95 Years Ago in The New Yorker

July, 1931. The Great Depression is in full swing. Still over a year until the 1932 election. The New Yorker has always had a subscriber base with a richer demographic than average, but these cartoons from the 7/4/31 and 7/11/31 don’t show much awareness of the Great Depression.





Another ping-pong related cartoon. Was there a ping-pong boom in 1931?


What is that device?




The Sesquicentennial in The New Yorker

Some cartoons from the 1926 sesquicentennial.


Well, that was a bust. From the point of view of New Yorker cartoons, the sesquicentennial was a non-event. That “Third of July” cartoon could have been done any year.

But as long as I’m here in the archive, let’s take a look at Central Park, 100 years ago. No gags here, just Helen E. Hopkinson’s observations.