Here’s a wonderful piece of history: an original, captionless cartoon by Carl Rose published in the New York twice. It first appeared in the magazine’s December 25, 1937 issue, which is not surprising given its Christmas theme, albeit one tinged in sarcasm: a proud husband beams over a gift vacuum cleaner to make his wife’s home-keeping labors just a bit easier. The team at New Yorker gave the cartoon a second life when it appeared as the back cover of a special Overseas Edition for United States armed forces dated December 22, 1945.
Ink and ink wash on medium-weight card stock measuring 14.5” x 11”. Signed by Carl Rose in the bottom corner of the cartoon. The piece shows some signs of aging, including a stain along the top margin resulting from a brush of glue affixed to the rear of the piece. There is also a minor stain in the lower right corner and a minor crease along the left corner, none of which interfere with the substance of the artwork. The reverse side contains some notations and production markings and a New Yorker Editorial Department stamp, attesting to its authenticity.
Overall a great piece of New Yorker history, particularly for collectors of Christmas memorabilia.
