E.B. White – A New Yorker State of Mind

Far-Fetched Faulkner

Above: New Yorker book critic Clifton Fadiman (right) characterized William Faulkner's "Absalom, Absalom!" as a "penny dreadful tricked up in fancy language." Fadiman was not alone among contemporary mainstream critics in his assessment, although today the novel is considered a masterwork of Southern Gothic literature. (Wikipedia/J.R. Cofield Collection, University of Mississippi Library)

With its non-linear timeline, winding prose, and multiple unreliable narrators, William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! left many critics wondering what to make of the author’s ninth novel, including The New Yorker’s Clifton Fadiman, who had a near-visceral response to Faulkner’s “shuddery inventions.”

October 31, 1936 cover by **Perry Barlow.**

Although today the novel is widely considered a literary masterpiece, in 1936 Fadiman saw the dense, labyrinthine style of Absalom, Absalom! as nothing more than an empty facade for a melodramatic plot and characters resembling a “mince-pie nightmare.”

The novel explored the rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen, a poor man who ruthlessly carves out a plantation empire in 1830s Mississippi. Told entirely in flashbacks consisting of fragmented memories and differing perspectives, the novel is psychologically bleak and violent, with nearly every major character meeting a tragic end. Following are excerpts from Fadiman’s review:

OXFORD MAN…Above, **William Faulkner** at his 1844 Greek Revival home, Rowan Oak, which he purchased in Oxford, Mississippi in 1930; below, at work in his study. The mid-1930s were a difficult time for Faulkner. His writing was often interrupted by trips to Hollywood, where he sought additional income writing screenplays (Faulkner was constantly in debt), and in 1935 his brother Dean was killed in a plane crash. Consequently this period included a number of heavy drinking benders. *(genteelandbard.com/life.com)*

Faulkner had some history with The New Yorker: A Nov. 21, 1931 “Talk of the Town” entry titled “Oxford Man” featured a thirty-four-year-old Faulkner living in a Tudor City apartment, working on his novel Light in August. “Talk” noted his service in the Canadian air force, which he joined in 1915 (he broke both legs in a crash) and that he “sometimes flies a rather wobbly plane owned by a friend in Oxford.” As for his writing style, “Talk” offered this quote from Faulkner: “Ah write when the spirit moves me, and the spirit moves me every day.” The piece also noted that “Only a few of the townspeople know he writes at all; most of them think he’s lazy.”

Here’s a second excerpt from Fadiman’s Oct. 31, 1936 review, in which the critic concludes that Faulkner “is a clever hand at fitting up a literary asylum for the feeble-minded.”

FLYBOY…A 1931 “Talk of the Town” profile, attributed to **Charles Cooke** and Harold Ross, noted Faulkner’s writing habits, his ties to his hometown, and his time in the Canadian Air Force. *(espresso.pt)*

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Chattering Mysteries

Those are the words E.B. White used to describe aisles of calculators, addressographs, and electric tabulation machines being operated by women clad “in purest white satin” at a business show on Eighth Avenue.

AN ILLUSION OF THE SENSES was achieved by scores of machines clacking away at a Manhattan business show, according to **E.B. White**. At left is an Addressograph machine, circa 1930s, and at right, a census worker using an IBM Type 1 mechanical key punch, 1940. *(americanbusinesshistory.org/officemuseum.com)*

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At the Movies

Get the Extra-large Popcorn

They say movies are getting longer these days, but the Thirties had its share of lengthy screen epics, including a nearly five-hour running time for the 1934 French adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel Les Misérables. Initially released as three films premiering over three consecutive weeks, the full, unedited film ran a total of 281 minutes. Apparently the 1936 American release, reviewed here by John Mosher, ran for just under three hours, which Mosher called “a crime against nature.” He did, however, pronounce it “a fine film.” He also reviewed a German musical comedy, Amphitryon, and some uninspiring “plain American” films.

GOING HUGE FOR HUGO…Clockwise, from top left: **Florelle** as Fantine in *Les Misérables*; blockade scene from the film; **Harry Baur** as Jean Valjean; French movie poster, 1934. *(imdb.com)*

Mosher grew weary of reading the subtitles in the German film Amphitryon, a surprising satirical musical that somehow got made even after the Nazis took over the reigns of the Ufa-Atelier studio; however, the coming year would see a further tightening of domestic repression (including film) under Reich leadership.

SOME LAST LAUGHS…**Willy Fritsch** and **Käthe Gold** in the 1935 German musical comedy *Amphitryon.* The movie was filmed in German and French, which is probably why Mosher thought it was a French production. (en.kinorium.com)

The “plain American” films reviewed by Mosher included a mystery, a revue, and a musical featuring opera singer Marion Talley, who years earlier had received some rough treatment from The New Yorker.

STANDARD FARE…Clockwise, from top left: *The Charge of the Light Brigade* starred **Olivia de Havilland** and Errol Flynn; **Jean Arthur** and Joel McCrea in *Adventure in Manhattan*; **Bob Burns** and **Martha Raye** in *The Big Broadcast* of 1937; **Marion Talley** and **Michael Bartlett** in *Follow Your Heart*; **Victor McLaglen** and **Binnie Barnes** in *The Magnificent Brute.* *(britannica.com/theblondeatthefilm.com/imdb.com/tubitv.com/ebay.com)*

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Polymath Porter

The multi-talented composer/songwriter Cole Porter was the latest celebrity to receive a mini bio in the opening pages…illustration by Abe Birnbaum…

…and on the subject of theater, Al Frueh offered his impression of the Talullah Bankhead vehicle, Reflected Glory...

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From Our Advertisers

Various retailers were gearing up for the coronation of England’s King Edward VIII, and the folks at Yardley’s were busy packaging their lavender-scented soaps and perfumes for royalty-starved Americans, “safeguarded in original royal wrappings”…this “Edwardian” campaign would be scrapped just weeks later when Edward would abdicate the throne (on Dec. 10) and run off with American Wallis Simpson…

…the makers of Beech-Nut chewing gum made a splash with this full-page ad touting their traveling “Smallest Show on Earth”…

…Canadian Club continued its world tour with a stop in Kuala Lumpur…

…No-Mal ran another back-of-the-book ad promoting its scientific “pick-up”…the chief ingredient, according to this spot, was dextrose (even safe for infants!), but it doubtless also contained caffeine and Lord knows what else…

…no extra stimulation needed for our cartoon section, beginning with Mary Petty…

…there were a couple of Halloween-themed spots by Susan Willard Flint…

…and Charles Addams...

…a sampling of other spot drawings…Victor de Pauw, Doris Spiegel, and John Groth…

…Alain gave us the true meaning of “table tennis”…

…George Price anticipated a long winter…

…Gardner Rea showed us an Englishman who found Manhattan life a bit too invigorating…

…Alan Dunn posed a question regarding authorship…

…Peter Arno might be referring to something akin to The Great Stork Derby here…

…one of Helen Hokinson’s “girls” sought to stay “off the record”…

…and Hokinson again, casting a vote in the 1936 General Election…

…Whitney Darrow Jr was also thinking about elections, and a clean shave…

…and we close with James Thurber, and an inquiring reporter…

Next Time: The Instant Home…

The President’s Mystery

Above: President Franklin D. Roosevelt was credited as a writer on the film "The President's Mystery," although his role was more one of inspiration; at right, Betty Furness and Henry Wilcoxon starred in the film. (rottentomatoes.com)

Just one month before the 1936 general election, Republic Pictures released a film “conceived by Franklin D. Roosevelt.”

October 24, 1936 cover by **Constantin Alajalov.**

Yes, the president of the United States, standing for re-election in November (which he would win by a landslide), was actually credited as a writer for the film The President’s Mystery, although FDR’s actual role in the film was its concept. While visiting with Fulton Oursler, editor of Liberty magazine, Roosevelt posed the question: “How can a man disappear with five million dollars of his own money in negotiable form and not be traced?” Oursler, a close friend of the president’s, responded by enlisting several prominent authors to write a screenplay. New Yorker film critic John Mosher takes it from there:

The story behind the film was first featured in the Nov. 16, 1935 issue of Liberty magazine…

…and released as a movie on Sept. 28, 1936…

MAN OF MYSTERY…Clockwise, from top left, President **Franklin D. Roosevelt,** a fan of mysteries, conceived the idea for *The President’s Mystery*; **Henry Wilcoxon, Frank O’Connor**, an unidentified actor, and **Wade Boteler** featured on a lobby card promoting the film ; **Betty Furness, Si Jenks**, and **Henry Wilcoxon** in a promo shot for the film; poster for the film featured an image of FDR on the cover of Liberty magazine. *(instagram.com/imdb.com/themovieb.org)*

Mosher also had “pretty good fun” with the star-studded screwball comedy, Libeled Lady, which was acclaimed by critics and nominated for Best Picture:

LOVE QUADRANGLE…Lovers spats and romantic mix-ups were just part of the stew in the screwball comedy Libeled Lady. At left, **Myrna Loy** and **Spencer Tracy;** at right, **William Powell** and Jean Harlow. *(imdb.com/movie nation.com)*

There were still other films reviewed by Mosher, including The Devil is a Sissy, starring sixteen-year-old Mickey Rooney, still emerging as a star, as well as famed child actors Jackie Cooper and Freddie Bartholomew. There was also a film featuring Clark Gable as a prize fighter, and a movie titled The Longest Night, ironically the shortest feature ever produced by MGM—just 51 minutes.

