Girls, Girls, Girls...
A few days ago, the prolific Michael Sporn posted a few drawings that originated with Jack Kinney, including a few pages of girls drawn by Fred Moore.
I noted in a comment that "All of the girls, except the very first one in Kinney’s caricature, are from the unofficial in-house publication “The Mousetrap” that was issued in 500 numbered copies in 1937 by “The Ward Ritchie Press.” Number 91 of these was reprinted as a facsimile in the late 70s. The original run had watercolors applied differently in each issue (by Ward and Betty Kimball, Ward Ritchie, a "Mrs. O.," and two guys, Webb and Pete). They were, of course, painted before the magazine was bound. Ward Ritchie was the publisher, his business pretty nearby at 1936 Hyperion Ave. while he lived at 2110 Griffith Park Blvd. (nearly back-to-back locations between Udell Ct. and Lyric Ave.). Ward Kimball was the main editor (perpetrator?) of this spiral-bound magazine.
To underline this, and for comparison, here are the two hand-colored pages, from two different original issues. I do not have the reprint of #91 close at hand, but I do remember that the two images below resemble each other more than they resemble this reprint, where the color application is concerned.
[Addition 04/2011: finally added images from the reprint of #91.]
[Addition 04/2014: corrections re: Ward Ritchie and info on the painters. Thanks, Amy!]
I noted in a comment that "All of the girls, except the very first one in Kinney’s caricature, are from the unofficial in-house publication “The Mousetrap” that was issued in 500 numbered copies in 1937 by “The Ward Ritchie Press.” Number 91 of these was reprinted as a facsimile in the late 70s. The original run had watercolors applied differently in each issue (by Ward and Betty Kimball, Ward Ritchie, a "Mrs. O.," and two guys, Webb and Pete). They were, of course, painted before the magazine was bound. Ward Ritchie was the publisher, his business pretty nearby at 1936 Hyperion Ave. while he lived at 2110 Griffith Park Blvd. (nearly back-to-back locations between Udell Ct. and Lyric Ave.). Ward Kimball was the main editor (perpetrator?) of this spiral-bound magazine.
To underline this, and for comparison, here are the two hand-colored pages, from two different original issues. I do not have the reprint of #91 close at hand, but I do remember that the two images below resemble each other more than they resemble this reprint, where the color application is concerned.
| Mousetrap #268 | Mousetrap #312 | Mousetrap #91 |
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[Addition 04/2011: finally added images from the reprint of #91.]
[Addition 04/2014: corrections re: Ward Ritchie and info on the painters. Thanks, Amy!]
Both versions of each are equally beautiful.
ReplyDeleteHow much richer they are in these versions than the xeroxed copies I have. This book is obviously a treasure.
The publisher was Ward Ritchie of Ward Ritchie Press, my grandpa. Not Ward Kimball. Thanks.
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