Whaler Bar breakthrough

 

I believe I have discovered the artist of the Whaler Bar mural - it's most likely Bruce Church, who appears to be living still and has a web site. The picture above is from his web site and that clinched it for me - the clouds and something about the boats is very reminiscent of the Whaler Bar mural. For example:

My first clue was his signature. I originally guess the first name was Bruce, and when I looked at it again recently, I guessed the last name was Church. So I typed "Bruce Church" and "muralist" into Google and voila!

 

I emailed him via his online contact form, so hopefully he will confirm his identity soon. I will certainly want to interview him for my Willie the Whaler article.

UPDATE: I just got an email from Bruce Church confirming that he painted the Whaler Bar mural. Progress!

friends of Willie the Whaler

I was recently contacted by Vince M. who writes:

Somehow, I stumbled upon your column and found the Willie the Whaler cartoons.  I love them!  I despise anyone that hurts or kills whales, but I do love all things nautical...

After establishing his excellent tastes and anti-animal cruelty coolness, he then proceeded to clarify many of the issues that I had been wondering about during the period from November 2010 - June 2011 when I was blogging about the Willie ads:

Since you already correctly described the bowsprit and martingale, I’ll describe the others.

What is now called a bowsprit (the spar extending forward from the bow) was once called a gyb by the Dutch.  The English spelling of which is, jib.  The English eventually started calling that spar a bow sprit, but they continued to call the sails attached to it, jib sails. (jibsail, inner jib, outer jib, flying jib, jib topsail...) As you know, with few exceptions, sails are named after what they are attached to. (not the other way around)

A jib boom is yet another spar that is attached to the jib (bow sprit).  It extends the bow sprit by roughly 50% to 90% in length.  Another spar may be attached to the jib boom, to extend it even further, and that is called a flying jib boom.

Headstays are lines that are attached to the forward most mast of a sailing vessel, and they are either terminated at the bow or on various points along the bow sprit, jib boom, or flying jib boom, however the vessel is equipped.  Headstays 'stay' the mast from falling over backwards, whereas back stays prevent the masts from falling forward.

The very upper part of the bow of a sailing vessel is where the head timbers are located, which help support the bowsprit.  That's also where the 'bathroom' (head grating) was located, hence the term 'going to the head'.  So, the ‘head’ of the vessel, is the front of the boat.  The sails that are located forward of the most forward mast, are called headsails, even though they have individual names. (all sails do)  The lines that stay the mast to the bowsprit group are therefore called headstays.

Larger boats have masts that are made in sections.  For instance, a typical square rigger's foremast, (the one furthest forward) has a lower section called the foremast.  Above that would be the fore topmast.  Above that would be the fore topgallant mast.  Then the fore royal mast.  Each one of those masts has a stay that goes forward and down, to the bow, the bowsprit, the jib boom, or the flying jib boom.  The taller the mast is, the longer the bowsprit and its extensions will be...

...When Willie said, “…I don’t see fitten for to lower.”  I see that as it was windy enough that he SHOULD have lowered his sails, or at least reefed them, but he’d rather go faster (at the risk of putting the ship in peril) and drink to have the courage to replace his lack of prudence.  Many Captains did just that...

Swinging the lead, or sounding, was a fairly easy job, and the lucky ones to get assigned to do it, were happy to have a ‘lazy job’ to do for a change.  It did eventually come to mean that you were a “Lazy Jack” if you were ‘swinging the lead’.  (Lazy Jacks today, are a system of lines to control a sail while lowering it……a labor saving device)

You nailed it about the ‘sun is over the foreyard’.  Once the sun was above the lowest yard on the foremast, the Captain allowed rum rations to be distributed.

Camber is the curve that the surface of the sails have when powered by wind.  Just like an airplane wing.  It is built into the sail during the construction of them by carefully cutting the separate panels that make up the sail.

If one goes for a camber, it means to go for a sail.  However, in keeping with the traditions of Willie, I can only assume that his walking path would be a curve (camber) after having slugged a bit of plush.