STREET SMARTS…**Mickey Rooney, Jackie Cooper,** and Freddie Bartholomew in *The Devil is a Sissy*, a story about a posh kid who befriends a couple of ruffians; **Clark Gable** was down for the count in *Cain and Mabel,* co-starring **Marion Davies**; **Robert Young** teamed up with **Florence Rice** in the mystery-thriller, *The Longest Night*—Florence Rice was the only child of sportswriter **Grantland Rice**. (Wikipedia/mubi.com/tcm.com)

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A Second Life

E.B. White still wasn’t done with the new Life magazine—recall his “Notes and Comment” from Sept. 19, when he lamented a magazine that would “consist almost entirely of pictures” and would “do away with the last vestiges of privacy in America.” Here White notes the purchase of Life by Time, Inc., and compares it to the old Life.

ASKING FOR MERCY…**E.B. White** hoped the new *Life* magazine would have some of the mercy and grace of its predecessor. (sunrisepoint.com/time.com)

LIFELESS…Launched in 1883, *Life* was an American humor and general-interest magazine. Purchased and shut down in 1936 by Henry Luce, he replaced it with his new, and very different Life. The image above is the cover of the Feb. 2, 1922 issue of the old magazine. (Wikipedia)

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A Sensitive Hamlet

There are as many approaches to playing Hamlet as there are versions of the famous Shakespeare play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. In the case of actor John Gielgud, as reported in “The Talk of the Town,” Hamlet was quite sane, although he was “immensely sensitive.”

MOMMY DEAREST…At left, **Judith Anderson** as Hamlet’s mother, Gertrude, Queen of Denmark, and **John Gielgud** as Hamlet in Broadway’s 1936 production of the Shakespeare play; at right, **Carl Van Vechten** portrait of Gielgud during the actor’s time on Broadway, December 1936. Gielgud is widely regarded as one of the definitive Hamlets of the 20th century. *(newyorktheater.me/newworldencyclopedia.org)*

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Safety Last

Morris Markey was on hand for the Vanderbilt Cup Race (recently featured here), offering a track-side look at the pit crews. Notable in this excerpt is the complete lack of safety protocols, from gasoline poured out of wide-mouthed cans to smoking and drinking among drivers and pit crews. The race winner, Tazio Nuvolari (who refuses some brandy but puffs on a cigarette) would eventually have to retire by 1950 due to his total deafness and other health problems—he spent years racing in an open cockpit with the manifold ends right next to his ear. Those combustion gases—containing gasoline juiced with methanol, benzene, acetone, and nitrobenzene—easily penetrated Nuvolari’s ears and nose and were absorbed directly into his skin and bloodstream.

GUTS AND GLORY…Italian racing legend **Tazio Nuvolari** (1892–1953) with his Alfa Romeo before the start of the 1935 Nice Grand Prix in France. Nuvolari easily won the 1936 Vanderbilt Cup on Long Island. *(notenoughcylinders.com)*

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Color My World

The works of John Marin, considered one of America’s finest water-colorists, were featured in a major exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. In addition to a review by art critic Lewis Mumford, Marin was featured in this mini bio on the opening pages…caricature by William Auerbach-Levy…

MASTER WATER-COLORIST…**John Marin’s** *Movement No. 2, Related to Downtown New York (The Black Sun)*, 1926. Image reproduced from the 1936 MoMA exhibition catalog. (moma.org)

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From Our Advertisers

The Oct. 24 issue opened with this advertisement by the distillers of Old Taylor, who continued to compare their product to the work of “masters,” here the painter Frederic Remington…

…on the opposite page, this spare ad from Chrysler, a stark contrast to their previous week’s very wordy appeal…

…the promoters of Budweiser took a cue from the whiskey distillers, invoking the words of an historic personage to promote their product…

…predating modern thermostats by decades, the mechanical Chronotherm was one of the earliest automated room thermostats ever produced by the Minneapolis-Honeywell Regulator Company…it was often used to control coal or early heating systems by automatically adjusting dampers or furnaces on a schedule…

The Minneapolis-Honeywell Chronotherm retailed for about $41 in the 1930s (equivalent to roughly $970 today). It was considered a high-end luxury upgrade for the home. *(si.edu)*

…Martini & Rossi would have about six more months to serve their vermouth on the Hindenburg before it would go down in a fireball on May 6, 1937…

…the illustrations in this No-Mal ad mimicked the style of Otto Soglow to market a new patent medicine touted as a stimulant and hangover cure, among other things…these remedies often contained heavy doses of caffeine plus aspirin, mild laxatives, and antacids, while some also contained the amphetamine Benzedrine…

…model railroading for adults started to build up steam in the 1930s…here’s a back of the book ad aimed at those who couldn’t afford to travel but who could afford a Scale-Craft kit…

…here’s a page from the 1936 Scale-Craft catalog…

…and an example of what you could build from a kit…

…and there’s no guessing the target audience for this brand of cigarettes…

…on to our cartoonists, Al Frueh was back with illustrations for the theater review section…

…Alain found nothing humorous about being a Good Humor man…

…a couple of spots by Abe Birnbaum (left) and unidentified at right (signature looks like PHRANK)…

…a stray arrow found its way into this cartoon by Charles Addams…

…Whitney Darrow Jr illustrated the childish side of politics…

…we zoom in for a close-up…

…Darrow again, making a new friends…

…Ned Hilton drew up an outfit that clashed with the salad course…

…James Thurber greeted a group of dour birds (interesting background with sporting scenes…one wonders why)…

…Otto Soglow gave us some shattered dreams…

…Alan Dunn visited the fiction section, no questions asked…

…and Dunn again…with an around the world adventure stuck in traffic…

…Fortune magazine probed the mysteries of middle class life, per Carl Rose…

…and we close with Helen Hokinson, and the unease of an approaching winter…

Next Time: Far-Fetched Faulkner…

National Treasure

Above: Detail of a mural by William Gropper, "Construction of a Dam," 1939, located in the U.S. Department of the Interior. (gsa.gov)

Sociologist and urban design critic Lewis Mumford was well known for his strong convictions regarding the development of cities, but he also applied those convictions—namely his ideas of organic balance—while writing “The Art Galleries” column for The New Yorker.

October 17, 1936 cover by William Steig.

Mumford (1895–1990) was neither a traditionalist nor a modernist, but rather a proponent of art and architecture that was human-scaled and that honestly reflected the times and places it which they were created. In his Oct. 17 column he cited Washington’s new Supreme Court Building as a prime example of sham architecture, and lamented a “certain staleness” in an exhibition of the U.S. Treasury’s Relief Art Project, which commissioned numerous murals and sculptures for installation in federal buildings. Excerpts:

SUPERANNUATED CLASSICISM was the term **Lewis Mumford** used to describe new buildings in Washington, D.C., and suggested (in jest) commissioning murals to cover their outside walls, including those of the new Supreme Court building, completed in 1935. According to the Federal Judiciary Center, the building was designed on a scale in keeping with the importance and dignity of the Court and the Judiciary as a coequal, independent branch of the United States Government, and as a symbol of “the national ideal of justice in the highest sphere of activity.” *(fjc.gov)*

Although Mumford noted the “hacks and mediocrities” of Treasury-sponsored art, he also noted the inclusion of a number of distinguished artists. The problem, it seemed to him, was not the artists but rather the outmoded, monumental murals they were commissioned to create.

MONUMENT MEN…Clockwise, from top: mural by **William Gropper,** *Construction of a Dam,* 1939, located in the Department of the Interior; mural created in 1937 by **Peppino Mangravite** for the U.S. Post Office in Hempstead, New York, depicting the arrival of British dirigible R.34 with the first air mail in 1919; **Ernest Fiene** painting from 1938 depicted a wildfire battle, one of a set of four Fiene oil-on-canvas murals at Interior. *(gsa.gov/livingnewdeal.org)*

Mumford concluded: “We need a type of painting that is flexible and renewable…capable of renewal every month, or as often as a Japanese changes a kakemono.”

THE ART OF IMPERMANANCE…**Lewis Mumford** wrote that public art should change as often as the Japanese change their *kakemono. (britannica.com)*

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Been There, Done That

E.B. White gave voice to New Yorker mascot Eustace Tilley in 1927 when Tilley bade farewell as the author of “The Talk of the Town.” White also checked in on Tilley in a 1932 “Notes and Comment” column, recounting how Tilley almost lost his silk top hat to the tax man. Tilley turns up again in this week’s “Notes,” this time appearing quite inebriated and refusing to attend a star-studded party at the Waldorf:

HO-HUM…Not even Benny Goodman and a bevy of Hollywood stars could distract **Eustace Tilley** from his drink and a tin of oysters. (bennygoodman.com)

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Stunt Pilots

I’m not sure which “Talk of the Town” writer went up on the airplane, but either Eugene Kinkead or Russell Maloney hopped aboard an American Airlines charter in a publicity stunt that involved flying a group of reporters above a ship (the S.S. Santa Paula) that was carrying two Hollywood stars—newlyweds Joan Blondell and Dick Powell.

AHOY THERE!…Newlyweds **Joan Blondell** and **Dick Powell** greet admirers as they arrive in New York aboard the S.S. *Santa Paula.* A *New Yorker* writer was flying somewhere overhead. *(godsandfoolishgrandeur.blogspot.com)*

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Gielgud’s Gig

After enormous success on the London stage, John Gielgud brought his Hamlet to Broadway’s Empire Theatre, where he was paired with Lillian Gish as Ophelia. Robert Benchley was there for the action. Excerpt:

ACTING ROYALTY…The queen of the silents met the king of the stage when **Lillian Gish** joined John Gielgud for Broadway’s production of *Hamlet* at the Empire Theatre. The play ran for 132 performances, a record at that time for a Shakespeare play on Broadway. *(James Grissom via facebook.com)*

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At the Movies

Some light fare at the cinema, with Shirley Temple cranking out her thirteenth starring role in Dimples, and Mary Carlisle teaming up with Lew Ayres for some shore leave hijinks in Lady Be Careful.

