Rare WWII Bill Mauldin?

[Phantomfixer]

Hey all, A gentlemen gave me a young mans scrap book from WWII. It had period 194x newspaper and magazine photos and articles. Mostly LST and invasion stuff. Mostly N Africa and Italy. Came across this Bill Mauldin print. The two German soldiers are saying"We must be retreating Fritz. They're watering the vermouth". This piece doesn't strike a familiar chord. I have read Brass Rings and Up at the Front. Can't recall this one. I like the way it humanizes the German version of Willie and Joe. Hope you get a chuckle..
JZ

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[Sgt Brown]

I have a book created sometime around the 50th anniversary called "Bill Mauldin's Army". It has many cartoons that were in Stars & Stripes but not his books. This one is in there.

Oh yeah, GREAT book!:eusa_clap

Tom

 

[The Lonely Navigator]

Yeah that is a pretty neat cartoon w/ regards to having the German version of Willie and Joe.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Yeah that is a pretty neat cartoon w/ regards to having the German version of Willie and Joe.

Bill Mauldin did a few cartoon in this vein. The caption to one I remember in particular reads something like, "Crack allied troops, flush with victory, take thousands of demoralized enemy prisoners;" the picture shows Joe and Willie, just as bedraggled as always, escorting two equally scruffy Germans, in the rain, on a muddy road...

...priceless

 

[Phantomfixer]

Yeah I remember that one. Was hard to tell who was flush with victory and who was the demoralized enemy. Seems he caught flak on that one. Trying to compare the US dogface with the German dogface. Is that the one he won the Pulitzer for?

 

[JimWagner]

In addition to "Up Front" you might like "Willie & Joe, the WWII Years".

http://www.amazon.com/Willie-Joe-Years-Bill-Mauldin/dp/B002DMJTZA/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpi_4

I picked up my copy at a comic book store.

The OP's cartoon is on pp 124 of vol 2. I could have sworn I'd seen it in "Up Front" too, but I didn't spot it paging through this time.

I loved all the Bill Mauldin Willie & Joe stuff. I remember when he was a regular political cartoonist in the newspapers. Always looked for his cartoons.

 

[p51]

Bill Mauldin did a few cartoon in this vein. The caption to one I remember in particular reads something like, "Crack allied troops, flush with victory, take thousands of demoralized enemy prisoners;" the picture shows Joe and Willie, just as bedraggled as always, escorting two equally scruffy Germans, in the rain, on a muddy road...
...priceless

He won the Pulitzer for that one.

I concur that “The WW2 Years” set is THE set to have. There’s a postwar set coming out very soon as well. My understanding is that they plan on eventually putting out all of his work until he quit drawing in the 90s. I hope that comes to pass, but I’d think interest will taper off sharply for the buying public beyond the WW2 years.

Individual cartoons cut out of a newspaper have very little value other than sentimental. Many people did that. I have a dozen scrapbooks people have given me over the years filled full of yellowing newspaper clippings of his work.

I have been collecting Mauldin stuff for over ten years now, have written extensively on his life and work and have one of the most complete collections of his work and publications in private hands. I have been on "Mail Call" on History Channel on the subject in 2005 (you can find it on YouTube) and have advised libraries, collections on the subject of WW2 cartoonists.

PM me if interested, I can send you a link to a place where I store my PDF file of my first magazine article I did on the subject which talks about all his books... I can always field general questions on Mauldin stuff. FYI, I also belong to the only WW2 living history group ever to get Mauldin's personal endorsement (in 1995). The Friends of Willie and Joe are out of the Pacific NW. A few years back, we re-created one of Bill's more ironic cartoons:

The original cartoon:

The neatest part of this photo was the center guy is the father of the other two “GIs”.

 

[Phantomfixer]

P51-- that is really a great shot.This may sound out there but I wonder how it would go over to find two scruffy guys to recreate the cartoons. The father in the picture would be a great canidate with some facial growth. Would it be legal? Make some great greeting cards to the troops overseas.Jst thinking out loud I guess. Will have to look you up on you tube to be sure. loved Mail Call. had a chance to meet the Gunny at Reading PA during a WWII weekend years ago.
I didn't think the clip was worth anything just didn't remember seeing it circulated. After reading The two books (over and over)it was nice to see something"new".
thanks again for the info
JZ

 

[The Lonely Navigator]

Guttersnipe: Bill Mauldin did a few cartoon in this vein. The caption to one I remember in particular reads something like, "Crack allied troops, flush with victory, take thousands of demoralized enemy prisoners;" the picture shows Joe and Willie, just as bedraggled as always, escorting two equally scruffy Germans, in the rain, on a muddy road...

