Dorothy McKay editorial cartoons
Content Description
This collection contains four editorial cartoons drawn by Dorothy McKay (1904-1974), an American cartoonist. Two of the cartoons are watercolor, ink, and wash on board, and two are brush and ink on board. Each work is signed as either “McKay” or “D. McKay” at its corner. Three of the cartoons were illustrated for Esquire magazine, where McKay was employed as its first female cartoonist, and one for Collier’s magazine. Publishing marks and stamps appear at the recto and on the verso of each cartoon. The earliest cartoon, "Just grab one, madam, and cut out the twittering,” published in Collier’s in 1937, shows a woman in an elegant dress looking at a tray of desserts held by an impatient butler. The second cartoon, "He's still on his lunch hour, but I'll take the nickel," is dated November 1944 and depicts a man speaking to a woman as both look down at a monkey in a suit sleeping against a fire hydrant. The third cartoon, “Well, thank God you hear singing too, Dear...I thought I was going crazy in this lonely office” was published January 1954. The full color scene features a group of men singing at a bar with drinks and a man ducked into a telephone booth speaking this his wife, attempting to convince her that he is at the "lonely office." The fourth illustration, “Why don't you do something, dear, besides just make money?" is dated September 1956 and shows a husband and wife in their living room with the woman working at an easel.
Dates
- Creation: 1937-1956
Creator
- McKay, Dorothy, 1904-1974 (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
This collection is minimally processed and open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Library believes the collection contains some in-copyright material. Visit our Permissions and Publishing page for more information about use of Special Collections materials. The library can provide copyright information upon request, but users are responsible for making their own determination about lawful use of collections materials.
Biographical Note
Dorothy McKay (1904–1972), née Jones, was an American cartoonist and illustrator whose work contributed to the visual and cultural landscape of mid-20th-century editorial art. She studied at the California School of Art in her native San Francisco and eventually at the Art Students League in New York City. She married Donald W. McKay, also a commercial artist, and had one daughter, Phoebe. Active primarily from the 1930s through the 1950s, McKay was among a small group of female cartoonists whose work was published in major periodicals during a time when the field was overwhelmingly male. Her cartoons appeared in publications such as The New Yorker, Esquire, Collier’s, and The Saturday Evening Post, where she developed a reputation for her sharp wit, line work, striking color, and incisive social commentary. Though hired as the first female cartoonist for Esquire in 1936, she was asked by the magazine to sign her work “D. McKay” for the first decade of her career so that her husband, Donald, would be credited. She began to sign her works with her full name in the mid-1940s. In addition to her magazine and editorial work, McKay illustrated books and contributed to advertising campaigns, lending her visual sensibilities to a range of commercial and narrative formats. She died at the age of seventy in New York City.
Resources
Infinite Women. “Dorothy McKay.” Infinite Women. Accessed October 28, 2025. https://www.infinite-women.com/women/dorothy-mckay/
Library of Congress. “Gag & Single Panel Cartoons.” Cartoon America: Punch Lines. Accessed October 28, 2025. https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/cartoonamerica/cartoon-punch.html
“Dorothy McKay, 70, Dies; Cartoonist and Illustrator.” New York Times, June 5, 1974. Accessed October 28, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/1974/06/05/archives/dorothy-mckay-70-dies-cartoonist-and-illustrator.html
Full Extent
0.52 Cubic Feet (Four large oversized flat file folders)
Language of Materials
English
Metadata Rights Declarations
- License: This record is made available under an Universal 1.0 Public Domain Dedication Creative Commons license. The Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library of the University of Virginia makes its bibliographic records and the metadata contained therein available for public use under the CC0 1.0 Public Domain Designation.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
This collection was purchased from Honey & Wax Booksellers by the Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia on 18 January 2024; 6 August 2025; and 21 October 2025.
- Title
- Guide to the Dorothy McKay editorial cartoons
- Author
- Eric Willersdorf, Student Accessioning Archivist Assistant
- Date
- 24 October 2025
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library Repository
Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
P.O. Box 400110
University of Virginia
Charlottesville Virginia 22904-4110 United States