Engraved by John Held Jr

I feel that most who know the name John Held Jr. will think of his illustrations of flappers on the cover of the Life magazine, the stick-skinny girls with the knobby knees and droopy stockings, possibly lounging about, possibly necking or dancing with round-headed guys sporting gigantic trousers. (See the slide show below.) Also maybe you, like me, enjoyed those Time-Life This Fabulous Century books at the library that cover the first six decades of the 20th century (and have a different groovy fabric on the cover of each), and have noticed that the volume on the twenties is chock full of John Held Jr.



(I do have a major nostalgia problem and am wistful for eras I have never seen, the twenties being one of them.)

Anyway, where I first got to know John Held Jr was not as Illustrator of the Jazz Age, but as the guy who did those funny old-timey engravings during the infancy of the New Yorker magazine. Perhaps strangely, from an early age I loved poring over collected New Yorker cartoons, preferring especially a volume called The New Yorker Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Album 1925-1950, which I pretty much have memorized. (When Steve from the used section of the Harvard Book Store gave me a great quality hardcover version for my birthday, I was really really touched. Thank you Steve. That was an amazing, insightful gift.) I particularly liked John Held Jr’s odd choices of subject matter in his engravings, and I am tickled by the engraved captions he added to all. Some of these strike me as some of the best sign-offs ever.

Years later, I now have access to the complete collected cartoons of the New Yorker (isn’t being an adult amazing? And... technology?) So I ran a search on John Held Jr., and found he published many engravings (or maybe some are drawings that look like engravings) in that magazine between 1925 and 1932. Then either my computer froze up or he didn’t publish any more. I find myself wondering now about John Held Jr’s own interest in nostalgia. According to a 1966 Playboy article about Held, nostalgia was big in the 20s. Most of his engraved depictions seem to be olde tymey made-up scenes from the previous century, maybe around the time of Held’s birth (he lived from January 10, 1889 to March 2, 1958). I’m thinking the 1880s didn’t seem so long ago to him, maybe he could still find little pockets of old-fashionedness even in the blazing New York of the 20s. It was only 40-odd years before after all. I do my own math like that sometimes, thinking that the 20s were only 50-odd years before I was born, and if I look hard enough at old drawings and peep into enough old books and listen to enough 78s, perhaps I can grasp a tiny bit of what it was like.

I think these clever engravings should be considered as important a part of Held’s ouevre as the flapper/sheikh stuff. According to that Playboy article, Held’s very first art sale was an engraving, and his father was an engraver. I’m sure there’s a whole dissertation there about modes of expressing contemporaneous interest in the fairly recent past.

Here's a list! Some of my favorite captions from the engravings are transcribed below. You'll have to imagine the images that go with because I don't dare post screenshots. The date given is the New Yorker publication date. Held mostly engraved in capital letters so I use caps where he does.

A CHILD OF THE CIRCUS
ENGRAVED WITH PATHOS BY JOHN HELD JR.
11/7/25

The STREET SWEEPER'S CHRISTMAS
A LOVELY ENGRAVING BY JOHN HELD JR
12/12/25

ROLLING YE LOG AT YE COFFEE HOUSE CLUB
ENGRAVED IN GOOD FUN BY JOHN HELD JR
2/13/26

WHISKER INSPECTION AT THE CENTURY CLUB
INDEED A QUAINT OLD ENGRAVING BY JOHN HELD JR
(2/27/26)

THE CLOWN WITH A BROKEN HEART
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR AND NICELY TOO
4/17/26

DANCING ON NOTHING
ENGRAVED WITH A LAUGH AND A SOB BY JOHN HELD JR
5/1/26

A POLICEMANS BEST FRIEND IS HIS HORSE
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR WHO IS VERY FOND OF ANIMALS
10/2/26

The DEAR DEAD DAYS
WHEN THE WAITERS AT BILLIES SANG "MY ROSARY"
ENG. BY JOHN HELD JR WITH A LUMP IN HIS THROAT
10/23/26

The DEAR DEAD DAYS
WHEN A GIRL DRANK BEER AND LIKED IT
ENG BY JOHN HELD JR WITH THE LAUGH ON THE OTHER SIDE OF HIS FACE
10/30/26

The CURSE OF THE OPERA HOUSE
"MAY ALL YOUR CHILDREN BE ACROBATS"
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR
AND SUCH AN ENGRAVING OH MY
11/6/26

THE MAN WHO SOUNDED AN R in the HARVARD CLUB
A RIGHT TONEY ENGRAVING BY JOHN HELD JR
2/19/27
(this one shows some angry fellows shooting another guy)

