John Held, Jr. Collection

Collection

Identifier: MGHL-00043

Staff Only

John Held Jr. (1889-1958) was one of the best-known magazine illustrators of the 1920s. He chronicled the spirit of the Roaring Twenties, also known as the Jazz Age, with cheerful cartoons of flappers, fast cars, parties, and dancing. Held’s humorous work appeared in many U.S. magazines, including Judge, Life, Collier’s, and The New Yorker. The materials in this collection range in date from 1929 to 1938, when Held was involved with and married to Gladys Moore Held, Miss New Orleans 1925-1927. The collection covers a sizeable gap in biographical information about Held during the 1930s, when his illustration career was beginning to decline. These details are described in over 800 letters to Gladys and their daughter, as well as photographs, telegrams, and postcards, all signed with a cartoon sketch of a duck instead of his name. There are also numerous studio, press, and candid photographs of Held; printed ephemera including magazines, calendars, menus, and maps; and magazines, newspapers, and tear sheets. Also included are manuscripts for Held’s novels, short stories, and screenplays.

Dates

Creation: 1926-1939

Creator

Held, John, Jr., 1889-1958 (Person)

Extent

11.5 linear feet

23 linear feet

Additional Description

Biographical Information

John Held, Jr. (January 10, 1889 – March 2, 1958) was an American cartoonist, printmaker, illustrator, sculptor, and author. As one of the best-known magazine illustrators of the 1920s, he chronicled the spirit of the Roaring Twenties, also known as the Jazz Age, with cheerful cartoons of flappers, fast cars, parties, and dancing.

Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Held showed artistic talent at a young age, selling his first drawing to a local newspaper at the age of nine. In 1905, he began working as a sports illustrator and cartoonist at the Salt Lake City Tribune. After moving to New York in 1912, Held’s work began appearing in Life, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar, The New Yorker, Judge, and Collier’s. He also wrote and drew two newspaper comic strips, Oh! Margy and its sequel Merely Margy and Rah Rah Rosalie. Held portrayed a satirical view of the Roaring Twenties, often criticizing the drinking, gambling, and rampant sexuality that often characterized the decade

Demand for Held’s cartoons declined during the Great Depression, allowing Held to shift to painting and sculpture. He published The Work of John Held Jr. in 1931, designed sets for the Broadway revue of Hellzapoppin in 1937, and exhibited his bronze sculptures of horses in 1939 at the Bland Gallery.

In the 1950s, popular nostalgia for the 1920s resulted in a revival of interest in Held's earlier works. He died in 1958 from throat cancer.