George Price – Page 7 – A New Yorker State of Mind

Cheers For Beers

Good cheer was in short supply during the worst year of the Depression, but as 1933 approached many New Yorkers could at least look forward to legal beer in the New Year.

But as with all things political, new rules and regulations would need to be hashed out before the taps could flow, and both brewers and beer drinkers would have to recalibrate a relationship that had been suspended for nearly 13 years. Alva Johnston gave this (excerpted) report in “A Reporter at Large”…

WHILE YOU WERE AWAY…Vaudeville star **Rae Samuels** holds what was purportedly the last bottle of beer (a Schlitz) distilled before Prohibition went into effect in Chicago on Dec. 29, 1930. The bottle was insured for $25,000. After Prohibition ended in late 1933, Schlitz reappeared with gusto and quickly became the world’s top-selling brewery. (vintag.es)

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National Treasure

Chester Dale (1883–1962) began his career in finance at age fifteen, working as a runner for the New York Stock Exchange. Just twelve years later he would marry painter and art critic Maud Murray Dale, and together they would amass an art collection that would include significant works by Claude Monet, Paul Cézanne, Amedeo Modigliani, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso. In 1932 the Dales were well on their way to building a collection that would eventually end up in the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. “The Talk of the Town” featured the Dales in this except:

WAYS OF SEEING…**Maud Dale** was a staunch supporter of artist **Amedeo Modigliani**, whose 1919 painting *Gypsy Woman with Baby* (top left) was among 21 of his works collected by the Dales. Maud also commissioned a number of her own portraits, including (clockwise, from top center) ones rendered by **George Bellows** in 1919, by Jean-Gabriel Domergue in 1923, and by **Fernand Léger** in 1935. At bottom left is a 1945 portrait of **Chester Dale** by **Diego Rivera.** (National Gallery of Art)

SAINTED PATRONS…Clockwise, from top left, a 1943 photo of **Chester Dale** in the West Garden Court of the National Gallery of Art, which today holds the *Chester Dale Collection* of 240 paintings among other items; **Maud Dale**, c. 1926; *Madame Picasso* (1923) by **Pablo Picasso** on view in the Dale residence, c. 1935; a 1926 caricature of Chester by Mexican artist Miguel Covarrubias, a close friend of the Dales and early New Yorker contributor. (National Gallery of Art)

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Smoke Screen

E.B. White noted the historic meeting of outgoing U.S. President Herbert Hoover and his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt. White speculated on at least one topic of discussion:

DO YOU INHALE?…Outgoing President **Herbert Hoover** (left) and President-elect **Franklin D. Roosevelt** on their way to the inauguration ceremonies, 1933. (National Archives)

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No Longer “It”

Here is how IMDB describes the 1932 pre-Code drama Call Her Savage: “Sexy Texas gal storms her way through life, brawling and boozing until her luck runs out, forcing her to learn the errors of her ways.” The actress who portrayed that “Texas Gal,” Clara Bow, was getting sick of Hollywood and would make just one more film before retiring at age 28. Although in some circles the silent era’s “It Girl” sex symbol was finally beginning to earn some credit as an “artiste,” critic John Mosher was reserving judgment:

WHIP IT GOOD…**Clara Bow** brawls her way through life in her second-to-last film role, **Call Her Savage.** (IMDB)

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From Our Advertisers

Is this really how the smart set lived in 1932 Manhattan? Here we have an old toff dressed like Santa (in a top hat) sneaking presents onto the Christmas tree…and caught in the act by, I presume, his wife and a chambermaid?…

…in sharp contrast, here is an ad from the Golden Rule Foundation, which annually designated the second week in December as “Golden Rule Week”…the foundation raised funds to help needy children throughout the world…

…and here’s a bright, back cover ad from Caron Paris…apparently the face powder industry had been good to them in 1932…

…on to our cartoons, we start with a smoking tutorial from William Steig…

…some sunny optimism from one of Helen Hokinson’s “girls”…

…in this two-pager by Garrett Price, an artist asks his patron: All right then, what was your conception of the Awakening of Intelligence through Literature and Music?…

…Isadore Klein dedicated this cartoon to the much-anticipated launch of a new literary magazine, The American Spectator (not to be confused with today’s conservative political publication by the same name) and its illustrious line-up of joint editors…

…Crawford Young’s caption recalled the precocious child in Carl Rose’s 1928 cartoon caption, a collaboration with E.B. White — “I say it’s spinach, and I say the hell with it”…

