Tuesday, February 20, 2018

E. Simms Campbell: What's Good Enough for Dear Old Charlie

Why have a caption if the speaker is otherwise engaged and can't possibly say it? E. Simms Campbell's cartoon from the October 1961 issue of Playboy contains a lengthy block of caption that is unsayable under the circumstances depicted until this couple comes up for air. It would also be an incredibly foolish thing to say, reminding an adulteress of her spouse's goodness. The magazine's message, apparently, is that the girl next door is attractive and available, regardless of her marital status. The perspective here seems a bit troubling, particularly of that oddly-tilted lunette meant to frame the couple's heads and the inexplicably-curved base of the wall below it. Most likely none of this mattered to dear old Hugh Hefner or the Playboy reader.


E. Simms Campbell
"You're my best friend's wife—and what's good enough for dear old Charlie is good enough for me."

Original art
Playboy, October 1961, page 76
E. Simms Campbell
Christie's Sale 2367, The Year of the Rabbit:  The Playboy Collection, Lot 29

New York, December 8, 2010



Note:  Attempted Bloggery is looking at the work of cartoonist E. Simms Campbell (1906-1971). I seek scans or photographs from readers and their best friends' wives of original Campbell art or rare published works not already available on the internet.
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