Wow - so many mysteries solved - but maybe the biggest mystery solved was this commentary on my bafflement over this Willie ad - Willie says: "Let's straighten the Monongehela with our addlings." Vince writes:

I just looked up addling, which one definition of it is the verb form of addle.  Whiskey, (or any alcohol) can addle your brain, but I think it means something completely different in this case.  The Monongahela reference is, in my opinion, the river in southern Pennsylvania and northwestern West Virginia.  It is a very crooked river, and parts of it were straightened to allow for easier traffic for the commerce that uses it for transportation.  It was probably big news for a few weeks or months at some point in time.  I found references about straightening it, but couldn't nail down exactly how much of it was straightened, but it wasn't that much of it according to current maps.

I found a site that shows addle to be a synonym of puddle.  Here is the 4th definition of it:

4. (verb) puddle
wade or dabble in a puddle
Synonyms: pee-pee, make water, micturate, wee, addle, piddle, muddle, relieve oneself, make, urinate, pass water, spend a penny, wee-wee, piss, take a leak, pee

The next several definitions of puddle, also include addle as synonyms.  Here is the link to that site.  So, I think that Willie and company drank so much that their addlings straightened the Monongahela River with the extra flow of liquids.

Yes, that would totally be like Willie to say something like that! I think Vince has solved this most mysterious of all Willie mysteries, by Jove! Way to go Vince!

He also suggests that I might want to write an article on Willie for a sailing magazine:

It's called Good Old Boat and here's the link for the online portion of their magazine.  They cater to the 'poor' sailing people, unlike Sailing and other magazines, which is for the rich, snooty bastards with their multi-million dollar yachts.

Fascinating - it never occurred to me that there was a class hierarchy in the world of boating. Of course I know almost nothing about boats, as is obvious in my posts about Willie. I almost got to ride in a sailboat, a few years ago - the actor in one of my theater productions offered to take the cast and I out on his father's sailboat, but then I had a falling out with the actor so that never happened. So I wrote a scene on a boat in my play JULIA & BUDDY to make up for it. That's what art is all about - sublimation.

I just might write the article on Willie, after some research and permission - I'm not sure what copyright issues, if any, pertain to these Willie ads and the New Yorker, so I'd better contact the New Yorker and ask. They also might have more information about the origin of the character, the artist, etc.

I popped in at the Whaler Bar at 38th and Madison just last week, while waiting for an appointment. Unfortunately drinks were not being served - I walked in on what looked like a private event in the bar, a meeting of a bunch of suits who looked like extras from Mad Men. But the mural was still there so I was happy.

The image at the top of this post is this Willie the Whaler ad that I colorized with Photoshop.

Thanks again, Vince!

straight from the scuttlebutt: it's the end of an era

I miscalculated - I actually only had one more Willie the Whaler ad! This is it.

I saved this one for last because it represents the fulfillment of all Willie's desires - that is, to kick back in his hammock, boots off, holding a tall cool drink aloft, gazing upon it with the reverence normally reserved for a relic of one's patron saint.

Word origins of "scuttlebutt" courtesy of The Word Detective:

As a synonym for "the word going around" or "gossip," "scuttlebutt" dates back to the days of sailing ships, when men were men and ships lacked plumbing. If a sailor wanted a drink of fresh water to quench his thirst between floggings, he made his way to the "scuttlebutt," the tall ships' equivalent of today's water cooler. The "scuttlebutt" was actually nothing but a small wooden keg with a hold cut in its side, used to hold the crew's daily ration of drinking water. The name "scuttlebutt" is a logical combination of "scuttle," meaning to cut a hole something, and "butt," meaning a small cask or keg (from the Latin "butta," cask or wine-skin). Incidentally, casks were not the only things "scuttled" at sea. To "scuttle" a ship means to deliberately sink her, usually by cutting a hole in the side below the water line.

And another related item - there is a newsletter about sailing appropriately called The Scuttlebutt.