EIGHT-YEAR-OLD FILM VETERAN **Shirley Temple** and co-star **Frank Morgan** featured on a lobby card promoting Dimples; at right, **Mary Carlisle** and **Lew Ayres** in *Lady Be Careful. (eBay.com/facebook.com)*

A quick note about the actress, singer and dancer Mary Carlisle (featured above): Best known for her roles as a wholesome ingénue in 1930s musical-comedies, she was with us until just eight years ago. The last surviving WAMPAS Baby Star, Carlisle died at age 104 in 2018.

AGELESS…Publicity photo of **Mary Carlisle**, circa 1930s. *(facebook.com)*

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Saving Face

Famed stage actress Blanche Yurka had some choice words for Frank Sullivan after she read his Sept. 26 humor piece, “Save Your Face, Miss Blondell”…

WHAT ABOUT ME?…**Blanche Yurka** (left) called out **Frank Sullivan** for his attentions to “movie cutie” **Joan Blondell**. Yurka (1887–1974) was an acclaimed actress known for her intense commitment to both stage and screen roles—she even learned to knit (center image) so that she could play the role of the vengeful Madame Defarge in the 1935 film adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities. (tmdb.org/michaelbalter.substack.com/sspl.org)

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The latest mini-bio from the calendar section featured famed violinist Friedrich “Fritz” Kreisler (1875–1962)…illustration is by Hugo Gellert…

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From Our Advertisers

We begin with this full-page advertisement for Heinz tomato juice, which featured a photo of a man who resembled playwright/actor Noël Coward…the person in the ad is not identified, but Coward was known for endorsing products from time to time, including Bulova watches and Rheingold beer…

…another ad illustrated by Margaret Sommerfeld, who produced promotional artwork for Saks…

…and another full page ad for Old Gold illustrated by pin-up artist George Petty…

…the Old Gold ad marks a departure from a long series of Petty-illustrated ads that were more in the pin-up style and featured a leering little man rather than a handsome masher:

…most cigarette ads still targeted the growing market of women smokers, including this line of smokes manufactured by Benson & Hedges…

…Ozzie Nelson was a famed bandleader until he reached even greater fame on his own radio series, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, launched in 1944, and his television show by the same name, which ran from 1952 to 1966…

…if Ozzie Nelson wasn’t your thing, you could tap your toes to Paul Draper’s dancing ensemble or Shep Fields’ “Rippling Rhythm Orchestra” at the Hotel Pierre…

…some advertisers persisted in running wordy appeals for their products, including the execs at the Chrysler, who thought consumers could be swayed by the story of a nineteenth-century amateur chemist who accidentally refined coal tar and spawned a billion-dollar industry…

…the makers of the luxury brand Packard continued to stay afloat during the Depression by marketing lower-priced models like the Packard Six…

…lower-priced options were also featured in this ad from an organization called “Living American Art,” which offered “faithful” color collotype reproductions by modern artists, including New Yorker contributors Peggy Bacon and Reginald Marsh…

1936 lithograph of Peggy Bacon’s *The Nosegay,* featured in the ad above. *(posted on Facebook Marketplace)*

…and we have another striking Abe Birnbaum caricature (of stage actress Gertrude Lawrence) for Stage magazine…

…imagine entering this dining room while aboard a Grace Line Santa liner…not a waterslide or buffet line in sight (this was the same liner that Joan Blondell and Dick Powell took on their honeymoon from California to New York)…

…Otto Soglow continued illustrating ads for WOR radio…

…which segues to our cartoonists, beginning with a spot by Arthur Getz…

…a caption-less entry by Alain…

…Alain again, with a puzzling challenge…

…a horticultural mystery courtesy of Helen Hokinson…

…Charles Addams presented an ideal client to this fortune teller…

…Carl Rose got a little spooky…

…Gardner Rea served up an Olympian boast…

…Peter Arno drew up a doubtful doctor…

…Whitney Darrow Jr illustrated the power of motion pictures…

…George Price sampled the latest styles in ice bags…

…Barbara Shermund went shoe shopping…

…and we close with the first New Yorker cartoon by Douglas Borgstedt (1911–2001), and a good one at that!…

Next Time: The President’s Mystery…

Mirror, Mirror

Above: In his review of Tallulah Bankhead's performance in "Reflected Glory," Wolcott Gibbs noted that she was a force to be reckoned with: ..."she would pull any home in the world down around her ears in ten minutes, and after that perhaps eat the children." (newyorker.com/facebook.com)

Broadway’s fall season was still young when the Morosco Theatre staged Reflected Glory, featuring Tallulah Bankhead in a role that mimicked her famously flamboyant lifestyle.

October 3, 1936 cover by **Robert Day.**

The play, which ran for 127 performances, was not well-received by the critics, but audiences loved it, and especially those who, in the words of critic Wolcott Gibbs, “would be enchanted to spend the evening just watching (Bankhead) knit a sock.”

Bankhead (1902–1968) also appeared in films (she won a New York Film Critics Circle award in 1944 for her performance in Alfred Hitchcock’s Lifeboat), but she was mostly known for her stage acting and her wild lifestyle—drugs, alcohol, and lots of sex with both men and women; she was candid about her vices, including the claim she smoked 120 cigarettes a day.

ART IMITATES LIFE…Clockwise, from top left: **Tallulah Bankhead** in promotional photo for *Reflected Glory*; Bankhead played Muriel Flood, a flamboyant, self-absorbed actress who constantly dramatizes her own life both on and off stage; author and director George Kelly wrote *Reflected Glory* specifically for Bankhead; Broadway’s Morosco Theatre (demolished 1982). *(cinemaclassico.com/jacksonupperco.com/Wikipedia)*

Early in her career Bankhead, an Alabama native, moved into the Algonquin Hotel and quickly made her way into the orbit of the famed Algonquin Round Table—so, she was well-known to Gibbs, who noted in this excerpt that Bankhead’s only competition in Reflected Glory was William Brisbane, a man with a face “as mad and vacant as the moon.”

MAD MATCH…**Wolcott Gibbs** noted that **William Brisbane** was **Tallulah Bankhead’s** only competition in *Reflected Glory.* *(themovieb.org/npg.org.uk)*

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The Yankee Clipper

Baseball was mostly ignored in the early years of the New Yorker, but every now and then the magazine would feature a famous personality from the game, in this case Joe DiMaggio, who in 1936 would set a franchise record for rookies by hitting twenty-nine home runs (in just 138 games).

DIZZY AND JOE D…Yankees rookie **Joe DiMaggio** meets with Cardinals pitcher **Dizzy Dean** at the All-Star Game in Boston July 7, 1936. *(AP Photo)*

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Right of the Right

In his “Notes and Comment,” E.B. White took issue with a proposal by the New York Board of Aldermen to ban right-hand turns against a red light (the board ultimately approved the ban).

SEEING THE LIGHT…City officials examine new traffic lights on Fifth Avenue, 1933. *(Golden Age Of Travel via facebook.com)*

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At the Movies

Based on a 1929 novel by Sinclair Lewis, the William Wyler-directed Dodsworth was acclaimed by critics as one of the best films of the year. New Yorker critic John Mosher wholeheartedly agreed:

SHE SAID, HE SAID…At left, **Ruth Chatterton** and **Walter Huston** portrayed a couple in a declining marriage in Dodsworth; at right, retired auto magnate Sam Dodsworth (Huston) reconsiders the life he has made for himself. *(torontofilmsociety.com/YouTube.com)*

COMPLICATIONS…While travelling on the RMS *Queen Mary* to England, the Dodsworths find romantic companions—at left, Sam finds a soulmate in Edith Cortright (**Mary Astor**), while Fran flirts with a younger Englishman, Captain Lockert, played by **David Niven.** It was Niven’s first sizable role—he was a lieutenant in the British Army before coming to Hollywood in 1935. (eBay.com/film-foundation.org)

Mosher also reviewed a mixed bag of films, including the “wicked comedy” La Kermesse héroïque (Carnival in Flanders) featuring French opera star Françoise Rosay as a mayor’s wife who cleverly thwarts potential troubles from visiting Spanish soldiers.

