From the Dick Buchanan Files: Perry Barlow 1932 - 1961

I'm away from my studio today, but never fear. Here is Dick Buchanan with a bio and twenty little-seen examples of cartoonist Perry Barlow's single panels. Thanks, Dick, for all of your research and hard work. Wow!

----

PERRY BARLOW
Cartoons (1932 – 1961)

Above: a self portrait titled “Funny-Business Men” from Collier’s April 26, 1941.


Perry Barlow was one of The New Yorker’s most prolific contributors. He published 1,574 drawings from 1926 to 1974. He also created 135 covers, the Dec. 23, 1939 cover being the best remembered. It portrays a mother holding a little girl whose eyes bug out as she watches her mother kiss her husband dressed as Santa. This was the only copy of the New Yorker that sold out on the newsstands. Jimmy Boyd, the song writer who wrote “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” in 1952, once revealed that Barlow’s cover was the inspiration for the song.

Mr. Barlow, was born on his family's farm in McKinney, Texas, near Dallas. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago with future New Yorker cartoonists Helen Hokinson and Garrett Price, and with Miss Dorothy Hope Smith, whom he married. Miss Smith became a celebrated portraitist of children. Her drawing of a baby became the Gerber baby‐food trademark.

Barlow came to New York in 1919 and sold some illustrations to the Judge and Life magazines. Subsequently, his work would appear in The Saturday Evening Post, Collier’s and Look, in addition to The New Yorker. His first New Yorker drawing was published June 3, 1926. Mr. Barlow, partly colorblind, depended on his wife to color in his drawings.

New Yorker cartoonist and editor Lee Lorenz, said of Mr. Barlow: “his drawings were deceptively casual, brought a gentle urbanity to our pages and helped establish the tone of the fledgling magazine . . . He had a marvelous eye for the telling gesture, and, although he returned to certain favorite situations again and again, he never repeated a face.”

These cartoons are a few of the many fine drawings Perry Barlow contributed to Collier’s, The Saturday Evening Post, Look and Life.

1. PERRY BARLOW. Life January, 1932.

 SONNY AND PATRICIA

" ... Sunday school is in twenty minutes, Sonny?"

"Listen to that girl! Sunday school in twenny minutes -- an' me down in the middle of the ocean!"

2. PERRY BARLOW. Life January, 1935.
 

3. PERRY BARLOW. Life September, 1935.

4. PERRY BARLOW. Collier’s June 12, 1937.

5. PERRY BARLOW. Collier’s May 20, 1938.

6. PERRY BARLOW. Collier’s April 26, 1941.

7. PERRY BARLOW. Collier’s July 19, 1941.

8. PERRY BARLOW. Collier’s October 20, 1945.

9. PERRY BARLOW. Collier’s October 19, 1946.

10. PERRY BARLOW. Collier’s June 5, 1948.

11. PERRY BARLOW. Collier’s February 26, 1949.

12. PERRY BARLOW. The Saturday Evening Post January, 22, 1952.

13. PERRY BARLOW. The Saturday Evening Post September 17, 1953.

14. PERRY BARLOW. Collier’s March 28, 1953.

15. PERRY BARLOW. Collier’s July 18, 1953.

16. PERRY BARLOW. Look February 17, 1959.

17. PERRY BARLOW. The Saturday Evening Post circa 1957-59.

18. PERRY BARLOW. Look circa 1958-59

19. PERRY BARLOW. Look May 23, 1961.

20. PERRY BARLOW. Collier’s January 21, 1955. 

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Punch Cartoons 1950 - 1954

Dick Buchanan has not only presented us with a good sampling of Punch Magazine cartoons, he has given us some great biographical details on these British cartoonists. Some really interesting items here, most of which are new to me. Wow! Thanks, my friend. Here's Dick:

---



PUNCH CARTOONS
(1950-1954)


Punch, the British weekly magazine of humor and satire, ran from 1841 to 1992. It was briefly revived in 1996 and folded for good in 2002. From the world’s first cartoon by John Leech, which ran July 15, 1843, to the end it was the home of some of the greatest cartoonists in history. This is a sampling of cartoons from the early 1950’s, featuring the best cartoonists of the post WWII era . . .


1. NORMAN THELWELL. A Punch cartoonist for 25 years contributing more than 1500 cartoons, 60 of which were covers. He is best remembered for his humorous illustrations of ponies and horses. Punch July 6, 1953.

 "Then of course as the tide goes out, they get trapped."

 2. GEORGE SPROD. Sprod, Australian born cartoonist, was a Japanese P.O.W. in the same camp as Ronald Searle. Both contributed to the fortnightly camp magazine, The Exile. Punch September 23, 1953.

3. LESLIE STARKE. Starke was one of the most popular Punch cartoonists of his time. His work also appeared in several American magazines including Collier’s, The Saturday Evening Post and The New Yorker. Punch November 18, 1953.