So I've posted about 45 Willie the Whaler ads and unless I find any new ones in the 1961-65 issues of the New Yorker this is it. I will see about an animated gif - or maybe even a little movie with a sailor's hornpipe playing.

Irish hurricane

I believe this is the only example in the entire Willie the Whaler oeuvre in which Willie engages in irony - double irony even, since "Irish hurricane" meant the opposite of an actual hurricane - it means "a flat calm with no wind."

So why would anybody fall overboard during conditions like that?

I think we all know why.

Mug up and hit the deck

Well here we see one of those rare Willie the Whaler ads in which he is not referring to alcohol. He seems to be exhorting his crew mates to get to work.

After this ad I'm down to the last three Willie/New Yorker ads. I've been having no luck at all with the New Yorkers from the 1950s - they just ran the same three or four Willie ads, nothing new is ever introduced. I'm about half-way through 1959, which means there are about four or five more years of Willie ads, and I'm doubtful I'll see any new ones.

I've been posting Willie ads since November of last year, it will be weird not to post him any more. When I get to the last Willie ad, I'll have to do something special, like maybe make a gif animation of Willie.

Wait a minute... I just found two distinct definitions of "mugup" online - one that is similar to the term "bone-up" which means to apply oneself with more effort, and in the The Dictionary of Nautical, University, Gypsy and Other Vulgar Tongues: A Guide to Language on the Street in 18th and 19th Century Streets of London "to get tipsy." Well now things are making more sense...

going deep six

Never let it be said that Willie ever wasted alcohol. Here we see him diving overboard to rescue a bottle of booze. Not only is the act of diving overboard a hassle but he stands to be beaten for it - the term "introduced to the gunner's daughter" means:

The British naval tradition of bending a sailor over a ship's gun to be lashed with a cat o' nine tails

Lash up and stow

Why didn't I find this before? The Wikipedia Glossary of Nautical Terms!

"Lash up and stow" is a piped command to tie up hammocks and stow them (typically) in racks inboard of the ship's side to protect crew from splinters from shot and provide a ready means of preventing flooding caused by damage.

Although in this case it seems to be rather a prelude to getting one's drink on.

Swinging Willie

A rare sighting of Willie on the job. Although there is a serious workplace safety issue on the bark Wanderer - it appears that Willie is forced to do repairs on the ship while hanging by nothing more than his toes. The least the captain can do is give him a drink.

Tom Sawyer's traverse is defined in the Naval ceremonies, customs, and traditions:

An old term that meant the course and movements of a "soldiering" (no reflection on the Army) sailor to kill time, such as frequent trips to and long stays at the scuttle butt and in the head, part of the art of work dodging. An American variant of the British phrase "Tom Cox's Traverse," meaning "up one hatch and down another."

Willie's mirage

I'm sure the skipper of the bark Wanderer knows Willie always needs a drink. But if this isn't a mirage then Willie is the Aqua-man of aquatic birds - we saw him previously getting a ride back to his boat from a mollymauk, and here's yet another one, this time providing table service... uh rowboat service.

I haven't found a direct definition of "ryers of Jamaicy" but it seems a sure bet that it means Jamaican rum. Or as Romance of a Rogue says:

...old as I be, I can drink as much Jamaicy on a steady leg as any man in these parts...

like scissors and thumbscrews

Willie's first sentence in this ad from July 22, 1950 appears to come directly from "Two Years Before the Mast" - originally a memoir in book form but now in handy blog format. And the entry I link to, appropriately, has a post on whaling along with an illustration.