BAWDY FUN was how John Mosher described the schemes of a mayor’s wife in *La Kermesse héroïque (Carnival in Flanders)—c*lockwise, from left: **Françoise Rosay** (seated) organizes the village women to tame some visiting soldiers; **Betty Grable** and John Arledge in the crime drama Don’t Turn ’em Loose; *La Croisière Jaune* (*Yellow Expedition*) documented a 1931-32 French trans-Asian expedition organized by Citroën to promote its rugged Kégresse track vehicles; **Jack Oakie**, **Bennie Bartlett** and **Fred MacMurray** in The Texas Rangers. (mubi.com/imdb.com/radiofrance.fr/csfd.cz)

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From Our Advertisers

Fall advertising continued its uptick in the magazine, with many splashes of color including this carpet ad that greeted readers on the inside front cover…

…R.J. Reynolds continued to roll out endorsements from society mavens…here Anne C. Rockefeller stated that Camels gave her “a delightful sense of well-being”…

…more Colonel and Duchess archetypes turn up in this issue, on behalf of Ruppert beer…

…the Warwick Hotel (Philadelphia), and College Inn tomato juice “cocktail”…College Inn had softened the appearance of their Duchess…

…since she was last spotted in The New Yorker in 1935 (detail)…

…after a blazing hot summer, the brewers of Rheingold figured this image would still appeal to parched New Yorkers…

…a back of the book ad from Johnston & Murphy, quoting an unidentified author regarding some childhood wishes…

…John Held Jr. was one of the earliest contributors to The New Yorker—from 1925 to 1932 his woodcut-style cartoons and fanciful maps were frequent features…by 1936 Held had turned his talents to painting, book illustration, and the occasional advertisement, here on behalf of Macy’s…

…our illustrators and cartoonists for this issue include Christina Malman…

…a caricature by William Auerbach-Levy for the calendar section’s mini bio…

…another Richard Taylor–Morris Bishop collaboration…

…more historic moments from American Industry, with Rea Irvin…

…Alan Dunn had an M.C. Escher moment on the turnpike…

…Helen Hokinson made a big ask at the beauty parlor…

…Ned Hilton drew up a big man with a big complex…

…Leonard Dove offered a challenge and a unique perspective at the subway station…

….Barbara Shermund’s modern women thrilled to the sights of Manhattan…

…George Price turned this trio into a quartet…

…and we close with a terrific, terrifying moment at the World Series, courtesy Peter Arno…

Next Time: Road Warriors…

Through the Looking Glass, Darkly

Above: The BBC offered a public demonstration of television at Waterloo Station, London, in 1936. (Colorized image via Facebook)

E.B. White was ever wary of new technology (except for aviation—he loved to fly), so television posed yet another thing to fear in the coming age of “omniscience.”

September 19, 1936 cover by William Cotton.

In addition to television, White noted two other “giant strides” in the world of science and publicity: a live radio broadcast featuring sounds from the Spanish Civil War, and the launch of a new magazine that would “consist almost entirely of pictures.”

ONE-EYED MONSTER…Clockwise, from top left: On Aug. 11, 1936, Philco Radio and Television demonstrated the transmitting end of a television with the help of camera operator R.E. Waggener and singer **Betty McNellis**—the sound and picture were projected seven miles to a receiving set; a close-up of a 1936 television camera; photo taken in 1936 during a “live broadcast” from America’s first television studio, NBC Studio 3H—from left, NBC President **Lenox Lohr,** RCA President **David Sarnoff** and Fair Committee head **Grover Whalen** sign a contract for an RCA pavilion at the upcoming 1939 World’s Fair; front and rear view of a 1936 television receiver. *(eyesofageneration.com/facebook.com)*

White also noted the upcoming launch of a new magazine, The Show-Book of the World, which was the working title of a publication that would become Life magazine. White did not like the idea of a magazine consisting mostly of pictures that graphically expose “once-private lives,” believing it would “do away with the last vestiges of privacy in America.”

MONUMENTAL…The photo on the first cover of *Life* magazine, Nov. 23, 1936, was shot by one of *Life*‘s original four photographers, **Margaret Bourke-White,** who covered the construction of the Fort Peck Dam, a Public Works Administration endeavor to build the largest earth dam in the world during the Great Depression. At right, a Bourke-White photo of Fort Peck workers enjoying some down time. *(npr.org/life.com/worthpoint.com)*

* * *

Call for Johnny Roventini!

“The Talk of the Town” featured a brief profile of Johnny Roventini (aka Johnny Morris or Johnny the Bellboy), the famous “living trademark” for the Philip Morris tobacco company. Roventini (1910–1998), who represented the company for more than forty years, was working as a bellboy at the New Yorker Hotel in 1933 when he was discovered by an advertising agent. Excerpts:

THEY’RE SELLING YOU…In mid-century America the image of **Johnny Roventini**, known to the public as Johnny Morris or Johnny the Bellboy, seemed to be everywhere. Clockwise, from top left: Publicity photo, 1937; magazine ad, 1947; ad promoting the armed services, 1941; civil defense-themed ad, 1940s; cigarette match holder; promotional stand-up sign. *(cats.ua.edu/standford.edu/worthpoint.com)*

Roventini was probably best known for his Philip Morris promos on I Love Lucy. The new show was challenged to find a sponsor (due to the Cuban character played by Desi Arnaz) until Arnaz arranged a deal that made Philip Morris the exclusive sponsor of I Love Lucy from its premiere on October 15, 1951 through Christmas of 1954. Roventini gained unprecedented national TV exposure and became fast friends with Arnaz and Lucille Ball. Here is one more excerpt from “Talk” regarding the quiet life of Philip Morris’s “living trademark.”

I LOVE PHILIP MORRIS…**Lucille Ball, Johnny Roventini** and **Desi Arnaz** formed a lucrative trio for the tobacco company Philip Morris when *I Love Lucy* went on the air in 1951. Roventini was an occasional, social smoker, while Ball and Arnaz were heavy smokers (although Lucy preferred Chesterfields). *(facebook.com/instagram.com)*

* * *

At the Movies

A Soviet film featuring exiled German communists proved to be a disappointment for critic John Mosher, but in retrospect the 1936 German-Soviet film The Struggle (aka Kämpfer or Der Kampf) reveals the strange and terrifying climate artists had to navigate in Stalin’s Russia.

Set in Germany after 1933, the film depicted the resistance of workers against the rise of the Nazi Party. One of the earliest films to depict Nazi terror and concentration camps, ironically many of those who worked on the film became victims of Joseph Stalin’s terror and the Gulag.

DEFIANCE…German actress Lotte Loebinger in a scene from the 1936 German-Soviet movie *The Struggle* (“Kämpfer”). Loebinger (1905-1995) managed to survive Stalin’s purges and had a long career on the stage in East Berlin following World War II. Loebinger’s lover, a German refugee physician with whom she bore a daughter, was not so fortunate, dying in a Soviet Gulag camp. *(YouTube)*

Shortly after The Struggle was completed, Stalin purged the community of exiled German communists living in Moscow, and the film was quickly banned by Soviet authorities. A large number of the film’s cast and crew were arrested, sent to the Gulag, or killed, including lead actor Bruno Schmidtsdorf, who was executed by firing squad near Moscow in 1938. Composer Hans Hauska, who wrote the film’s musical score, perished in a Soviet prison camp.

* * *

Playing the Ponies

The calendar section continued its series of illustrated mini-bios, this week featuring Tommy Hitchcock, widely regarded as the greatest polo player in the history of the sport. A dashing figure in high society, Hitchcock (1900–1944) was also an aviator and decorated war hero. Illustration by William Cotton.

POLO PLAYING PILOT…**Tommy Hitchcock** flew as a volunteer pilot for the French Air Force in World War I, and was later instrumental in the development of the P-51 Mustang fighter plane. Hitchcock was killed in 1944 while piloting a P-51 on a test flight near Salisbury, England. *(instagram.com)*

* * *

From Our Advertisers

A strange advertisement from Bergdorf, announcing the opening of a salon that featured a line of shoes inspired by the Chinese “bound foot”…

…if a bound foot wasn’t your thing, you could wiggle your toes in an elastic shoe fashioned from “Pleatex”…

…Wamsutta continued to promote its high thread-count sheets with these somewhat seductive advertisements…

…oddly composed advertisement for Saks Fifth Avenue by fashion illustrator Margaret Sommerfeld, who produced promotional artwork for Saks…

…Fred Astaire managed to hang on to his hat in this advertisement for “The Packard Hour” on NBC’s nationwide “Red Network”…the ad proclaimed “you’ll hear him sing and dance“…on the radio, that is…

…Scripps-Howard featured this image of the late Will Rogers to promote newspaper advertising…

…this back cover ad also featured a newspaper reader, enjoying a smoke while waiting for the train…

…best known for creating The Little King, Otto Soglow drew hundreds of cartoons and spot drawings for The New Yorker as well as for a variety of advertisers including Pepsi-Cola, Benson & Hedges cigarettes, and here, one from a series of ads he created for WOR radio…

…speaking of spots, here are two by Victor de Pauw…

…biographies of prolific New Yorker cover artist Arthur Getz give his start date at the magazine as 1938, but this might be one of his early spot drawings (although the signature style differs from Getz’s other works)…

…no mistaking this spot by Christina Malman…

…or this one by Richard Decker…

…Leonard Dove demonstrated some moves for a chorus line…

…and more wonderful Richard Taylor illustrations for Morris Bishop’s limericks…

…the well-heeled prepared to engage in a favorite sport, per Peter Arno…

…”Trans-Lux” theaters were conversions of storefronts and retail offices that seated smaller audiences than traditional theaters. Rather than feature films, the Trans-Lux theaters showed continuous 45-to-60-minute loops of newsreels (like The March of Time), short subjects, travelogues, and cartoons from 10 a.m. to midnight—people could come and go as they pleased. The theaters pioneered rear-screen projection, using a specialized, wide-angled lens placed just eight feet behind a translucent screen…

POP IN, POP OUT…The very first Trans-Lux cinema opened in 1931 at 58th and Madison as a unique venue that played newsreels and shorts. According to *The New York Times*, “by the late 1940s, the rise of television began to kill the newsreel format entirely. By 1949, Trans-Lux stopped expanding its boutique newsreel footprint and pivoted its existing houses toward showing standard feature-length films.” (Library of Congress)

…back to our cartoons, Carl Rose conjured up an unwelcome reminder…

…Charles Addams was up to his old tricks…

…Alain read the obvious from some tea leaves…

…Rea Irvin showed us some strategic thinking by military brass…

…Alan Dunn considered the mysteries of the sea…

…this guy should have suggested a comedy, per Barbara Shermund…

…Helen Hokinson continued to probe the delicate work of the dress shop…

…and we close with another by dear Helen, and the fear of too much thinking…

Next Time: Can-Can in Cleveland…

Sunlubbers

E.B. White grew up along the coast of Maine and had a lifelong love of sailing. He did not, however, have much regard for those who came to the water simply to bask in the sun.