…and speaking of Carl Rose, this next cartoon by James Thurber has an interesting history…New Yorker cartoonist Michael Maslin explains in this Carl Rose Inkspill bio: In 1932, Rose submitted a drawing captioned, “Touche!” of two fencers, one of whom has just cut off the head of the other. Harold Ross (according to Thurber in The Years With Ross) thinking the Rose version “too bloody” suggested Thurber do the drawing because “Thurber’s people have no blood. You can put their heads back on and they’re as good as new”…

…as we close out December 2021 (which I am dutifully trying to do the same in 1932), we move on to the Dec. 10 issue…

Dec. 10, 1932 cover by **William Steig.**

…and Samuel N. Behrman’s profile (titled “Chutspo”) of comedian Eddie Cantor, who made his way from vaudeville and the Ziegfeld Follies to fame on the radio, in film and on early television. Theater great Katherine Cornell certainly appreciated Cantor’s gift for making his routine look easy: Here’s an excerpt:

AH, IT WAS NOTHIN’…Comedian Eddie Cantor was adored by millions of radio listeners as the “Apostle of Pep.” At right, caricature for the profile by Al Frueh. (bizarrela.com)

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Christmess

Lois Long’s “On and Off the Avenue” column was thus titled to reflect the annual challenge of buying that special something for that special someone. Here is the opening paragraph:

One of the items suggested in Long’s column was a game named for our friend Eddie Cantor called “Tell it to the Judge”…

…or you could select one of these gifts from A.G. Spaulding…my grandfather had one of those perpetual desk calendars…I would stave off boredom by endlessly flipping those numbers while the adults conversed in German…

…on to our cartoonists, James Thurber provided this nice bit of art for a two-page spread…

…Kemp Starrett gave us some biscuit (cookie) execs contemplating a new, streamlined design for their product…

…Norman Bel Geddes is perhaps best known for designing the “Futurama” display at the 1939 New York World’s Fair…here is Bel Geddes’ “Cobra Lamp”…

…George Price gave us a fellow peddling more than a simple top…

…and with Peter Arno, the party never ends…

…on to Dec. 17, 1932…

…and Arno’s ex Lois Long was back with another “Tables for Two,” still feigning the old spinster (see “shawl and slippers” reference in first graf) when in fact she was an attractive, 31-year-old divorcee who apparently still had plenty of fire for late night revelry…

According to the Jeremiah Moss blog Vanishing New York, Long was likely describing 52nd Street between Fifth and Sixth avenues that “began as a row of speakeasies, which turned into jazz clubs that then evolved into burlesque houses.” The speakeasies got their start when the city lifted residential restrictions on the brownstones and businesses moved in, including Tony’s, the Trocadero and later Place Pigalle…

(vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com via NYPL)

…it was at the new Place Pigalle that Long enjoyed the “knockout” after-midnight show featuring ballroom dancers Frank Veloz and Yolanda Casazza and the diminutive singer Reva Reyes…

AFTER HOURS entertainment at the Place Pigalle included **Frank Veloz and Yolanda Casazza** (left, in a 1930 portrait by **Edward Steichen**) and Mexican singer **Reva Reyes**. (Vanity Fair/El Paso Museum of History)

…and there was more entertainment to be had in Midtown with the upcoming opening (Dec. 27, 1932) of Radio City Music Hall, a dream project of Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel. Hugh Blake had the scoop for the New Yorker in the “A Reporter at Large” column…an excerpt:

AIN’T IT GRAND?..of Radio City Music Hall would open its doors on Dec. 27, 1932, fulfilling a dream of theater owner **Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel.** (nypap.org/Wikipedia/dobywood.com)

…Radio City Music Hall was built to host stage shows only, but within a year of its opening it was converted into a movie venue…and speaking of movies, we have film critic John Mosher finally finding a movie to his liking, and a novel-to-film adaptation to boot…

FAREWELL TO ALL OF THOSE ARMS…**Gary Cooper, Helen Hayes** and **Adolphe Menjou** in Paramount’s *A Farewell to Arms*, directed by **Frank Borzage.** The film received Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. (buffalo.edu)

…and back to the stage, Al Frueh lent his artistry to the play Dinner At Eight, which opened October 22, 1932, at the Music Box Theatre, and would close May 6, 1933, after 232 performances. The popular play had revivals in 1933, 1966 and 2002 as well as a George Cukor film adaptation in 1933 with an all-star cast.