4. WILLIAM (BILL) HEWISON). Hewison was art editor of Punch for 24 years and produced many color Punch covers. Punch October 3, 1951.

5. DEREK FULLARTON. Fullerton, cartoonist, illustrator and children’s literature writer, is best known for illustrating books written by Roald Dahl. Punch October 14, 1953.

6. BERNARD HOLLOWOOD. Hollowood, a writer, cartoonist and economist, was Punch’s editor from 1958 to 1968. Punch February 8, 1950.

7. ALEX GRAHAM. Graham was best known as creator of the popular comic strip Fred Basset, about a male basset hound, which was syndicated world-wide for many years. Punch October 14, 1953.

8. MICHAEL ffolkes. Born Brian Davis, ffolkes’ work also appeared in The New Yorker and Playboy. Punch December 19, 1951.

9. ARNOLD F. WILES. Punch October 10, 1951.

10. L.L. (Lawrie) SIGGS. Siggs was one of a group of talented young cartoonists who emerged after WWII. Punch December 5, 1951.

11. GEORGE SPROD. George Sprod Punch February 8, 1950.

12. WILLIAM SILLINCE. Sillince worked in advertising before becoming a Punch cartoonist. His work appeared in the magazine from 1936 to 1975. Punch September 23, 1953.

13. FREDERICK ROWLAND EMETT. A Punch contributor from 1939 until the 1950’s and less frequently in the 1960’s. His drawings often included railway scenes and he gradually developed a unique concept of strange, bumbling trains with excessively tall chimneys and silly names. Punch September 23, 1953.

"Thank goodness I'm only concerned with Things of the Mind . . . "

14. ANTON (Antonia Yeoman). Yoeman’s early cartoons were created with her brother, Harold Underwood Thompson. When her brother found other interests, she continued on her own. Punch August 12, 1953.

15. KENNETH MAHOOD. A versatile cartoonist, his work was published in Punch for more than five decades. Punch February 8, 1950.

16. DAVID LANGDON. Langdon probably had more cartoons published in Punch than any other single contributor. His work often had a political bent. Punch November 18, 1953.

17. J. W. TAYLOR. John Whitfield Taylor, like many then and now, was a part-time cartoonist. He was a full-time schoolmaster and was head of the art department at Portland House School. Punch February 8, 1950.

18. IONICUS. Joshua Charles Armitage was a Punch cartoonist for more than 40 years. He provided cover designs and text illustrations for nearly 400 books. He’s probably best known for his cover illustrations of the Penguin paperback editions of books by P. G. Wodehouse. Punch December 12, 1951.

19. SMILBY. Francis Wilford-Smith was a cartoonist, graphic artist, producer and archivist of blues music. As a cartoonist, he used the pseudonym Smilby, a contraction of his surname and his wife’s maiden name. Punch December 19, 1951.

20. RONALD SEARLE. Searle’s most famous contribution to Punch was his version of Hogarth’s
“A Rake’s Progress” featuring the rise and fall of many modern types. Punch April 28, 1954.

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Gag Cartoons 1941 - 1968

I'm away this week, and so have handed the blog reins over to the one and only Dick Buchanan. Dick has dived into his file of gag cartoons, just like Scrooge McDuck dives into his pile of money, and has come out with some great gems of single panel cartooning to share. Thank you, Dick!

----


GAG CARTOONS
(1941 – 1968)

The Cartoon Clip File, housed somewhere in the friendly confines of New York’s Greenwich Village, contains thousands of gag cartoons. Each week more are clipped and neatly filed away for posterity. Now that posterity has arrived, it is time to present some of the best recent additions to this growing collection of gag cartoons from the funny mid-century--sometimes funny strange, sometimes funny “Ha! Ha!” It was faithfully recorded by an array of great American cartoonists who witnessed it all.

1. TOM HENDERSON. Boy’s Life November, 1968.

2. TONY BARLOW. Collier’s March 2, 1946.

3. BILL BERG. Collier’s December 14, 1946.

4. DON OREHEK. The Saturday Evening Post November 17, 1962.

5. MORT TEMES. The Saturday Evening Post April 17, 1954.

6. JOHN RUGE. Collier’s December 9, 1950.

7. GARRETT PRICE. Collier’s April 18, 1942.

8. SALO ROTH. February 16, 1946.

9. NED HILTON. The Saturday Evening Post February 24, 1951.

10. JOHN GALLAGHER. The American Legion Magazine August, 1958

11. CHARLES SAXON. The Saturday Evening Post January 11, 1947.

12. ED KOREN. 1000 Jokes Magazine March-May, 1964.

13. ROY WILLIAMS. The Saturday Evening Post January 11, 1947.

14. VIRGIL PARTCH. Collier’s October 30, 1948.

15. JOHN MILLIGAN. Collier’s October 4, 1941.