White led off his column with some sharp words about the “sunburned man” who did not come by his tan honestly, like an athlete or explorer, but rather spent his weekends “frying” to cover his “bankrupt dreams.” White was also critical of “the weekend guest” who brought noise rather than tranquility to the seaside.

E.B. WHITE’S NIGHTMARE…At left, the West Bathhouse at Jones Beach is the backdrop for this circa 1930s image of New York beachgoers; at right, sunbathers play cards on Orchard Beach, known as the “Riviera of the Bronx,” circa 1930. *(facebook.com/Patchogue-Medford Library)*

Ever critical of innovation, E.B. White also lamented the rise of such “conveniences” as paper towels and powdered soap dispensers.

A FEW OF MY LEAST FAVORITE THINGS…Always wary of the newfangled, **E.B. White** preferred cloth over paper towels, bar soap over powdered; glass rather than Dixie Cups, and old-fashioned water coolers glittering with cracked ice. Clockwise, from top left: Ad for Scot paper towels, 1935; 1930s powdered soap dispenser; Dixie Cups, 1931; **Eleanor Powell** and **Fred Astaire** take a break at an old-fashioned water cooler during filming of *Broadway Melody of 1940*; detail from an ad for a Frigidaire electric water cooler, 1936. (witness2fashion/urbanremainschicago.com/lafayette.edu/tcm.com)

One more item from “Notes,” this referring to theatrical producer and director Jed Harris, who was peeved when a nostalgic reference in his new comedy, Spring Dance, failed to elicit laughter from a first-night audience at the Empire Theatre. E.B. White sided with the audience, and wondered if playwrights in the “television theatre of 1950” would someday reference “Greta Garbo and the Sixth Avenue elevated.”

RELAX, JED…Learning that Broadway producer and director Jed Harris was upset about an audience’s lack of reaction to a nostalgic reference, **E.B. White** suggested that the director’s protest was a mere “squeak.” *(History of Cinema via Facebook)*

* * *

At the Movies

Gary Cooper finally showed off his gift for gab in Paramount’s drama The General Died at Dawn. Critic John Mosher called the film “lively,” and noted a “glimpse” of New Yorker short story writer John O’Hara in a cameo appearance.

TROUBLE IN CHINA…**Gary Cooper** and **Madeleine Carroll** portrayed lovers in war-torn China who seek to stop an arms shipment in *The General Died at Dawn*; at right, Cooper in a scene with **Akin Tamiroff**, who portrayed warlord General Yang. The film was directed by **Lewis Milestone** and written by **Charles G. Booth** and Clifford Odets. *(imdb.com/ebay.com)*

CAMEO…*New Yorker* short story writer and novelist John O’Hara played a minor role as a newspaper reporter in *The General Died at Dawn. (John Fronza via Facebook and YouTube)*

The title of MGM’s The Gorgeous Hussy suggested something racy, but as Mosher noted, it “unexpectedly turns out to be about Andrew Jackson.”

SEX SELLS…MGM played up **Joan Crawford’s** role as a “hussy” in this theatrical poster for *The Gorgeous Hussy*, but these were the days of the Hays Code and things wouldn’t get more racy than the scene at right, with **Robert Taylor** as Andrew Jackson and **Crawford** as the “hussy,” Peggy Eaton. *(imdb.com/mubi.com)*

* * *

From Our Advertisers

It was time to get that fall hat, and Stetson had three smart-looking lids for the man about town…

…and here’s a not-so-smart ad from the makers of Talon zippers…no doubt some of the wags on The New Yorker’s editorial side got a kick out of this…

…and this strange ad from Lord & Taylor…not sure what they were trying to convey with that peeled-back corner…

…Jane Engel founded a popular women’s and children’s apparel shop during the Great Depression (in 1930) with just $400 to her name. She grew the business from a single shop on Madison into a successful chain of more than thirty locations…

JEWEL BOX…The flagship Jane Engel Building at Madison and 79th was designed by **Roy C. Morris** in the Art Moderne style—the generous use of glass brick filled the interior with soft, diffused light. The shop closed in 1955 and was demolished two years later. *(New York Public Library)*

…the makers of the luxury brand Packard made sure Depression-strapped buyers could still afford one of their automobiles, which ranged in price from $795 to $3,420 (in 2026 equivalent to roughly $19,000 and $83,000, respectively)…no doubt The New Yorker’s bean counters appreciated the revenue from these five consecutive full-page color ads…

…bourbon distillers continued to compare the accomplishments of famous men to the quality of their tipple…

…as the folks at Hockanum Mills continued featuring fine woolens in upscale, seasonal settings…

…and the makers of leaded gasoline continued their series featuring homespun images juxtaposed with attendants gassing up cars in the background…at first I thought this was one image superimposed over another, but more likely the gas pump is a prop…also, an odd detail on the left where children appear to be feeding (or teasing) a baby bear restrained by a leash…

…we move on to our cartoonists, beginning with Richard Decker…

…also in the calendar section was this illustration by William Auerbach-Levy for the mini bio of Fred Perry (1909–1995), British tennis star who won ten Majors, including three consecutive Wimbledon Championships from 1934 to 1936…he was the first player to win a “Career Grand Slam” which he completed at the tender age of 26 in 1935…Perry was also the world champion ping-pong champion in 1929…

FRISKY FRED…**Fred Perry** was one of the leading bachelors of the 1930s and his off-court romances were reported in the world press—including one with actress **Marlene Dietrich.** Perry was also known for his popular line of sports attire. Above: Perry hugs the championship cup after his U.S. Open victory at Forest Hills, 1936. (Wikipedia)

…an assortment of spot drawings…clockwise, from top left, Arthur Getz, Victor de Pauw, and Barbara Shermund (arguably not a spot drawing, but not really a cartoon either)…

…no signature on this, but it appears to be the work of Perry Barlow, which always reminded me of another artist known for his rural types, Robert McCloskey…

…James Thurber illustrated a public display of disaffection…interesting use of perspective here…Thurber seems to violate all the rules yet the effect is masterful…

…speaking of effect, George Price in the subway…

…Peter Arno continued to explore a familiar theme…

…Carl Rose imagined the home life of a mermaid…

…Barney Tobey’s Miss America gave a plug to her sponsors…

…Alan Dunn gave us a view of a pre-preview…

…Dunn again, with a rare cartoon featuring a known personage…

…Barbara Shermund revealed a surprise at the teller window…

…Mary Petty got creative at the hat shop…

…and Petty again, as we close with her modern take on higher education…

Next Time: Through the Looking Glass, Darkly…

Late Summer Chatter

Above: E.B. White noted the sounds of late summer ranging from jackhammers (that sounded like cicadas) to the songs of katydids predicting an early frost. (pafa.org/Ellyn B/Flickr/nwf.org)

For roughly four decades E.B. White’s “Notes and Comment” set the tone for each issue of The New Yorker, offering observations on daily life that sometimes were compiled from his “disarranged notes.”

September 5, 1936 cover by Adolph K. Kronengold.

For the September 5 issue White offered brief comments on everything from the German military buildup to the romantic life of singer Bobby Arnst.

SHE WENT APE OVER TARZAN…Photo at left: Singer/dancer **Bobbe Arnst** shares a laugh with her first husband, *Tarzan* star **Johnny Weissmuller**—apparently her second marriage to divorce attorney **Robert Cavenaugh** wasn’t so full of yuks; White also noted the cicada-like sounds of air drills tearing up old trolley car lines—at right is the 1936 painting “End of 14th Street Crosstown Line” by early *New Yorker* contributor **Reginald Marsh**. The urban realist Marsh juxtaposed workers tearing up tracks with picketers demonstrating against Ohrbach’s, which would not allow employees to unionize. *(whosdatedwho.com/pafa.org)*

White also cited Cosmopolitan magazine regarding “the age of accumulation” (twenty-five to thirty-five), and noted the average speed of rival ocean liners for “New Yorkers hastening to the Scottish moors for the grouse shooting…”

CONSUMER REPORT…White cited *Cosmopolitan* regarding “the age of accumulation,” and considered the average speeds of the world’s fastest ocean liners, France’s SS *Normandie* (top), and Great Britain’s RMS *Queen Mary. (instagram.com/ucla.edu)*

* * *

Sounds of Music

Paris correspondent Janet Flanner moved on from the Nazi Olympics in Berlin to the foothills of the Alps for the Salzburg Music Festival, where German dramatic soprano Lotte Lehmann and Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini made music together.

DRAMATIC DUO…Dramatic soprano Lotte Lehmann and conductor **Arturo Toscanini** were the big draw at the 1936 Salzburg Music Festival, which also featured the debut of the Trapp Family Singers, who were encouraged by Lehmann to enter the Salzburg Festival contest. *(taminoautographs.com via stolpersteine-salzburg.at/en)*

In August 1936 Lehmann discovered the Trapp Family Singers (made famous in 1965’s The Sound of Music). While approaching a villa available to let, Lehmann overheard the Trapp children singing in their garden. Due to her fame, Lehmann was able to persuade Captain Georg Von Trapp to allow his children to perform at Salzburg Festival.

Flanner also marveled at the Austria’s Grossglockner High Alpine Road—with the highest pass in Europe—and noted the bitter struggle between Nazis and Social Democrats that was dividing Austrians less than two years before the Anschluss, the German annexation of Austria.

