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Other Cartoons

1854 "The Split Crow in Difficulties.--A Fable for the Day." Punch, No. 657. February 11, 1854. 10¾" x 8¼". $9.99 from Ed and Laura Harrison, oldartgallery, N. Olmsted, OH, through Ebay, August, '99.

"A split crow fancying himself an eagle, fixed his talons in the fleece of a sheep--but, neither able to move his prey, nor to disentangle his feet, he was destroyed by the shepherds." Part of the joke here lies in the fact that the crow is split and wears a Kaiser's crown--in fact, two of them! There is an inch tear through the border of the cartoon. Click on the image to see a much larger version

 Punch Crow and Ramb2bmini.jpg (27125 bytes)

1917?  "The goose that lays the golden egg."  Political cartoon by R. Thorndike.  Los Angeles Times.  $10 from Old Photos Online through Ebay, May, '23.

Woodrow Wilson, armed with a saw, is jeopardizing continued national prosperity by attacking the tariff.  Will he use his hammer to knock the goose cold or to smash the latest egg?  In the meantime, his election promises are stuffed into his back pocket.  Might this cartoon have appeared in the times at the time of either the 1913 or 1917 election?

1934 "The Tortoise and the Hare from the Walt Disney Silly Symphony." Good Housekeeping, Oct., 1934. Page 37, with five cartoon panels detailing the race. 8 1/8" x 11½". $12.50 from Byron Grush, Cerrillos, NM, through Ebay, Sept., '00.

The conception here is just as it is in the early Disney book presentations of TH in 1935. Rhyming verse quatrains here follow the story, with Disney's usual inclusion of Miss Cottontail's Boarding School, interested snails, and a last minute thrust of his head by the tortoise to win. Excellent condition.

 

1939  "The Fox and the Grapes."  Reproduction of a cartoon appearing in Punch July 5, 1939.  Bernard Partridge.  Unknown source, perhaps North Country Books through Ebay, unknown date. 

I am a bit surprised that the fox here is not somehow identified, though everyone reading "Punch" in 1939 would know that the fox is either Germany or Hitler.  I wonder if the clot of hair across the fox's brow is not an attempt to make the fox into Hitler.  Partridge did a lot of Punch caricatures or cartoons for decades. 

 

1978 "A Getting-Away-With-It Fable." Crawdaddy Magazine, p. 30. 1978. Illustration by George Jartos. $9.99 from John Huber, Livonia, MI, through eBay, May, '08.

This grasshopper signs a recording deal and cuts an album of Cajun songs "that the ants really dug and the grasshopper went platinum and moved to L.A. while the ants sat around in holes eating some really disgusting things." Good fun!

 

1980? Laugh Parade by Bill Hoest. "Aesop… Are you telling me another fable?" Unknown source and publication.

An attractive mother dressed in ancient style stands before some obviously Greek buildings and asks a downcast little fellow this question.

 

1983 Big George. TH cartoon. "What do I get if I win?" asks a man at a starting line between tortoise and hare. Signed "Vip" and dated 5-12. Appeared in the Omaha World-Herald of Thursday, May 12, 1983. Copyright 1983 Field Enterprises, Inc.

Does that bunny have a black eye? I am not sure that I get the joke here….

 

1986 Frank and Ernest. TH cartoon. "Those bookies are going to kill me!" exclaims the frantic hare approaching the finish line with the tortoise leading him. Dated 5-13. Copyright 1986 NEA, Inc. Signed "Thaves." Unknown publication and source.

This is one of the funniest fable cartoons I have encountered. People respond to it immediately in lectures in which I have shown it.

 

1988? Cartoon xerox. A tortoise and hare eat a Chinese meal together. The artist's signature seems to be that of Matt Herberg. Unknown publication and source.

Opening his fortune cookie, the hare says "Slow and steady wins the race What's yours say?"

1990?  Speed Bump cartoon by Dave Coverly.  "Aesop's Brother, Asap."  Taken off the web. 

Good exploitation of a pun and the common knowledge that Aesop was in the ancient Western world.  Well done!

1990? Cartoon xerox. A lion plays a guitar while a mouse sits at the base of a nearby tree. W. Steig. Unknown publication and source.

This cartoon represents a very peaceful scene. I have no idea how the cartoon relates to the fable!

 

2003 Mother Goose on the Loose: Illustrated With Cartoons from The New Yorker. Edited by Bobbye S. Goldstein. NY: Harry N. Abrams.

I am not sure that "Old Mother Goose and the Golden Egg" (92) really relates to the fable of "The Goose and the Golden Egg," but each of the three cartoons here certainly does relate to the fable. The artist for this cartoon is Chon Day. Click on the cartoon at the right to see it full size. Click here to view the bibliography entry for the book itself.

 

2003 Mother Goose on the Loose: Illustrated With Cartoons from The New Yorker. Edited by Bobbye S. Goldstein. NY: Harry N. Abrams.

I am not sure that "Old Mother Goose and the Golden Egg" (92) really relates to the fable of "The Goose and the Golden Egg," but each of the three cartoons here certainly does relate to the fable. The artist for this cartoon is Mick Stevens. Click on the cartoon at the right to see it full size. Click here to view the bibliography entry for the book itself.

 

2003 Mother Goose on the Loose: Illustrated With Cartoons from The New Yorker. Edited by Bobbye S. Goldstein. NY: Harry N. Abrams.

I am not sure that "Old Mother Goose and the Golden Egg" (92) really relates to the fable of "The Goose and the Golden Egg," but each of the three cartoons here certainly does relate to the fable. The artist for this cartoon is Henry Martin. Click on the cartoon at the right to see it full size. Click here to view the bibliography entry for the book itself.

 

Wester