Fortune Teller, by Helen E. Hokinson, The New Yorker, 1950 June 10

Item — Box: 1, Folder: 85

Staff Only

Scope and Content:

From the Collection: The Helen Farr Sloan’s political cartoon collection (1802-1950) contains a variety of prints of political cartoons, illustrations, and caricatures from several different magazines. The collection contains pages from magazines, pages from books, and other prints that were not a part of a publication. The magazines featured include Puck, Judge, Vanity Fair (British, 1868-1914), Vanity Fair (American, 1913-1936), Harper’s Weekly, Gil Blas, Le Charivari, Truth, The New Yorker, The Illustrated London News, The New York Herald, and The Sun. There are other series included like Treagar’s Black Jokes and Le Gens de Paris. There are works from publishers like S.W. Fores, Currier & Ives, and J.Sidebotham. Also included are works by Rowlandson, which are individually published.

The first series contains cartoons from Puck magazine. Its materials are pages and covers from the magazine including the fronts and backs of the pages. The artists that are included are Frederick Burr Opper, Frederich Graetz, Bernhard Gillam, J.S. Pughe, James Albert Wales, and Samuel Ehrhart.

The second series contains cartoons from Judge magazine. The materials are pages and covers from the magazine and include both the fronts and backs of the pages. The artists that are included are Thomas Worth, Bernhard Gillam, Victor Gillam, and Grant E. Hamilton.

The third series contains cartoons, caricatures, and portraits from Vanity Fair (British, 1868-1914) and Vanity Fair (American, 1913-1936) magazines. The materials for the British magazine include the one-sided caricatures and cartoons featured in the publication. The material for the American magazine contains a portrait on the front and a table of contents on the back of the page. The artists that are included are Carlo Pellegrini (Ape/Singe), James Tissot (Coïdé), Thomas Nast, Leslie Ward (Spy), and William Henry Cotton.

The fourth series contains cartoons from Harper’s Weekly magazine. The materials include the front and back side of pages from the magazine. The artists that are included are William L. Sheppard, Charles G. Bush, Thomas Nast, and A.B. Frost.

The fifth series contains cartoons, caricatures, and illustrations from various magazines and publications. The artists and their publications include Théophile Steinlin, from Gil Blas, Sulpice Guillaume Chevalier (Paul Gavarni), from Le Gens de Paris, Thomas Rowlandson, William Summers, from Tregear’s Black Jokes, Charles Williams, William Elmes, George Cruikshank, Isaac Robert Cruikshank, Jules Joseph Georges Renard (Draner), Charles Robinson, from The Illustrated London News, Thomas Worth, Richard F. Outcault, from the New York Herald, Helen E. Hokinson, from The New Yorker, Charles Amédée de Noé (Cham), from Le Charivari, Sydney B. Griffin, from Truth, Oscar Cesare, from The Sun, and William Bruns.

There are a wide variety of themes and events covered in the cartoons and illustrations throughout the collection. There are numerous presidential elections covered including the elections of 1806, 1880, 1884, 1888, 1892, and 1900. The 43rd and 54th Congresses are both represented within cartoons in the series. Other events that are shown in cartoons in the collection are the Chicago World’s Fair/World’s Columbian Exposition, the Spanish-American War, Reconstruction, and the Kansas Exodus. There are also many representations of the Democratic, Republican, Greenback, and Citizens parties as well as Tammany Hall. Other themes included are immigration, Jewish communities, social ambition, weather problems, voting rights, the gold standard vs. free silver debate, diseases, family roles, plantations, white supremacy groups, Communism, financial issues, militaries, pic-nic societies, King George IV’s court, political corruption, and social events and issues. A large number of the cartoons included in the collections are products of their times and therefore many include racist language and depictions. The transcriptions and metadata associated with each cartoon is described as is for the purpose of providing the easiest access to the collection and does in no way reflect the views of Wilkes University or its archive department.

Dates

Created: 1950 June 10

Creator

Hokinson, Helen E. (Helen Elna), 1893-1949 (Person)

Access:

Anyone may access these political cartoons.

Extent

1 items

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Additional Description

Type of Material:

Political cartoon

Condition Note:

Good

Measurements:

8.7 x 11.6 in

Title:

Fortune Teller by The New Yorker

Description:

The cartoon by Helen E. Hokinson for The New Yorker depicts a scene at a carnival. Circuses were gaining more popularity in the 20th century and Hokinson is capturing one of the popular attractions, fortune tellers. She may also be commenting on how wealthy women would commonly fall for things like fortune telling.There are two older women in white dresses, white jackets, white hats, white shoes, and they have white handbags. They are looking over toward another woman in a tent. The tent is small and yellow, and the flaps are pulled to the sides. There is a sign that says, “Fortune Teller,” above the entrance. Inside, is a woman in a red dress, white shirt, yellow belt, red hat, white shoes, and gold jewelry. She is sitting with cards in her hand, and some on the wooden table in front of her. She is beckoning the two women in white over to the tent. In the background there are other booths, tents, and people.There is a small yellow booth with red, white, blue stripes, a sign that says, “Ice Cream,” a booth with a sign that says, “Hot Dogs,” and a sign that says, “Circus.” There is also a white and green church in the background. The artist, Helen E. Hokinson, was an American cartoonist and illustrator. She studied art in school, and then became a fashion illustrator in New York. She began submitting cartoons to magazines, and became a regular for The New Yorker. She mostly depicted wealthy and ditsy women in her cartoons. In addition to her large amount of work contributed to The New Yorker she also did many book illustrations. The back of the cartoon features an advertisement for “Forstmann” suits. There is an illustration of a man in the suit alongside the words for the advertisement.