GETTING HIGH…At left, the Grossglockner High Alpine Road (Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse); at right, the Hohensalzburg Fortress (Festung Hohensalzburg) a large medieval fortress that is a prominent landmark in the city of Salzburg, Austria. Flanner noted that unbeknownst to gawking tourists, the fortress contained political prisoners. *(Wikipedia)*

* * *

At the Movies

John Mosher found Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at the top of their game in the musical comedy Swing Time, but lamented the stodgy and laborious plot that burdened the non-dancing scenes.

BUSTING SOME MOVES are **Ginger Rogers** and **Fred Astaire** in Swing Time. The film was the sixth of ten films starring Astaire and Rogers. (goldenageofcinemasite.wordpress.com)

Mosher also had a look at Girl’s Dormitory, which introduced audiences to the young French actress Simone Simon, and also checked out the latest Myrna Loy flick.

THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMM…Clockwise from top left: Set at a Swiss boarding school, *Girl’s Dormitory* is a story about a middle-aged school director (**Herbert Marshall**) who resists the attentions of a forty-something professor (**Ruth Chatterton**) and instead hooks up with a 19-year-old student (**Simone Simon**);1936 photo of Simon by George Hurrell—Simon is is perhaps best remembered for her role in the 1942 American horror film *Cat People* and its sequel; **Claire Trevor, Warner Baxter,** and **Myrna Loy** in *To Mary—with Love*; cover of *Movie Parade*, a book on movie history when the history of film was just three decades old. (imdb.com/facebook.com)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

The magazine opened with another enticing photo from Grace Line depicting an ocean cruise before the days of water slides, buffet lines and norovirus…

…some one-column selections from the back of the book, including an ad from the Camel Pen Company introducing an innovative fountain pen that contained a dry ink pellet—the user added water to dissolve the pellet into a year’s supply of ink…

…these days most of us use ball-point pens, and we are also so accustomed to automatic doors that they no longer seem “magic” as they did in the 1930s…

WONDERS NEVER CEASE…In 1931, Wilcox’s Pier Restaurant in West Haven, Connecticut featured the first automatic doors in America, invented by Stanley. (cbsnews.com)

…New York artist Sheila Raleigh employed the desert island trope to sell some beer for Jacob Ruppert…

…the inside back cover popped with this ad for the streamlined V-12 Lincoln Zephyr…

…the “Talk of the Town” occasionally featured these illustrated mini-bios, here highlighting Jesse Owens’ record-setting performance at the 1936 Olympics (illustration by William Cotton)…

…a couple of spots by George Shellhase…

…and Richard Taylor…

…Helen Hokinson gave us frenemies at a dog show…

…James Thurber looked out for cockroaches…

…Otto Soglow found a new use for a bass case…

…Soglow again, demonstrating the wonders of radio advertising…

…Alain showed us a man with a cagey cane…

…Peter Arno illustrated the trials of working with extras…

…Rea Irvin continued to chronicle achievements in industry (Peruna was a well-known patent medicine sold from the late-19th to mid-20th century—with its high alcohol content, Americans drank large amounts of Peruna during Prohibition)…

…a beat cop receives an unlikely confession, per Whitney Darrow Jr…

…and we close with Alan Dunn, in a forgettable situation…

Next Time: Sun Lubbers…

Epic Adversity

Above: Fredric March and Olivia de Havilland in "Anthony Adverse". (tcm.com)

Epic costume dramas were all the rage in the 1930s, doubtless due to their escapist qualities (escape from the Depression and fears of war, among other things) and the cool comforts of a movie palace during a decade of exceptionally hot summers (yes, once again I’m leading with a movie. Nevertheless, some tasty bits ahead!).

August 29, 1936 cover by **William Steig.**

Unlike MGM’s Romeo and Juliet, which lost money, Anthony Adverse was Warner Brothers’ most popular release in 1936, a nearly two-and-a-half-hour film featuring the seemingly ever-present Frederic March and rising star Olivia de Havilland. Based on Hervey Allen’s 1933 historical novel by the same name, New Yorker critic John Mosher gave Anthony Adverse passing marks.

COSTUMES IN MOTION…Critic John Mosher appreciated a costume drama that was also lively. Clockwise, from left: Warner Brothers promotional poster; **Olivia de Havilland** as Angela, the daughter of a cook who becomes Mademoiselle Georges, a famous opera star and mistress of Napoleon Bonaparte; **Anita Louise** portrayed sweet young Maria, betrothed to grumpy old Don Luis (**Claude Rains**). *(frockflicks.com)*

WICKEDLY GOOD…**Gale Sondergaard** with Claude Rains in *Anthony Adverse.* Sondergaard would win the inaugural Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as the villainous Faith Paleologus. In total, the film would earn four Oscars. (IMDb.com)

Mosher found other cinema diversions, including a film featuring a cameo by Robert Benchley.

WORLD OF WODEHOUSE…**Madge Evans** and **Robert Montgomery** in *Piccadilly Jim*; **Dolores Costello** and George Raft in *Yours for the Asking*; **Ida Lupino** portrayed con artist Gertie Malloy in Yours for the Asking; pioneer American film animator **Mary Ellen Bute** created some of the first electronically generated film images, her specialty being visual music. *(imdb.com/csfd.sk/facebook.com/Wikipedia)*

And lest we forget, here is The New Yorker’s Robert Benchley portraying a “barroom character” in Piccadilly Jim:

THE TWO BOBS…**Robert Montgomery** and **Robert Benchley** in *Piccadilly Jim.* *(immortalephemera.com)*

* * *

Pentameter Pickle

E.B. White expressed his annoyance with MGM’s claim regarding Norma Shearer as “the first screen Juliet” (see last week’s post on Romeo and Juliet). He also noted that after seeing Romeo and Juliet, he had the urge to speak in Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter.

White noted that either Beverly Bayne or Theda Bara were the first screen Juliets…actually both appeared in dueling films in 1916, opening just three days apart.

FILM DUEL…Top, **Francis X. Bushman** and **Beverly Bayne** (married in real life) in Metro’s 1916 adaptation of *Romeo and Juliet.* Below, **Theda Bara** and Harry Hilliard in Fox’s 1916 *Romeo and Juliet.* In direct competition, the Fox film was released on Oct.22, the same week as Metro’s (Oct. 19). Both silent films are considered lost. *(theeverydaycinephile.com)*

If White had had access to the internet, he would have learned that the very first screen Juliet was actually Florence Lawrence , who appeared in a fifteen-minute silent film short made in 1908 by Vitagraph Studios (amazingly, the film survives and can be viewed on YouTube).

THE ORIGINAL…The first screen Juliet was **Florence Lawrence**, who appeared in a 1908 silent film short by Vitagraph Studios. Lawrence (1886–1938) is widely referred to as the “first movie star”, appearing in almost three hundred films. She also invented a surprising list of patents, including the first “auto signaling arm.” *(messynessychic.com).*

* * *

He Used His Bean

“The Talk of the Town” featured a rare mention of baseball in the form of a brief profile of Jo-Jo Moore (1908–2001), a New York Giants left fielder known for his intimidating, left-handed-hitting as lead-off man; Moore batted over .300 five times in his career. Apparently he was also known for getting beaned at the plate, as this excerpt explains:

LEANING IN…**Jo-Jo Moore**, who batted left-handed and threw right-handed, hit over .300 five times in his career with the Giants from 1930 to 1941. When he died in 2001 at age 92, he was the last surviving member of the 1933 World Champion New York Giants. (centerfieldmaz.com)

* * *

The Bobby We Didn’t Know

Mention the name Bobby Riggs to those of a certain age and they’ll likely conjure up the cheeky grin of a 55-year-old man who in 1973 challenged 29-year-old Billie Jean King to a much-ballyhooed “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match at the Houston Astrodome—which King won in straight sets (6–4, 6–3, 6–3). What seems forgotten is the fact that Riggs was once considered the best tennis player in the world. As a 21-year-old amateur in 1939, he won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. Even in 1936 the teenaged Riggs was already sensation, as this excerpt explains:

PROMISING BEGINNINGS…Left, **Bobby Riggs** (center) accepts the 1939 men’s national singles championship trophy after defeating **Welby Van Horn** at Forest Hills. Riggs also won the U.S. Singles Championship in 1941. At right, **Billie Jean King** and **Bobby Riggs** strike a pose in 1973, the year they competed in famed “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match. (facebook.com/Wikipedia)

* * *

From Our Advertisers

Singer Ethel Merman lit up the opening page of the August 29 issue in this colorful advertisement for Stage magazine…

…the makers of the bargain cigarette Twenty Grand used this New Yorker-style cartoon to push their brand of tobacco…

…the inside back cover featured this bright appeal from Imperial Wallpapers…

…and the makers of Luckies claimed the back page to build their base of women smokers…

…on to our cartoonists, we begin with spots by Abe Birnbaum…

…and Robert Day…

…more cartoon art from Richard Taylor to enliven Morris Bishop’s limericks…

…Birnbaum again, with a bit of hide and-seek…

…Alan Dunn confronted a moral quandary…

…Rea Irvin put up a tempting target…

…Helen Hokinson found the right words to describe a bridge party…

…Peter Arno illustrated one way to accommodate an estrangement…

…and we close with Gardner Rea, and a proud papa…

Next Time: Late Summer Chatter…

Bottoms Up!

