, Jr.,...
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Mischa Richter: Tony's Pizza
Be thankful how easily you can order a pizza for delivery. For some it's quite an ordeal. Here by special delivery is an order of original cartoon art for the New Yorker by Mischa Richter, with...
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Ping-Pong Diplomacy: Mischa Richter Proposed New Yorker Cover Art
Mischa Richter's cover proposal for the New Yorker magazine shows Uncle Sam lobbing a ping-pong ball over the Great Wall of China. The artwork is undated, but such an illustration surely must refer to...
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Leading Schoolboys: Mischa Richter Proposed New Yorker Cover Art
A color illustration by Mischa Richter features Uncle Sam and Lady Liberty leading a few well-off schoolboys in private school uniforms to America, or at least to a map of the lower forty-eight. We are...
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Mischa Richter: As American as...
Lady Liberty and Uncle Sam frequently appeared together in Mischa Richter's cartoons for the New Yorker. Two original gag cartoons with these characters were sold in January by Swann Auction Galleries,...
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Saul Steinberg: Thirteen Colonies
Saul Steinberg's 1967 lithograph Thirteen Colonies takes icons of American patriotism and poses them as ancient Egyptian monuments. The American bald eagle is perched atop a truncated pyramid...
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Saul Steinberg: The Ascent of Man
An untitled ink drawing by Saul Steinberg from the mid-1960's was published in The Inspector, his 1973 collection. It depicts a stepped pyramid with an arch at the center. The steps along the left show...
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My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #480
Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #480 for June 29, 2015. The drawing is by Frank Cotham."Brady, did you let some air out?"Here are some other caption ideas, some of them very...
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Macy's 4th of July Fireworks 2015
It was great to attend the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks this year, now back on the East River. These photographs and videos were taken at Waterside Plaza in Manhattan. The party music which can be...
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Attempted Blogger
I'm privileged to write this blog, Attempted Bloggery, and to be active on Twitter, but that does not make my Twitter handle Attempted Blogger. That honor goes to someone else, someone unrelated to me...
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George Segal: Circus Acrobats
George Segal'sCircus Acrobats from 1981 is installed in the lobby just outside the main entrance to the Princeton University Art Museum. Of all the artist's works, surely this plaster sculpture is one...
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Forced Perspective on Stage
Last weekend I attended a fine production of Shaw's "Pygmalion" at Princeton Summer Theater. The set consisted of a number of classical busts, a gesture to Ovid's ancient telling of the myth of...
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My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #481
Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #481 for July 6, 2015. The drawing is by Will McPhail."I'm all for equality if I can keep my clothes on."July 20, 2015 Update: The...
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Sam Gross: National Ice Cream Day
Happy National Ice Cream Day! If you're in Princeton and you're looking for ice cream you have several great choices but only one of them has a framed New Yorker cartoon up on the wall. I refer to Halo...
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Whitney Darrow, Jr.: Seeds of Future Delight
Few if any cartoonists were more skilled than Whitney Darrow, Jr. at creating original souvenir drawings in books. He could add color and even verse seemingly with little effort. Here are four such...
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A Return to Cape Cod
Last month I spent four peaceful days in Cape Cod. It was the first time I'd been back in about three years. I did not foresee some of the new fashions.Baseball cap, CVS, ChathamNote: I am thankful...
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Norman Rockwell's Portrait of America
Here's the scenario: It is a brilliant sunlit morning. We're in the Stars Dining Room of the Chatham Bars Inn. Families are enjoying an outstanding New England buffet breakfast in the well-appointed...
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The Chatham Bars Inn
The Chatham Bars Inn celebrated its centennial last year. Bars refers to the prominent sandbars in Pleasant Bay, as represented on the sign. The lobby area is decorated with antiques and Americana...
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Bob Staake: A Good Sign or a Bad Sign?
The Eldredge Public Library in Chatham is a beautiful building both outside and inside. The library staff are just as friendly and helpful to summer people as to the year-rounders. As if that weren't...
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My Entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #482
Here is my entry in the New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest #482 for July 20, 2015. The drawing is by P. C. Vey."Guess how I painted them so quickly!"These just weren't up to speed either:"I don't have...
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