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From Our Advertisers

We begin with this helpful advice from the folks at the Lombardy…

…while we have a much less stuffy invitation from the French Line…

…the usually staid Brooks Brothers sprung for an all-color Christmas ad, featuring items that would suit any aspiring Bertie Wooster…

…and what would be the holidays without canned meat…

…and we end with James Thurber, who gets us into the proper mood for the New Year…

Next Time: Comrade Alex…

Pining for Tin Lizzy

In 1922, a young Cornell graduate named E.B. White set off across America in a Model T with a typewriter and a sense of adventure.

Nov. 12, 1932 cover by **Constantin Alajalov.**

Years later, 1936 exactly, White would recall the America he had discovered as a 22-year old in his book From Sea to Shining Sea, which would include an essay “Farewell to Model T” that first appeared in The New Yorker as “Farewell My Lovely.” For this Nov. 12, 1932 “Notes and Comment” column, it appears White is already pondering his paean to the Model T, contrasting its freedom with the glassed-in claustrophobia of modern cars:

OUT WITH THE NEW, IN WITH THE OLD…Despite their many shortcomings, **E.B. White** seemed to prefer the cars of yesteryear, including (above) the 1904 Pope Tribune and 1917 Ford Model T Roadster; White likened modern cars, such as the 1932 Ford and Chevrolet sedans (bottom, left and right) to riding in a “diving bell.”(Wikimedia/vintagecarcollector.com/Pinterest)

Here’s the cover of From Sea to Shining Sea, which features a photo of White and his wife, Katharine, in a Model T Roadster…

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An Appreciation

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) was an American painter who for most of her adult life lived in France among fellow Impressionists. Like her friend Edgar Degas, Cassatt excelled in pastels, works that were admired by critic Lewis Mumford in an exhibition at New York’s Durand-Ruel Galleries:

TRY A LITTLE TENDERNESS…Mothers and children were **Mary Cassatt’s** favorite subjects. Among the examples shown in 1932 at the Durand-Ruel Galleries’ *Exhibition of Pastels* were Cassatt’s A Goodnight Hug (1880) and *Françoise, Holding a Little Dog, Looking Far to the Right* (1909). (Sotheby’s/Christie’s)

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Hollywood Slump

We go from treasure to trash with John Mosher’s latest cinema dispatch, in which he recounts his experience watching the “strenuous melodrama” Red Dust, starring Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. Mosher assured readers that the film is trash, but better trash than Scarlet Dawn with Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Nancy Carroll.

DUMB AND DUMBER…**Jean Harlow** attempts to distract **Clark Gable** from his work in *Red Dust;* at right, **Douglas Fairbanks Jr.** is tempted by a servant girl’s affection (**Nancy Carroll**) in *Scarlet Dawn.* (IMDB)

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From Our Advertisers

The folks at W.J. Sloane decided that the best way to sell their housewares would be to build an actual house in their Fifth Avenue store…

…do you really want to buy Kraft cheese after looking at this ad? From the look on the woman’s face, that tiresome old wheeze-bag probably smells like aged cheese, and not in a good way…

…The makers of Log Cabin syrup continued to parody the popular taglines of tobacco companies with ads featuring a several New Yorker cartoonists, here Peter Arno…

…yep, when I’m relaxing on the beach I like to talk about ink pens, especially those Eversharp ones…

…nor do I mind some weirdo in a dark coat seeking my opinion of said pen while I frolic near my fashionable Palm Beach hotel…

…yes, we all know that Chesterfields are milder, but will someone help that poor man on the left who appears to be blowing out his aorta…

…The New Yorker’s former architecture critic George S. Chappell (who wrote under the pen-name T-Square) had moved on to other things, namely parodies of societal mores, including this new book written under his other pen-name, Walter E. Traprock, with illustrations by Otto Soglow…

…on to our cartoons, we begin with James Thurber and the travails of menfolk…

…Richard Decker gave us the prelude to one man’s nightmare…

…Carl Rose found a titan of industry puzzling over his vote for a socialist candidate…

…and we move on to Nov. 19, 1932…

Nov. 19, 1932 cover by **William Steig.**

…and this compendium of election highlights by E.B. White…

…and Howard Brubaker’s wry observation of the same…

BUSY DAYS AHEAD…**Franklin D. Roosevelt** celebrates his landslide victory over **Herbert Hoover** in the 1932 presidential elections. (Associated Press)

