Once again going through issues of The New Yorker, chronologically (the last time I did it I was researching Peter Arno), I came across things I hadn’t noticed before (or had noticed but hadn’t saved). Here’re are just a few from my recent stroll through The New Yorker‘s past:
I enjoyed this ad from the issue of December 21, 1929 naming two of the magazine’s biggest “stars” while confident enough about its now famous Carl Rose “I say it’s spinach” drawing to mention “broccoli-conscious” without elaborating.
From the issue of June 23, 1928, this splendid early drawing by Otto Soglow. What got my attention here is the complexity of the work, radically different from the style of simplicity that made Soglow famous: his Little King. 
And speaking of The Little King, and simplicity, here’s a charming simple ad (it appeared in The New Yorker issue of November 18, 1933) for Soglow’s first Little King collection.
Finally, here’s another drawing (it appeared in the issue of August 26, 1933) that, stylistically confused me for a nano-second as it looked slightly Steinberg-ish (early Steinberg), yet I knew Steinberg didn’t arrive at The New Yorker until the 1940s.
The signature and the figures (especially the woman to the far right) tell us it’s the work of George Price, but to my eyes it looks nothing like the style Price became known for. Given that Price was only into his fourth year at the magazine (out of sixty-two) his work had plenty of time to evolve.
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The A-Zs: Carl Rose, George Price, and Otto Soglow
Carl Rose (photo above) Born, New York City; died, Rowayton, Ct., June 20, 1971, age 68. New Yorker work: 1925 – 1971. Collection; One Dozen Roses (Random House, 1946). Note: this collection contains essays by Rose on cartoon themes. Especially of interest is his essay concerning Harold Ross, “An Artist’s Best Friend is His Editor”. Carl Rose will forever be linked to E.B. White for the December 8, 1928 New Yorker cartoon of the mother saying to her child, “It’s broccoli, dear.” and the child responding, “I say it’s spinach, and I say the hell with it.” The drawing was by Rose, the caption was adapted by White from Rose’s original idea (for a slighty expanded explanation go here). Rose also had a Thurber connection. In 1932, Rose submitted a drawing captioned, “Touche!” of two fencers, one of whom has just cut off the head of the other. Harold Ross ( according to Thurber in The Years With Ross) thinking the Rose version “too bloody” suggested Thurber do the drawing because “Thurber’s people have no blood. You can put their heads back on and they’re as good as new.” The drawing appeared December 3, 1932.
George Price (above) 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).
Otto Soglow Born, Yorkville, NY, December 23, 1900. Died in NYC, April 1975. New Yorker work: 1925 -1974.Key collections: Pretty Pictures ( Farrar & Rinehart, 1931) and for fans of Soglow’s Little King; The Little King (Farrar & Rinehart, 1933) and The Little King ( John Martin’s House, Inc., 1945). The latter Little King is an illustrated storybook. Cartoon Monarch / Otto Soglow & The Little King (IDW, 2012) is an excellent compendium.