From the Dick Buchanan Files: Summer Gag Cartoons 1949 - 1954

Dick Buchanan has very kindly delved into his trove of vintage gag cartoons to come up with a rare color selection on the theme of summer. Thank you very much for these long-unseen single panel gems, Dick!

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SUMMER CARTOONS



In GLORIOUS COLOR



1949 - 1954



Summer is here! It’s time for going to the beach, amusement parks, boating, swimming, gardening and baseball.  And it’s hot.  Since it’s never too hot to laugh we have reached into the Cartoon Clip File and hauled out some summer cartoons for the amusement of one and all. These cartoons are in full color—clipped mostly from the pages of Collier’s. Here are examples of some nifty summer themed drawings by some of the leading mid-century cartoonists . . .





1.  VIRGIL PARTCH.  Collier’s July 1, 1950

2.  DON TOBIN. Collier’s July 9, 1949.

3.  DICK CAVALLI.  Collier’s August 20, 1954.

4.  GLENN BERNHARDT. Collier’s July 1, 1950.

5.  TED KEY. The Saturday Evening Post July 30, 1949.

6.  KATE OSANN. Collier’s July 9, 1949.

7.  BARNEY TOBEY. Collier’s August 12, 1950.

8.  GUSTAV LUNDBERG. Collier’s July 2, 1949.

9.  KIRK STILES. Collier’s July 18, 1953.

10.  FRITZ WILKINSON.  Collier’s September 10, 1949.

11.  KATE OSANN. Collier’s July 2, 1949.

12.  BARNEY TOBEY. Collier’s August 19, 1950

13.  MARY GIBSON. Collier’s July 21, 1951.

14.  TED KEY. The Saturday Evening Post July 19, 1950.

15. HANK KETCHAM. Collier’s July 1, 1950.  

 

-- Edited from a June 27, 2018 blog entry.

 

 

 

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Summer Fun Gag Cartoons 1939 - 1964

Dick Buchanan shares some summer-themed magazine cartoons from the golden age of gag cartooning, so we are guaranteed some laughs thanks to his clip file. Thanks very much, Dick, and take it away ...

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SUMMER FUN
  (1939 – 1964)
 

Another summer is here, prompting your friendly crackpot cartoon clipper to sift through the files to find gag cartoons dealing with summer activities. The result is a selection of gag cartoons in color and glorious black and white which show how some cartoonists portrayed summer back in the days “when the livin’ was easy.” Of course, in reality, while everyone else went to the beach or the ball park, the gag cartoonist spent the summer indoors, chained to the drawing board churning out roughs about autumn and football.

1.  HARRY MACE.  Collier’s  August 5, 1955.

 

2.  STAN FINE.  American Legion Magazine  June, 1954,

 

3.  SALO ROTH.  The Saturday Evening Post  July 17, 1948.

 

4.  DAVID HUFFINE.  Collier’s  June 10, 1939.

 

5.  DON TOBIN.  The Saturday Evening Post  July 8, 1950.

 

6.  ROY FOX.  The Saturday Evening Post  May 21, 1949.

 

7.  BOB BARNES.  Collier’s  July 4, 953.

 

8.  JOHN ALBANO.  The Saturday Evening Post  March 6, 1951.

 

9.  BORIS DRUCKER.  The Saturday Evening Post  July 31, 1948.

 

10.  ORLANDO BUSINO.  Argosy  October, 1964.

 

11.  BILL HARRISON.  Collier’s  October 10, 1953.

 

12.  DAVE GERARD.  The Saturday Evening Post  July 17, 1948.

 

13.  VIRGIL PARTCH.  Collier’s  July 28, 1950.

 

14.  ROWLAND WILSON.  American Legion Magazine  September, 1953.

 

15.  MARTIN GIUFFRE.  Collier’s  June 13, 1953.

 

16.  JOHN GALLAGHER.  American Legion Magazine  July, 1963.

 

17.  WILLIAM von RIEGEN.  Collier’s  July 11, 1953.

 

18.  WALT WETTERBERG.  The Saturday Evening Post  June 15, 1957.

 

19.  BERT GOSHELL.  Liberty Magazine  July 21, 1945.

 

20.  JERRY MARCUS.  The Saturday Evening Post  June 1, 1957.  

 

-- This has been an edited version of a blog entry of May 27, 2021.

Art by Charles Geer: THAT SUMMER WITH LEXY!

 

Here is another book with illustrations by Charles Geer (1922-2008). (Last time I showed you some of his work from the children's book THE MYSTERY AT REDTOP HILL.)

THAT SUMMER WITH LEXY by Audrey McKim was published in 1964 by Abingdon Press. It's copyright that year by the author. The dust jacket and cloth book cover utilize an exclamation point at the end of the title, but the interior title page drops it. 

Plot: Lexy O'Connor and her friend Patty are starting an unexciting summer vacation at home in Edmonton, Alberta, when they

"… decide to earn money for allowances during the school year. A White Elephant Sale ends in near disaster when a neighbor's wedding ring is sold; their house-to-house photography business almost collapses when two picture become police evidence. A lot happens, but it's all told in uninspired prose. The laugh possibilities in this string of misfortunes may hold the youngest members of the age group." -- Kirkus

Here are some of the drawings from the book, all drawn in that loose but confident style of Mr. Geer's which I admire. Mr. Geer was born in Long Island, served in the navy in World War II, and then studied at Pratt. He settled in Rockland, Maine. You can see his love of trees, rocks and water in these drawings.

-- This has been an edited version of an April 20, 2015 blog entry.

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Vintage Summer Gag Cartoons 1947 - 1964

I am away from my studio. In my stead, Dick Buchanan has compiled this grand collection of summer gag cartoons about the heat, ice cream, lawn mowing, boating, gardening and other summery events for your pleasure. Thanks and take it away, Dick!

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VINTAGE SUMMER
Gag Cartoons 1947 - 1964


Cool off this summer with a look at summer’s past as illustrated by the cartoonists who witnessed it all from their drawing boards . . .


1. BO BROWN. American Magazine July, 1955.

2. BRAD ANDERSON. Collier’s July 20, 1953.

3. GREGORY d’ALLESSIO. Collier’s September 6, 1947.

 
4. ROBERT DAY. The Saturday Evening Post October 10, 1953.

 
5. CHON DAY. True Magazine July, 1954.

 

6. BOB BARNES. American Legion Magazine August, 1953.

7. WALTER GOLDSTEIN. The Saturday Evening Post June 11, 1955.

8. MORT WALKER. The Saturday Evening Post June 11, 1949.

 

 

9. SIDNEY HARRIS. True Magazine August, 1964.

 

 

10. ROBERT WEBER. Look Magazine September 8, 1964.

 
11. CLYDE LAMB. The Saturday Evening Post July 1, 1950.

12. PETER VATSURES. The Saturday Evening Post April 17, 1954.

 

13. BILL RUBLE. The Saturday Evening Post July 15, 1950.

 

14. DAVE LUCAS American Magazine July, 1950.

 

15. CHARLES STRAUS. The Saturday Evening Post July 10, 1948.

 

16. DANA FRADON. Collier’s August 19, 1955.

 

17. ROBERT KRAUS. This Week Magazine April 27, 1947.

 

18. WESLEY THOMPSON. 1000 Jokes magazine August - October, 1954.

 

19. JOHN GALLAGHER. True Magazine May, 1955.

 

20. BEN THOMPSON. American Legion Magazine July, 1955.

 -- Edited from a July 19, 2022 blog entry.