…and on an even lighter side, poet David McCord’s take on a Robert Louis Stevenson classic…

…speaking of children, the New Yorker was looking ahead to Christmas, and what the little ones might be hoping for under the tree…

ALL HUNG UP ON MICKEY…Mickey Mouse puppet was popular with the kiddies in 1932. (Ebay)

…if Mickey Mouse wasn’t your thing, you could spring for The Fifth New Yorker Album…

…on to our other Nov. 19 advertisements, Mildred Oppenheim (aka Melisse) illustrated another whimsical Lord & Taylor ad…

…while B. Altman maintained its staid approach to fashion to tout these duty-free, “practically Parisian” nighties created by “clever Porto Ricans”…

…Walter Chrysler continued to spend big advertising bucks to promote his company’s “floating power”…

…in my last entry I noted E.B. White’s musings regarding Lucky Strike’s new “raw” campaign…this appeared on the Nov. 19th issue’s back cover…

…on to our cartoons, we have Helen Hokinson’s girls pondering the social implications of a cabbie’s identity…

…James Thurber explored the dynamic tension provided by passion dropped into mixed company…

…Carl Rose offered a bird’s eye view of the 1932 election…

…William Crawford Galbraith showed us one woman’s idea of sage advice…

…and George Price continued to introduce his strange cast of characters to The New Yorker in a career that would span six decades…

…on to our Nov. 26 issue, and a cover by William Crawford Galbraith that recalled the post-impressionist poster designs of Toulouse-Lautrec…

Nov. 26, 1932 cover by William Crawford Galbraith.

…and in this issue we have Lewis Mumford back on the streets assessing New York’s ever-changing landscape, including an unexpectedly “monumental” design for a Laundry company:

ALL WASHED UP?…**Irving M. Fenichel’s** Knickerbocker Laundry Building seemed a bit too monumental for **Lewis Mumford**. (ribapix.com)

…the building still stands, but is substantially altered (now used as a church)…

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Wie Bitte?

Attributed to E.B. White, this “Talk of the Town” item, “Besichtigung” (sightseeing) told readers — in pidgen German — about a visit to the German Cruiser Karlsruhe docked in the New York harbor.

…I try my best to avoid contemporary political commentary (this blog should be a respite from all that!), so I will let Howard Brubaker (in “Of All Things”) speak for himself regarding the outcome of the 1932 presidential election:

…in researching the life and work of Lois Long, there seems to be a consensus out there in the interwebs that her “Tables for Two” column ended in June 1930, however she continued the write the column from time to time, including this entry for Nov. 26 with a bonus illustration by James Thurber…

MARLENE DIETRICHING…was how **Lois Long** described the star’s appearance at the Bohemia club. Above is a photo of **Marlene Dietrich** and **Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney** dancing at the New York club El Morocco in 1938. (Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library)

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From Our Advertisers

More Christmas ideas from the folks at Rogers Peet…hey, I could use a new opera hat!…and look at all those swell ash trays…

…yes, Prohibition is still around for another year, but the wets are ascendent, FDR is in office, so let’s get the party started…

…on to our cartoonists, we begin with this illustration by James Thurber for the magazine’s events section…note the familiar theme of the sculpture, pondered by the young man…

…we are off to the races with William Steig, and some news that should kick this fella into high gear…

…and we close, with all due modesty, via the great James Thurber…

Next Time: Cheers For Beer…

Sounds of Silence

In 1928 both sound and silent films appeared on screens across America, but by 1929 sound was ascendent, and in 1932 silents were mostly a distant memory.

The New Yorker was slow to embrace sound—in reviews of early talkies, critic John Mosher found the technology stultifying in both dialogue and action, but as equipment and techniques improved he came to embrace the new medium. E.B. White, however, still missed the silent theatre, and the strains of its pipe organ…

SILENCE IS GOLDEN…**E.B. White** was likely attending a late evening showing of *For the Love of Mike,* **Claudette Colbert’s** only silent film. After the **Frank Capra**-directed film received poor reviews, the 24-year-old Colbert vowed she would never make another movie. Fortunately for her fans, she changed her mind and signed with Paramount in 1929. At right, promotional photograph of Colbert for the 1928 Broadway production *La Gringa. (IMDB/Wikipedia)*

VITAL ORGANISTS…**Jesse and Helen Crawford** both recorded music on Paramount’s mighty Wurlitzer, sounds that were music to the ears of E.B. White. (theatreorgans.com)