Above: E.B. White had a bone to pick with whiskey distillers who tried to establish "quick antiquity" by naming their products "Old Something-or-Other." That was not true for these two brands—Old Grand-Dad was introduced in Kentucky in 1840, while Old Overholt debuted in Pennsylvania in 1810, making it America's oldest continually maintained whiskey brand. Both are now subsidiaries of Japan's Suntory Global Spirits. (alcohol professor.com/pinterest)

With the official end of Prohibition on December 5, 1933, brewers and distillers raced to ramp up production and revive brands that had lain dormant for more than a decade. Distillers of aged spirits like rye and whiskey were especially keen to invoke history and tradition when marketing their tipple.

August 15, 1936 cover by **Paul C. Robertson.**

In some cases newer distilleries made generous use of the word “Old” in their branding, according to E.B. White in his “Notes and Comment.” White also called out the folks at Seagram’s, who compared the character of Thomas Jefferson to that of their “V.O.” whisky (no “e” in spirits tied to British distilling traditions—Scotland, Canada, Japan, Wales, India). Most egregious, however, was the ad’s claim that Jefferson helped to draft the Constitution. White explained:

HE DID WHAT?…**E.B. White** called out the Seagram’s ad (left, from the July 25 issue of The New Yorker) for its historic inaccuracy (the distiller erroneously credited **Thomas Jefferson** for the Constitution; at right, the character and leadership of the Founding Fathers (and other early American leaders) were oft-employed metaphors for a number of whiskey brands, including James E. Pepper. (facebook.com)

GOLDEN OLDIES…Here are more examples of historic figures being associated with fine spirits…at left, in 1960 the makers of Old Crow (founded 1835) depicted the genocidal **Andrew Jackson** pouring a glass of the stuff for Martin Van Buren; at right, in 1937 the makers of Old Taylor (1887) used quotes and themes from **Thomas Paine’s** revolutionary writings to promote their Kentucky Straight Bourbon. *(bourbonbanter.com/etsy.com)*

While we are on the subject of ardent spirits, let’s take a look at these excerpts from “The Talk of the Town” (attributed to Eugene Kinkead and Russell Maloney), which told the story of a private detective who had a nose for liquor— disguised as hair tonic.

A SIP WITH YOUR SHAVE…During Prohibition (1920–1933), high-alcohol hair tonics like Rexall 93 (containing up to 24% alcohol) were legally sold as cosmetics but were frequently bought and consumed by people seeking a cheap, accessible substitute for bootleg liquor. The photo at right is of a 1930s barbershop—it is not implied that these fine gentlemen were involved in such illicit activities. *(ebay.com/pinterest.com)*

A closer look at the Rexall label—the makers made sure “24% Alcohol” was clearly visible. Folks known as “strainers” would run hair tonics like these through bread, cloth, or charcoal to filter out poisonous additives, obviously a dangerous practice.

* * *

Doggy Downer

The legendary Kress “five-and-dime” stores, with more than 250 locations across twenty-nine states, served the needs of regular folks, but the designs of its stores were anything but pedestrian. This was especially true of its Fifth Avenue location, a 1935 Art Deco masterpiece. Given its lofty address, it was no place for one to order a lowly hot dog. E.B. White explained:

DECO EDIFICE…**Samuel Henry Kress** believed his department stores should function as works of public art that elevate the shopping experience for ordinary people. The company maintained an in-house architectural division, under the leadership of architect **Edward F. Sibbert**, that designed iconic, custom buildings, including the 1935 flagship S. H. Kress & Co. store on Fifth Avenue and 39th Street, an Art Deco masterpiece rendered in granite, bronze, and stainless steel; at right, a view of the store’s Ladies Lounge. Sadly, the building was razed in 1983. (*Museum of the City of New York/New York Public Library)*

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Merely Mortal

Janet Flanner filed her second report from the Berlin Olympics, where America’s Black athletes dominated the track and field events (ESPN’s Larry Schwartz credits Jesse Owens for “single-handedly crushing Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy”). Flanner noted attempts by propagandists to make sense of the beating they received, including likening the American athletes to wild animals “living in a state of innocence.” Excerpts:

CONQUERING HEROES…Eighteen Black athletes went to Berlin as part of the U.S. team in 1936. Clockwise, from top left: Standing are high jumpers Dave Albritton and **Cornelius Johnson,** hurdler **Tidye Pickett,** sprinter **Ralph Metcalfe,** boxer Jim Clark, and sprinter **Mack Robinson**…in front, weightlifter **John Terry** (left) and long jumper John Brooks; **Jesse Owens** captured four gold medals and became the hero of the Olympics—his long jump (26 feet 5-1/2 inches) was an Olympic record; the American press reported widely on the friendship between Owens and his German long jump competitor **Carl Ludwig (“Luz”) Long**…Long was killed in action during World War II; the faithful offer their ugly salutes at the opening of the games. (webs.org/Bundesarchiv Koblenz/ushmm.org/history.com)

Flanner also reported on the great fanfare at the opening of the games, including “seventeen searchlights, from far outside the arena…a lofty birdcage of streaming light beams.” One wonders if those same searchlights were deployed during the war four years later, when RAF Lancaster bombers began their night bombing campaign of Berlin.

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At the Movies

Last week we saw Lionel Barrymore in drag (as an old woman) in The Devil Doll. This week he resurfaces as a senile old warhorse in The Road to Glory, a Howard Hawks war film with a screenplay co-written by William Faulkner (the film also featured Frederic March, who had star billing in three major films in 1936). John Mosher found the film “presentable,” but nothing special. The same went for Down Under the Sea, a film concerning sponge divers who battle over the affections of a woman (Ann Rutherford).

WERE THEY SPONGE WORTHY?…Clockwise, from top left: **Ann Rutherford** finds herself torn between two sponge divers vying for her affections in *Down Under the Sea* (aka *Down to the Sea*); divers Ben Lyon and Russell Hardie surprise Rutherford with a “native necklace” in the film; **Frederic March, Lionel Barrymore,** and Warner Baxter in *The Road to Glory*; **June Lang** with March in *The Road to Glory. (eBay/silverscenesblog)*

Mosher also took in Jailbreak, a minor noir picture about racketeers, cops and newspaper reporters.

SERIOUS BUSINESS…**Barton MacLane**, **June Travis** and Joseph Crehan in *Jailbreak. (IMDb.com)*

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From Our Advertisers

The inside front cover featured a wholesome image of a roadside stand on behalf of leaded gasoline…the makers of Ethyl, which boosted octane ratings and stopped engine knocking, deliberately hid or omitted the word “lead” in their advertising…I don’t miss the Ethyl, but I do miss those roadside stands…

…Warner Brothers took out a full-page ad to trumpet the East Coast release of their epic drama Anthony Adverse, which would go on to win four Academy Awards…

…the original torch singer Helen Morgan lent her endorsement to a budget cigarette brand in this back of the book ad…at this point her career would be headed on a downward spiral, ending with her death in 1941…

…the makers of the Dominican rum Siboney competed with Cuban rival Barcardi with this colorful full-page ad illustrated by American graphic artist Ervine Metzl…

…Barcardi placed this front cover advertisement in Aug. 1, 1936 New Yorker (illustrated by George de Zayas)…

…James Thurber kicks off the cartoons with two terrific spot drawings…

…this spot drawing by Victor de Pauw recalls my favorite childhood book, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel (1939), by Virginia Lee Burton…

…I’m not sure if one would call this a spot drawing or a caption-less cartoon, at any rate, Garrett Price aptly illustrated the dangers of swimming beyond the bouys…

…Rea Irvin demonstrated the perils of dognapping in this multi-panel entry…

…William Steig celebrated summer in the city…

…Helen Hokinson drew up an urgent social connection…

…Denys Wortman looked in on the trappings of motherhood…

…Alan Dunn showed us one effect of long-distance travel…

…and Dunn again, with a man who’d rather not ask questions…

…and leave it to Charles Addams to draw up The New Yorker’s first Medusa-themed cartoon…

…before we continue, here are other interpretations of the mythic Gorgon from The New Yorker…this one by Lars Kenseth is from Jan. 21, 2019…

…this is by Ali Solomon (Oct. 29, 2025)…

…and from May 3, 2025, this terrific caption contest cartoon by Jason Adam Katzenstein (and the winning caption by Peter Sergison, Durham, NC)…

…and here’s a timely cartoon by Daryl Seitchik that was rejected by the magazine…

…we go back to 1936 with George Price and a plucky salesman…

…Chon Day made an unappetizing find at the fish market…

…Gardner Rea looked in on a summer stock performance…

…Peter Arno drew up a Milquetoast unwittingly ordering a knuckle sandwich…

…and we close with some racy decor, courtesy Richard Taylor…

Next Time: Wherefore, Old Romeo?…

Men in Kilts

Above: Fredric March as the Earl of Bothwell in Mary of Scotland. March sported a kilt that Alex von Tunzelmann (the Guardian, May 7, 2015) calls "the bane of Scottish historical movies from here to Braveheart." Tunzelmann notes that "What we call a kilt today—the fèileadh beag, or small kilt—was invented in the mid-18th century, almost 200 years after this film is set. The Scots should be wearing belted plaid, or the rather fetching skintight tartan trews (image at right) sported by Mary’s father, James V." (eBay.com/pinterest.com)

These were truly the dog days of summer—New Yorkers had just endured one of the hottest months on record (106 F on July 9) and it remained intensely hot and dry as August rolled in. So for this post we will retreat to one of the few places that had air-conditioning—the cinema—and see what folks were enjoying in the first week of August 1936.

August 8, 1936 cover by **Arnold Hall.**

Before we jump into the movies, the wonderful cover by Arnold Hall recalled the summer night concerts at Lewisohn Stadium (although Hall took some liberties with the stadium’s design for the sake of composition).

