PETS -- INCLUDING WOMEN Edited by Charles Preston

 

Here are some cartoon from PETS -- INCLUDING WOMEN Edited by the Wall Street Journal's "Pepper ... and Salt" cartoon editor Charles Preston. The cover is by Leo Garel.

This is copyright 1956 by Charles Preston. This is a Permabook edition published in January 1957.

Above: Mort Temes contributes the above. The self-satisfied expression on the wiener dog is simultaneously funny and, well, speaking personally, just makes me feel a little bit queasy about that darn dog's boundary issues.

Bernard Wiseman, just by drawing a few lines on the grounds, suggest a wide city sidewalk -- probably on the Upper East Side.

David Pascal with a gag that's maybe not as fresh as it was 51 years ago, but I love watching the guy pantomime his interest and then zealous glee at riding the coattails of the performing dog.

Gallagher's cartoons are so animated, they deserve to be animated.

Pascal with another, very clever one. Those are darn big fish!

I enjoy Irwin Caplan's sharp, controlled line and his sense of environment. The dog's happy expression as he destroys what looks like a very nice table is great counterpoint.

Another Wiseman cartoon with a subtle juxtaposition style gag. The one line in the background suggests the sidewalk. That's all there is to the background. And that's all you need.

One of the great before he was one of the greats: Gahan Wilson, in an early cartoon, gives us an uppity actor dog. I always thought there was a touch of Silverstein in Wilson's older works.

I like Bill Harrison's foliage in the above cartoon. But those tracks don't look like women's shoes.

Jerry Marcus with his breezy inking gives us the moment before chaos erupts.

There are a lot of details in this Gallagher single panel cartoon. A table with the doggy treats on the left, a planter in the background. They all have nothing to do with the gag (which made me laugh out loud), but they enhance the whole experience of looking at the cartoon. An experience which, according to my research, is about 3 to 5 seconds long.

Above is Lee Lorenz, back before he was the The New Yorker's Cartoon Editor; back before he had found his brush & wash style. A bittersweet little story in 4 panels.

Eric Ericson gives us a very well dressed couple and their solution to kitty's clawing. They obviously have a large disposable income!

And finally, another Gahan Wilson cartoon to conclude today's visit with PETS -- INCLUDING WOMEN.

 

-- Edited from a March 12, 2008 blog entry.