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World’s Fastest Man

That title went to Eddie Tolan after the 1932 Summer Olympic Games, and his fame won him a long entry in the “The Talk of the Town,” although the column (excerpted) took a patronizing tone toward the athlete:

FASTEST IN THE WORLD…U.S. sprinters **Ralph Metcalfe** (left) and **Eddie Tolan** pose on the track at 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Tolan would receive the title of the “world’s fastest human” after winning gold medals in the 100- and 200- meter events. Metcalfe, who be elected to the U.S. Congress in the 1970s, was considered the world’s fastest human in 1934-35. (Marquette University)

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From Our Advertisers

You could tell times were tough when a luxury department store felt the need to sell capes and cuffs designed to “transform” old clothes in to 1932 fashions…

…however, things seemed to be looking up for the folks at Powers Reproduction, who touted the naturalness of their DeSoto ads…

…such as this two-pager that appeared in The New Yorker’s July 23 issue…

…we move on to our cartoonists, beginning with Paul Webb…

…who referenced a recent New Yorker ad (also from the July 23 issue)…

…James Thurber gave us two examples of female aggression…

…this one a bit less deadly…

…here’s an early work by the great George Price (1901-1995), who beginning in 1929 contributed New Yorker cartoons for almost six decades…

…Peter Arno showed us that among the uppers, even nudism had its class distinctions…

…on to our August 20, 1932 issue, and this terrific cover by Harry Brown. With a style reminiscent of the French artist Raoul Dufy, Brown illustrated a number of memorable New Yorker covers during the 1930s…

August 20, 1932 cover by **Harry Brown.**

…the Marx Brothers were back in cinemas with Horse Feathers, and, according to critic John Mosher, delivered the comic goods…

**Xs AND Os**…**Groucho Marx** shows **David Landau** and **Thelma Todd** how the game of football is really played in *Horse Feathers* (1932). (IMDB)

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Author, Author

“The Talk of the Town” included this bit of news regarding the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather. Beginning in the early 1920s, Cather and her partner, Edith Lewis, spent summers at Manan Island in New Brunswick, Canada:

THESE NEED SOME EDITING…**Willa Cather** pruning her roses on Manon Island. (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

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While Cather was enjoying the peace of island life, there were disturbing rumblings on the other side of the ocean, even if Howard Brubaker (writing in his column “Of All Things”) found humor in them…

…the result, however was no laughing matter…

NOT HIS USUAL STYLE…After being appointed as German chancellor, **Adolf Hitle**r greets President **Paul von Hindenburg** in Potsdam, Germany, on March 21, 1933. This image, intended to project an image of Hitler as non-threatening, was made into a popular postcard. The photo also appeared widely in the international press. (www.ushmm.org)

…Brubaker also commented on the upcoming U.S. presidential elections, and, more importantly, the absence of Greta Garbo, who returned to Sweden after her MGM contract expired…

NOT FEELIN’ IT, PAL…**Melvyn Douglas** romances Greta Garbo in 1932’s *As You Desire Me*. Garbo would leave for Sweden after the film wrapped. She would return after a nearly a year of contract negotiations. (IMDB)

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From Our Advertisers

Illustrator Charles LaSalle, who would later be known for his Western-themed art, provided this odd bit of art for the makers of a German hair tonic…

…on to our cartoons, Rea Irvin continued his travelogue of famed tourist destinations…

…Otto Soglow showed us that even the spirit world has its version of Upstairs, Downstairs…

…Carl Rose rendered a cow and a calf made homeless for art’s sake…

…Leo Soretsky contributed only one cartoon to The New Yorker, but it was a doozy…

…on to August 27, 1932…

…in which the “Talk of the Town” contributors decided to pay homage to Lewis Gaylord Clark (1808–1873), who was editor and publisher of the old The Knickerbocker magazine (1833 – 1865)…

…here is one of the entries, with accompanying artwork, written in the style of the old magazine…

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From Our Advertisers

William Steig had illustrated several ads for Old Gold, and now it was Peter Arno’s turn to entice readers to the national habit…

…Lucky Strike, on the other hand, preferred these illustrations of young women, who also happened to be their biggest growth market…by the way, this is not an official “Miss America”—there was no pageant in 1932…

…and we end with cartoons that ponder the female form by Daniel Brustlein (1904–1996), who contributed cartoons and covers to The New Yorker from the 1930s to the 1950s under the pen name Alain…

…and C.W. Anderson…

Next Time: A New Outlook…