A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC…Top: Illustration by Scottish artist **Muirhead Bone** of a nighttime Lewisohn Stadium concert, circa 1920s; below: **Andre Kostelanetz** conducts before a crowd of thousands at Lewisohn Stadium in 1939—for an admission price of a mere twenty-five cents, concertgoers were treated to appearances by leading performers of jazz, classical music and opera. The stadium was demolished in 1973. *(digitalcommonwealth.org)*

On to our movies, Russell Maloney once again sat in for John Mosher as the magazine’s film critic, taking on everything from a Tudor romance to a horror film that featured Lionel Barrymore in drag.

In Mary of Scotland, Maloney found Katharine Hepburn’s turn as Mary, Queen of Scots a bit wanting (the role should have gone to a “grown-up actress”), while he thought the film itself was rather tedious with “lots of goings on.” He concluded that the “wisps of Mary of Scotland visible between cloak-swishings and sword-wavings are not especially encouraging.”

NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME?…Clockwise, from top left: Critic Russell Maloney thought the 29-year-old **Katharine Hepburn** was not seasoned enough to portray Mary Stuart in *Mary of Scotland;* **Fredric March** as the Earl of Bothwell, with Hepburn; March visits with director John Ford, who was better known for his Westerns (Ford and Hepburn would famously have an affair during the filming); Hepburn in a scene with **John Carradine**, who portrayed Rizzio, the Italian courtier and private secretary to Mary. Patriarch of the Carradine acting dynasty, his children included actors **David, Keith,** and **Robert Carradine.** *(imdb.com/pinterest.com/frockflicks.com)*

In addition to a forgettable lion-tamer flick (Bengal Tiger), Maloney also reviewed a Bing Crosby movie with a host of singing cowboys, Rhythm on the Range, and a “consistently funny” film with an “unpromising name,” We Went to College…

Bing Crosby played a humble traveling cowboy Norman Taurog Western musical film — COWBOY CROSBY…Clockwise from top left: **Bing Crosby** portrayed a traveling cowboy in love with a rich girl (**Frances Farmer**) in Rhythm on the Range; **Louis Prima, Martha Raye** (in her film debut), and Bob Burns performed in the ensemble “I’m an Old Cowhand from the Rio Grande” along with **Roy Rogers** (uncredited and performing under his original stage name, Leonard Slye) and **The Sons of the Pioneers**; **Una Merkel** and Walter Abel in a lobby card image advertising *We Went to College. (imdb.com)*

Maloney also reviewed a horror-farce, The Devil Doll, featuring Lionel Barrymore as banker Paul Lavond. A brief synopsis: Framed by his three partners and imprisoned on Devil’s Island, Lavond escapes with a fellow inmate who introduces him to his wife, Malita. The couple demonstrate a process that shrinks animals and people to the size of dolls, which then can be animated by will power. Seeing the dolls as an opportunity for revenge on his former partners, Lavond disguises himself as an old woman and sends out the shrunken people to harm his enemies.

PLAYING WITH DOLLS…At left, **Lionel Barrymore** disguised as Madame Mandelip, preparing his demonic dollies for revenge in The Devil Doll; at right, Marcel (**Henry B, Walthall**) and his wife Malita (**Raffaela Ottiano**) with one of their shrunken people. (classic-monsters.com)

MY, WHAT BIG TEETH YOU HAVE…At left, Tarzan star **Maureen O’Sullivan** portrayed Paul Lafond’s unsuspecting daughter—in this scene from *The Devil Doll* she doesn’t recognize her long-absent father, disguised as the kindly Paris toy shop owner Madame Mandelip; at right, **Lionel Barrymore** (dressed as Madame Mandelip) meeting with *Devil Doll* director **Tod Browning**, best known for his 1932 magnum opus, *Freaks. (classic-monsters.com/moriareviews.com)*

It seems there were few, if any, critics in the 1930s who didn’t like Mickey Mouse cartoons. These days we take animation for granted, but ninety years ago it was still something of a miracle, especially in color. Maloney noted the latest must-see Disney cartoon short, Donald and Pluto.

MARTYRDOM OF DONALD DUCK…**Donald Duck** was literally put through the wringer for our amusement in the 1936 short *Donald and Pluto*, one of the three installments of the *Mickey Mouse* series in which Mickey doesn’t appear as a character. Donald Duck was a fairly new Disney character in 1936, making his debut in 1934’s *The Wise Little Hen. (disneyfandom.com)*

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Life Goes On

E.B. White mused about the increasing life expectancy at birth of the American male from 47 years in 1900 to 58 years in 1936 (a woman’s life expectancy was roughly 49/62, respectively). White (who would live 86 years) said he would spend his extra years collecting “haunting” signs, such as one on the Boston Post Road that read: Trucks Must Use Right Fork.

AND NO ELBOWS ON THE TABLE, EITHER…Trucker poses in front of his rig in 1936. *(facebook.com)*

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Wartime Wardrobe

Beatrice Mathieu—the first and only Paris fashion correspondent for The New Yorker—sat in on Lois Long’s column to discuss the latest from The City of Light. Designers were soldiering on with their premieres despite the winds of war blowing from the east. Excerpts:

LIFE GOES ON…At left, a model shows off a “Carnival dress” by **Madeleine Vionnet,** 1936; a sidewalk café in Paris filled with fashionable folks, 1936. *(godsandfoolishgrandeur.blogspot.com/reddit.com)*

A note about Beatrice Mathieu: According to her 1976 New York Times obituary, “In an era when honest criticism in fashion writing was relatively rare, she blended humor with a kind of skepticism and honesty in writing that enhanced her reputation as a leader in the field…In 1928, when the young woman from Faribault, Minn., was making a living in Paris as a freelance writer, she received a cable from Harold Ross…asking her to do some work for him. She wired back: ‘What is The New Yorker?’ Mr. Ross replied at some length. She took the job.” Mathieu stopped writing her Paris column in 1936 but resumed after the end of World War II.

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A Dose of Passos

Clifton Fadiman reviewed the latest book by John Dos Passos (1896– 1970), who is known for his pioneering works of nonlinear fiction and his U.S.A. trilogy, which he completed in 1936 with The Big Money. One of the major novelists of the post-World War I “lost generation,” he is widely praised today for his timeless insights into America’s inequalities (and was also highly regarded by contemporaries including William Faulkner). Fadiman, however wrote “A great writer he is not.” Excerpts:

HIS TIME WOULD COME…**John Dos Passos** on the cover of *Time*, Aug. 10, 1936. Dos Passos is admired today for showing how Americans respond to the chaos and inequalities of modern life. *(time.com)*

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From Our Advertisers

We begin our advertising section with the Grace Line, which offered this inviting image (on the inside front cover) of nighttime swimming on the deck of one of its Santa liners, en route to South America and California…

…less inviting, it would seem at the time, would be a cruise to Germany aboard a Hamburg-America Line (HAPAG) ship—beginning in 1939, U.S. and British forces would seize nearly all of HAPAG’s fleet…

…the relatively new company Old Mr. Boston (founded in Boston in 1933, right as Prohibition ended) went big with this two-page color advertisement touting its line that included gin, rum, whiskey, and cordials…

…in the back of the book…Brown & Williamson launched its Viceroy brand in 1936 as the world’s first cork-tipped filter cigarette…at the bottom is a modest ad for Pilsner Urquell, a Czech brewer that produced the world’s first pale lager…it is still brewed in Pilsen (Czech Republic) under the ownership of Tokyo-based Asahi Group…

…Schaefer promoted their “light beer” in this rather spare advertisement…the “light” referred to its pale color, not to its calorie count…founded in New York City in 1842, Schaefer grew to be a top five brewer in America…today it is marketed by Pabst as a regional heritage brand…

…Dr. Seuss was still at it with his Flit ads…after rejections from nearly thirty publishers, in 1937 Seuss (aka Theodor Geisel) would publish his first book with Vanguard Press—And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street…Seuss also illustrated ads for Schaefer beer, Esso gasoline, Holly Sugar, and General Electric, among others…

HONING A STYLE…A sampling of **Dr. Seuss’s** advertising art from the 1930s to the 1950s. *(aoghs.org/UC San Diego/booksforgoatlings.weebly.com)*

…R.J. Reynolds lined up another socialite endorsement for their Camel cigarettes…here they go to the West Coast, with a plug from Mrs. William J. Hollingsworth, Jr., aka Madeleine Ruth Piper…her marriage to Hollingsworth was over by 1937…she would marry three more times before her death in 1993…

SHE REALLY LIGHTS UP A ROOM…At left, undated photo of socialite **Madeleine Ruth Piper** (1916–1993), who was apparently telling the truth about her love of smoking; at right, the Victor Hugo Restaurant in Los Angeles (Beverly Hills), featured in the Camel ad. *(findagrave.com/facebook.com)*

…on to our illustrators and cartoonists, we begin with spots by Christina Malman…

…Helen Moore Sewell…

…Victor de Pauw…

and Aaron Sopher…

…there was another installment of Morris Bishop limericks illustrated by Richard Taylor…

…Ned Hilton’s lord of the manor took up rice farming…

…Alan Dunn showed us some devious domestic doings…

…and a complaint to the mayor…

…in contrast to Dunn’s style, the spare lines of Gardner Rea…

…Gregory d’Alessio prepared for Olympic glory…

…William Crawford Galbraith continued to plumb the creepy waters inhabited by impressionable young women and lecherous older men, in this case a woman’s personal physician…

…and Rea Irvin continued to explore historic moments in American industry…

…we close with Helen Hokinson, and some scandal brewing under a hair dryer…

Next Time: Bottoms Up…