...priceless

lol

Phantomfixer: Yeah I remember that one. Was hard to tell who was flush with victory and who was the demoralized enemy. Seems he caught flak on that one. Trying to compare the US dogface with the German dogface. Is that the one he won the Pulitzer for?

lol I think that's sad he caught flak for that. I didn't know he won the Pulitzer Prize. I've only ever known of the ones showing the US GI's, never the ones showing the Germans.

 

[Sgt Brown]

Locally, we had a very extensive private WWII armor museum. Each year the owner hosted a gala Xmas luncheon for re-enactors and their friends. Everyone showed up in their finest Class A's for the event.

Two of us got a brainstorm. How about going as Willie and Joe? Mud. Filth. Week-old beards. Etc., etc. A great counterpoint to all that spit and polish. We began to plan for the next Xmas party.

Regretfully, it was not to be. The museum owner passed away and (of course) the family wanted money, not tanks. No Xmas luncheon that year and the museum was sold off to the highest bidder. It now resides somewhere in Florida.

Too bad. We wanted so badly to track mud across Henry's floor and smell so rotten they had to put us at our own table!lol

Tom

 

[KilroyCD]

Here's a favorite of mine:

But for those of us who reenact at Mid Atlantic Air Museum's
WWII Weekend it needs to be paraphrased to say:
"It's gotta to be Reading"

 

[Phantomfixer]

I hear ya Kilroy. Reading was dry for the first ten years or so. then the rain gods saw we were having too much fun. One year reminded me of Woodstock, not that I was old enough for Woodstock mind you.

P51 great piece on Mail Call. Great collection you have. the two volume set on Amazon, is it the best collection available to the public? BTW you look taller on TV lol

 

[The Lonely Navigator]

lol lol Love it Kilory!

I think doing re-creations of the cartoons would be a neat idea.

 

[p51]

P51 great piece on Mail Call. Great collection you have. the two volume set on Amazon, is it the best collection available to the public? BTW you look taller on TV lol

The two-volume set is all a fan will ever need on the WW2 years.
As for my Mauldin collection, I don't have anything dedicated to it online other than the 2003 article I did on his work, and I've probably well over doubled the collection since then,,,

I look as tall and large as I am in real life. That was in 2005, I have a lost a little weight since then. I am 6 feet tall, but in re-enacting photos, the WW2 uniforms make me look in pictures shorter than I am in real life. I've had a couple of people who've seen my stuff online and in magazines say they wwere surrised I was as tall as I am.

 

[p51]

Here's a favorite of mine:

But for those of us who reenact at Mid Atlantic Air Museum's
WWII Weekend it needs to be paraphrased to say:
"It's gotta to be Reading"

Actually, that’s not the original caption at all on that cartoon. What the caption really read was, "Now that ya mention it, it does sound like the patter of rain on a tin roof."

 

[Mr. K.L.Bowers]

Mauldin actually wanted to kill Willy and Joe off at the end of the war as an ironic ending to the series. His plan was to have a shell land in their foxhole and show a vacant hole.

 

[p51]

Mauldin actually wanted to kill Willy and Joe off at the end of the war as an ironic ending to the series.

True, and I really think that nobody would have run that. All of the staffers at Stars and Stripes were strongly against it. As far as I know, Mualdin never actually drew that cartoon, even as a sketch.

 

[Mr. K.L.Bowers]

I don't believe he went any further than the idea stage since the reaction was so negative.

There are more Willy and Joe cartoons that appeared in Stars and Stripes that were not included in the books. I wonder if they are in a collection somewhere?

 

[p51]

There are more Willy and Joe cartoons that appeared in Stars and Stripes that were not included in the books. I wonder if they are in a collection somewhere?

Oh, there's a LOT of Mauldin's work that appears elsewhere. I've been collecting it for years and I'm sure I'm missing a few myself. Keep in mind, the Willie and Joe 'toons are but a part of all the WW2 work he did.
But the bext place to go is this set of books. It's not 100% complete, but I'd say that it's between 95-98% complete! Well worth five times the money!
Willie & Joe: The WWII Years
Todd DePastino (Editor)
Fantagraphics Books
ISBN-10: 1560978384
Amazon wants a fortune for it, but any good bookstore can order it and eBay has a few copies for a good price...