Wednesday Spill: An Early Thurber Thursday An Early Thurber Thursday: Thurber, George Price, and Helen Hokinson In Vogue
Note: This is a Thurber Wednesday-Thursday as tomorrow’s Spill will devoted to the anniversary of Edward Koren’s 60th year at The New Yorker (his first drawing for the magazine appeared in the issue of May 26, 1962).
Spotted on Ebay: this pricey (approx $530.00!) issue of Vogue, dated April 15, 1944.
Of interest here is the article, new to me, “Artists Draw Themselves,” featuring photographs of three of the biggest New Yorker names of that era: George Price, Helen Hokinson, and James Thurber.
While I’d seen the Price photo before (it’s been on the internet for years), I’ve never seen the Hokinson and Thurber photos. I’ll try to get hold of a non-cropped scan to post so we can read and see the piece in its entirety. For now, the Ebay seller’s scan will have to do. I love that Thurber’s
“What have you done with Dr. Millmoss?” is cited!
Helen Hokinson Born, Illinois,1893; died, Washington, D.C., 1949. New Yorker work: 1925 -1949, with some work published posthumously. All of Hokinson’s collections are wonderful, but here are two favorites. Her first collection: So You’re Going To Buy A Book! (Minton, Balch & Co, 1931) and what was billed as “the final Hokinson collection”: The Hokinson Festival (Dutton & Co., 1956). According to a New Yorker document produced during Harold Ross’s editorship (1925-1951) rating their artists, Ms. Hokinson and Peter Arno occupied a special category unto themselves above all others.
George Price Born in Coytesville, New Jersey, June 9, 1901. Died January 12, 1995, Engelwood, New Jersey. New Yorker work: 1929 – 1991. Lee Lorenz, the New Yorker’s former Art/Cartoon editor, called Price one of the magazine’s great stylists (along with Peter Arno, Helen Hokinson, James Thurber, and William Steig. Of the many Price collections, here are two favorites: Browse At Your Own Risk (1977), and The World of George Price: A 55-Year Retrospective (1988). James Thurber Born, Columbus, Ohio, December 8, 1894. Died 1961, New York City. New Yorker work: 1927 -1961, with several pieces run posthumously. According to the New Yorker’s legendary editor, William Shawn, “In the early days, a small company of writers, artists, and editors — E.B. White, James Thurber, Peter Arno, and Katharine White among them — did more to make the magazine what it is than can be measured.”
Key cartoon collection: The Seal in the Bedroom and Other Predicaments (Harper & Bros., 1932). Key anthology (writings & drawings): The Thurber Carnival (Harper & Row, 1945). There have been a number of Thurber biographies. Burton Bernstein’s Thurber (Dodd, Mead, 1975) and Harrison Kinney’s James Thurber: His Life and Times (Henry Holt & Co., 1995) are essential. Website 
