Pat Oliphant 1935 - 2026

 

 

Political cartoonist Pat Oliphant passed away on July 13th due to age-related health issues at his home in Santa Fe, NM. He was 90 years old. 

Ann Telnaes:

"People will throw around the label of legend in the editorial cartooning profession but Pat Oliphant was truly one. Not only did his editorial cartoons and caricatures slice right through deserving politicians and public figures, his draftsmanship was on a level far above everyone else. No one came close to his drawing ability in editorial cartooning."

Daily Cartoonist:

"Pat Oliphant began his U.S. career at the Denver Post in 1964, in 1975 he moved to The Washington (DC) Star. After The Star folded in 1981 Oliphant went freelance and became, as The New Mexican ... says, “the most syndicated editorial cartoonist in the country.”

"Bill Banowsky, owner of Sky Cinemas in Santa Fe and a filmmaker, produced A Savage Art, a documentary on Oliphant’s life and work and on the art of political cartooning — a film Sky Cinemas will screen for a week starting Friday in honor of Oliphant."

 

The New York Times obituary by Robert D. McFadden (or here).

"A largely self-taught artist who also created bronze sculptures and painted in oils, Mr. Oliphant skewered powerful public officials and religious institutions with such boldness and acid wit that a Washington Post critic once said, 'If Pat Oliphant couldn’t draw, he’d be an assassin.' In 1990, a profile in The New York Times Magazine called him “the most influential editorial cartoonist now working.”

"His irreverence and his blunt, spare style, sometimes likened to that of Honoré Daumier, the 19th-century French caricaturist, was often imitated by other cartoonists. But he was also vilified by religious and civil rights groups for cartoons that his critics said not only crossed the lines of good taste but unfairly damaged the reputations of people and institutions — and that, at their worst, were racist.

"Before Mr. Oliphant established himself as the nation’s most dominant political cartoonist …."

Midcentury Drinks Guides Part 1

I was at the Arundel, ME flea market on Saturday morning where I bought a small pile of these old drinks recipes booklets. These are a lot of fun in terms of the models and the colors and layout. Most had drawings in them, and a number of them had some alcohol-related gag cartoons. Here are a few:

The Top 20 Drinks, which has 

"HAPPY HOUR RECIPES 

"Used by famous 

"Bars and Restaurants." 

This 8 page insert was published by Southern Comfort in 1976. Dig the hair and fashions. 

The "How to Make Punches and Other Mixed Drinks with California Wines" has only the cool art and no photos at all. This 16 page guide was put together by the Wine Advisory Board. No date given. 

As with these promotional ads, there is no artist credit. Truth is, it's most likely artists employed from the advertising firm that was hired to out this together.

More anon.

From the September 16, 1971 "Flip Wilson Show:" A Spoof of Charles Schulz' Comic Strip "Peanuts"

From The Flip Wilson Show broadcast of September 16, 1971 on NBC-TV. 

 Flip Wilson's variety show ran for four years and 94 episodes on NBC. A very popular and unique series, for having an African American lead, it was highly rated during its prime. This is the opening episode of the second season. The tribute to Charles Schulz' Peanuts comic strip (stylized like the You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown musical which had worked its way to Broadway by this time) is an all-star affair, with Lucille Ball, Donny Osmond, Ed Sullivan and I think Mitch Miller as Schroeder. 

Grumbacher Library: "The Art of Cartooning" by Jack Sidebotham (1976)

 

The Grumbacher Library series of instructional books was a midcentury go-to for people interested in drawing or painting. They had a lot of books, including specialty books on subjects like drawing the face and hands, painting horses, color mixing, painting street scenes, and then, there's this: "The Art of Cartooning." 

"The Art of Cartooning" was written and drawn by Madison Avenue ad man and cartoonist Jack Sidebotham (1927 - 2010). He was famous then for helping create Harry and and Bert -- animated characters from a series of TV commercials for Piels beer which ran on television from 1955 to 1960. UPA animated the spots. They were voiced by the comedy team of Bob and Ray. Here's one of their commercials:

By the 1970s, Jack had turned his talent to ABC television's Saturday morning cartoons, designing some of the "Scholastic Rock" cartoons that ran for years. You know: Schoolhouse Rock, Multiplication Rock and so on. More at The Untold Truth of Schoolhouse Rock! There are some behind these scenes bits from the Schoolhouse Rock episode "Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here" that he worked on. The video is here.

In 1976, he created this oversized 32 page Grumbacher Art Library book, "hosted" by his two then-most famous characters, the animated beer salesmen Bert and Harry Piel. 

I was going to scan the book for you, but good ol' Jeff Overturf already did. Here are the first couple of pages. Jeff has the rest. 

Go to Inside Jeff Overturf's Head for the entire book. Thanks, Jeff!

Mike's Big Idea Illustrations by Valerie Anderson

 

Mike's Big Idea is a children's' book written by Rusty Hoffland, with great midcentury comic art illustrations by Valerie Anderson of Zastrow Studios. It's copyright 1965 by Hagen Advertising Inc. This looks like a promotional book that may have been handed out to potential credit union customers. No publishing company is cited in the title page. Heck, there's no title page except on the bottom of one page in caps it states:

PUBLISHED FOR CUNA SUPPLY COOPERATIVE,

AN AFFILIATE OF CUNA INTERNATIONAL, INC.

CUNA stands for Credit Union National Association, which is still around. Of the women who created this, that information is lost to time. Regardless, of all the midcentury illustrations, these may be the most midcenturyish. If I ever find more of Valerie Anderson's work, I will share.

Pen Tips On Cartooning by Charles Stoner

 

Pen Tips on Cartooning by Charles Stoner is 48 page booklet that's copyright 1949 by C. Howard Hunt Pen Co. There were at least three editions. This is a second printing. Hunt pen nibs, made for a dip pen, are still available to buy. The nice thing about the book is that Mr. Stoner has plenty of samples of drawings along with an editorial note on most pages about what kind of pen nib he used. Other than him being the author of the booklet, I can find no other information about him online. The small drawing of an off-model Mickey Mouse at the top of the cover was probably made by a previous owner. Other than that, the book is clean and complete.