A SONG FROM THE DEAR DIM PAST
"YES, WE HAVE NO BANANAS
WE HAVE NO BANANAS TODAY."
ENG. BY JOHN HELD JR AND HOW CAN YOU STOP HIM
5/12/28

SHE'S ONLY A LASSIE WHO VENTURED
ON LIFE'S STORMY PATH ILL-ADVISED
ENG. BY JOHN HELD JR WITH A HEART FULL OF PITY
7/28/28

BUT THAT DIRTY LITTLE COWARD,
THAT SHOT MR. HOWARD,
HAS LAID POOR JESSE IN HIS GRAVE
AMERICAN FOLKSONG ENG. BY JOHN HELD JR. WITH A HI AND A HO
9/29/28

TINY GARMENTS
ENGRAVED BY THAT SENIMENTAL OLD CODGER, JOHN HELD JR (sic)
11/10/28

MID CAMP FIRES GLEAMING
MID SHOT AND SHELL
I WILL BE DREAMING OF MY OWN BLUEBELL
A GRAND OLD ENGRAVING BY A GRAND OLD ENGRAVER J. HELD JR
12/8/28

A DAINTY NECESSITY IN MI-LADY'S LINGERIE
The CORSET COVER
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR WITH A TOSS OF THE HEAD
12/28/29

VIRTUE'S DEFENCE THE HAT PIN
ENG. BY JOHN HELD JR. AS HE CHOKES BACK HIS TRUE FEELINGS
2/8/30

The SECRET POCKET IN THE PETTISKIRT
OH MEMORY SO CRUEL, SO BITTER
ENG. BY JOHN HELD JR WHO NEVER TOOK A LESSON IN HIS LIFE
2/22/30

DREAM GIRLS of a DIM DECADE
SEVEN SUTHERLAND SISTERS
ENG. BY JOHN HELD JR SINGER OF OLD SONGS
3/15/30

WHEN THE THEATRE WAS FRAUGHT with ROMANCE
THE STARTLING INNOVATION OF THE MAGIC-LANTERN SLIDE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SERPENTINE DANCE
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR WHO IS GAME TO THE CORE
11/8/30

WHEN THE THEATRE WAS FRAUGHT with ROMANCE
The Thought is born of the FORM DIVINE
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR ADELVING INTO YESTERYEAR
11/29/30

WHEN THE THEATRE WAS FRAUGHT WITH ROMANCE
THE SOUBRETTE SINGS A RACY SONG TO THE MAN IN THE BOX
ENG BY JOHN HELD JR WHO DEAR TO HIS HEART ARE THE SCENES OF HIS CHILDHOOD
1/10/31

WHEN THE THEATRE WAS FRAUGHT with ROMANCE
THE CHERRY SISTERS
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR Who Is a SLY ELF
2/7/31

WHEN THE THEATRE WAS FRAUGHT WITH ROMANCE
MRS. LESLIE CARTER IN "THE HEART OF MARYLAND"
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR WHO DOESN'T REMEMBER VERY WELL.
5/9/31

WHEN FASHION WAS FRAUGHT WITH ROMANCE
The HORRIBLE SKIRT
ENG. BY JOHN HELD JR A SCAMP IF THERE EVER WAS ONE
8/15/31

The ZENITH OF REFINED ELEGANCE
THE MOUSTACHE CUP
A JOHN HELD JR. ENGRAVING, ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR UNDER The PERSONAL SUPERVISION of JOHN HELD JR
9/12/31

WHEN THE THEATRE WAS FRAUGHT WITH ROMANCE
BEN-HUR AND THE WHITE HORSES ALWAYS WIN
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR WHO SOMETIMES WONDERS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT
9/26/31

WOOD-CUT MEMOIRS OF LITTLE OLDE NEW YORK
FINE FEATHERS MAKE FINE BIRDS IN the WALDORF ASTORIA PEACOCK ALLEY
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR WHO BOWS HIS HEAD TO NO MASTER
10/17/31

The RED HOT PAST
THE SOUVENIR GARTER WITH THE WITTY MOTTO
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR WHO IS ALWAYS UP TO MISCHIEF
4/23/32
(the garter says "I LOVE MY WIFE BUT OH YOU KID")

The RED HOT PAST
SOUVENIRS FROM GAY PAREE
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR WHO A LITTLE OF GOES A LONG WAYS
6/4/32

The RED HOT PAST
A DAINTY REQUISITE OF MILADY'S TERLET--THE RAT
ENGRAVED BY JOHN HELD JR. THE "IT" MAN OF WOODCUTS
9/17/32
(this shows a lady at her toilet--that is sitting in front of mirror--holding the type of "rat" that makes hair look more bouffant)