First And Last: Mary Petty
Continuing a once-in-a-blue-moon Spill series, “First and Last” looks at an artist’s very first New Yorker contribution, and their very last. On this Valentine’s Day I thought it would be fun to take a look at the late great Mary Petty’s first and last (her A-Z entry appears below the drawings). Her very first New Yorker contribution appeared in the issue of October 22, 1927. If I’d run across this drawing and did not see the signature I’m not 100% certain I would’ve IDed the artist as Mary Petty.
Interestingly enough (to me) that issue also had cartoons by three of the magazine’s women cartoonists. With Ms. Petty, they represented nearly a third of the cartoonists in the issue. Alice Harvey, Helen Hokinson, and Barbara Shermund were the other three.
Ms. Petty’s soon-to-be-husband, Alan Dunn (they were married December 8, 1927) made an appearance with two cartoons. By this time, Dunn was well on his way to becoming the most prolific of the magazine’s cartoonists — a place he’d hold for the next five or six decades (until Steig and Lorenz surpassed him). Other cartoonists in the magazine that week included Otto Soglow, Peter Arno, Johan Bull, I. Klein, Rea Irvin, H.O. Hofman, and Edward Graham.
Ms. Petty’s last published New Yorker piece was the cover you see below. Her cartoons had ceased appearing in January of 1955, but she continued to contribute covers. A dozen more followed her last cartoon.
Slightly off-track: a New Yorkery moment I experienced some years back involved this cover. Sometime after Lee Lorenz had retired as the New Yorker‘s cartoon editor, he called and asked if I’d be interested in his collection of single issues of the magazine (“boxes and boxes”) and of course I said I’d love to have them. We agreed to meet in Brewster, NY — a midway point for us. After lunch I went with Lee to his car. He popped the trunk, revealing as promised, “boxes and boxes” of New Yorkers. My eyes immediately focused on the March 19, 1966 Mary Petty issue. I couldn’t help but blurt out, “Oh, Mary Petty’s last cover!” I couldn’t tell if Lee was happy I knew that tidbit, or annoyed (he had a great poker face). I’d like to think it was a little of both.
The numbers according to The New Yorker database:
# of New Yorker cartoons by Mary Petty: 219. First: Oct. 22, 1927. Last Jan. 1, 1955.
# of New Yorker covers by Mary Petty: 38. First: June 29, 1940. Last March 19, 1966.
Ms. Petty’s A-Z entry:
Mary Petty Born, Hampton, New Jersey, April 29, 1899. Died, Paramus, New Jersey, March, 1976. NYer work: October 22,1927 – March 19,1966. Collection: This Petty Place ( Knopf, 1945) with a Preface by James Thurber.
For a lot more on Mary Petty, take a look at Liza Donnelly‘s must-have Very Funny Ladies: The New Yorker’s Women Cartoonists (Prometheus Books. 2021).
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Speaking of Ms. Donnelly, here’s a Valentine’s Day post from her of interest — it involves drawings and chocolates.
