Gag Cartoons from ONE MOMENT, SIR!

Here's a selection of cartoons from ONE MOMENT, SIR!, a hardcover collection of Saturday Evening Post cartoons edited by Marione R. Nickles and copyright 1957 by E.P. Dutton and Co., Inc.



The above cartoon by prolific gag cartoonist Tom Henderson is just as fresh as it was 58 years ago (no pun intended).

Jim Whiting with a funny take on marriage.


Don Tobin, with a gag on the then-small sportscar craze, provides the title cartoon. You could make the same gag today with those Smart Cars or Cooper minis.


Above: Herb Green with a study in juxtaposition between the little girls simple smile and the tired, rapidly aging parent.

Yes, there was an Ed Sullivan who drew gag cartoons but it's not the "really big shoe" Ed Sullivan.


Joe Zeis reminds us all that when making a sale, consider your audience. Look buddy, floozies don't need to know this kinda thing.


Above is a wonderful switch of expectations from Bill Harrison.


Chon Day, one of the best, with his simple line and wash technique, coupled with a killer, hostile, funny line. I like how just the suggestion of the 2 car windows and the handle tell us that we're in the limo, post-ceremony.



The above cartoon by Frank Ridgeway is a successful puzzle. The puzzle begins with the drawing, and trying to understand why this slob of a guy is wearing mouse ears. The gag line, citing the then-phenomenal popularity of the Mickey Mouse Club, solves the puzzle.

Roy L. Fox with a reminder of that time when those ranchers were getting rich off of that Texas tea that was found on their land.

Orlando Busino shows us that even cold-blooded bank robbers like to break the tension with a little humor now and then. I like their expressions.


Mary Blanchard with a nice anti-snob surprise gag line. A New Yorker regular, I wonder if she first had the above cartoon rejected by the New Yorker editors before selling it to the Post. Maybe the NYer eds. were too pro-snob to buy it. Hmm.


I wanted to close with another by Chon Day, who makes me laugh. Add Mr. Day to a short list of cartoonists who deserve more recognition.

Marion R. Nickles also edited the collection HONEY I'M HOME! There are selected gag cartoons here and here from the book.

-- Edited from an original blog entry dated June 18, 2008.