When people I meet find out I’m a New Yorker cartoonist, one of the questions they ask is: “How long have you been with the magazine?” My answer (41 years and counting) usually causes them to look at me a bit confused. Working at a job that long must seem unusual. But the thing of it is, this particular pursuit has a long list of folks who have contributed as long, and much much longer. The way the magazine historically wrapped its arms around contributors, providing them (in a way) with a home, resulted in careers that lasted well beyond what we today might consider long careers. Some of the cartoonists below would’ve gone on contributing longer if life events hadn’t intruded (Charles Addams for example was still actively contributing when a heart attack felled him. Helen Hokinson’s career was in full swing when she died in a plane crash. Some cartoonists retired, though that’s rare. A few others walked away from the magazine for various reasons).
All of the below cartoonists began under either Harold Ross’s editorship (1925-1951) or William Shawn’s (1952-1987). And all began either from 1925- 1939, when the art fell under the care of the Fiction Department (and also under the watchful eye of art supervisor, Rea Irvin), or from 1939-1973 under James Geraghty’s art editorship or Lee Lorenz’s art/cartoon editorship (1973-1997). As Lee Lorenz’s cartoon editorship ended in 1997, the cartoonists arriving post-Lorenz that are still contributing are only in their second decade.
For today, I’ve decided to concentrate on those who actively contributed 40 years or more (and in some cases are continuing to contribute). We’ll get to the 30 and 20 year crowd another time.
My guess is that many of these cartoonists names and their art will be familiar to New Yorker readers. If the name isn’t familiar, their art is. It’s fun to have an anthology nearby to look up the work. Every one of the below is included in the New Yorker 75th Anniversary Collection. Corrections, additions always welcome.
William Steig: 68 yrs… contributed from 1935-2003.
Chon Day: 67 yrs…1931-1998
Whitney Darrow, Jr.: 65 yrs…1933-1998
Al Ross: 65 yrs… 1937-2002
Mischa Richter: 61 yrs…1942-2003
George Price: 59 yrs …1932-1991
Barney Tobey: 57 yrs… 1929- 1986
Saul Steinberg: 58 yrs… 1941-1999
Charles Addams: 55 yrs… 1933-1988
Edward Koren: 56 yrs and counting / 1962–present
Dana Fradon: 55 yrs…1948-2003
Lee Lorenz: 55 yrs…1958-2013
Mort Gerberg: 53 yrs and counting / 1965–present
Sam Gross: 49 yrs and counting / 1969-present
Garrett Price: 49 yrs… 1929-1974
Otto Soglow: 49 yrs… 1925-1974
George Booth: 49 yrs and counting / 1969- present
Alan Dunn: 48 yrs…1926-1974
Perry Barlow: 48 yrs…1926-1974
William Hamilton: 48 yrs…1965-2013
James Stevenson: 47 yrs…1956-2003
J.B. “Bud” Handelsman: 46 yrs…1961-2007
Carl Rose: 46 yrs…1925-1971
Robert Day: 45 yrs…1931-1976
Ed Fisher: 45 yrs…1955-2000
Robert Weber: 45 yrs…1962–2007
Charles Barsotti: 45 yrs…1969-2014
Warren Miller: 44 yrs…1959-2003
Jack Ziegler: 43 yrs …1974-2017
Charles Saxon: 43 yrs…1948-1991
Peter Arno: 43 yrs…1925-1968
Gahan Wilson: 42 yrs and counting / 1976 -present
Michael Maslin: 41 yrs and counting / 1977-present
Robert Mankoff 41 yrs and counting / 1977-present
Gardner Rea: 40 yrs…1925-1965
Tom Cheney: 40 yrs and counting / 1978-present
Roz Chast 40 yrs and counting / 1978-present
