If you're in Boston, at the Baker Library Lobby of the Harvard Business School, then stop in for a display of Wall Street Journal's "Pepper ... and Salt" cartoon panel. The panel began June 6, 1950. It was the idea of Charles Preston to add a gag cartoon to the stodgy little business paper. The editors greeted his idea with pretty much zero interest. After being roundly rejected for quite some time, Mr. Preston persisted, and the cartoon saw the light of day. More here.
In the 56 years of this feature, I've been fortunate to appear in the last couple of years of "P&S." When I first got a sale, I remember the little note, "We'd like this for P&S." I looked at it and looked at it and it took me 10 minutes to figure out what P&S stood for! Lesson: Know your market!
Here's a cartoon of mine that is one of the five cartoons that represent the 2000 decade in the show:
OK, here's the whacky thing. That was the original version of the cartoon. Charles (yeah, he still edits the feature) wanted a redraw for the small space that "P&S appears in. I wrote about redrawing this cartoon on March 16, 2006.
I don't know why they're displaying a cartoon that did not appear in that form -- but who am I to argue with the WSJ and Harvard?
Oh, the cartoons that are showcased are COPIES, not originals. I don't know why. So, seriously, if you're in the neighborhood and if you want to see copies of cartoons, then there are some in the Baker Library. And if you go, take a photo and send it to me.
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