"Deckie" is short for deck hand, and according to the 1919 edition of Notes & Queries (still being published to this day, since 1849) :

"DRINK BY WORD OF MOUTH" - This saying was in common use here some sixty years ago. Often a bottle of beer came into a hayfield unexpectedly. A search would be made under every coat and shawl lying on the ground for a glass or mug to drink from. Should this search prove unsuccessful and no small receptacle be found to pour the beverage into, then it was said "We must drink by word of mouth." This meant to drink from the bottle by turns, which naturally gave a great advantage to the old toper accustomed to absorb his liquor from the bottle.
The origin of the saying was probably the Fleet prison, about 9 miles west of our town; this this notorious locality would make it of Cockney derivation.
It has some authority as used by Thos. Shadwell (who succeeded Dryden as Poety Laureat) in his comedy "The Squire of Alsatia." His characters in Act V. sc. i. speak thus: -

Hackum
But I'll go fetch some Cherry Brandy, and that will comfort us. Here's the bottle, let's drink by Word of Mouth.

Cheatly
Your Cherry Brandy is most sovereign and edifying.

Shamsell
Most exceedingly comfortable after our Temple picking.

My copy of the play was printed for James Knapton at the Crown in St. Paul's Church-yard, 1699. Shadwell died in 1692.
W.W. GLENNY.
Barking.

Barking, as anybody who has read the Heavens to Mergatroyd blog entry from July 2007 will know, is " a suburban town in east London, England and the main district of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham."

But being the wry sophisticate I am, the name "Barking" cracks me up every time.

After 1950 the variety of Willie ads falls off precipitously. Throughout the 40s there were several new Willie ads every year, but after 1950 only two or three ads are used again and again. I have nine more unique Willie ads after this one, but I hope I find at least a few new ones before the end of the Willie run.

Willie & friends

Here's Willie and some buddies standing around drinking - look how happy ole Willie is.

But what's Willie saying this time...?

boots - a recruit, according to the Pacific War Naval Terms and Slang page.

brass bounders - according to the ever-handy Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang means "a midshipman; a premium apprentice"

bricklayers' clerks - Routledge again: A lubberly sailor. "Lubberly" meaning "a clumsy seaman" according to Merriam-Websters.

splicing the mainbrace - for some reason the ad separates main and brace - means according to Wikipedia: an order given aboard naval vessels to issue the crew with a drink. Originally an order for one of the most difficult emergency repair jobs aboard a sailing ship, it became a euphemism for authorized celebratory drinking afterward, and then the name of an order to grant the crew an extra ration of rum or grog."

They have a whole entry for this in Wiki including several photos.



The photo shows VJ Day celebrations aboard the Canadian ship HMCS Price Robert.

Since this Willie ad is from July 7, 1945, I expect it commemorates VE Day.

And this time around while researching Willie slang I discovered what promises to be extremely useful - the Drunktionary.

Favorite drunk terms so far:

---

Got one's snowsuit on and heading north

Has seen the French king

Nimptopsical - Noted by Benjamin Franklin.

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There are aLOT of entries on this thing that say "noted by Benjamin Franklin"

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Oxycrocium - Pronounced ox-ee-CROCK-ee-um. Possibly from "oxycroceum," a plaster containing vinegar and saffron. If so, it may be an elaboration of "Plastered." Noted by Benjamin Franklin.

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What'd I tell yah?

---

Queer in the attic – Refers to the bizarre behavior caused by drinking. "Attic" is British slang for the mind.

Screwed, blued and tattooed – Very drunk. From term for "badly cheated." Because targets for forcible enlistment in the navy were gotten drunk and carried off, and woke up in Shanghai (hence the verb "shanghai").

Sucked the monkey – In the lingo of sailors, the "monkey" was the cask that contained their liquor. To "suck the monkey" was to drink from this cask clandestinely with a straw through a small hole. Another method of sneaking a drink was to empty a coconut of its milk and refill it with booze. Today one can "suck the monkey" from any container. Dates from the 1800s. Cf. "Tapped the Admiral."

---

We've already seen a variation on this term ("bleed the monkey") used by Willie. The nautical world is second only to Benjamin Franklin as a source for drunk slang.

...speaking of which, the ever-popular...

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Three sheets to the wind – Totally drunk. A "sheet" is a rope holding a sail in place. A "sheet in (or to) the wind" is such a rope that has come loose. To "have a sheet in the wind" is common nautical slang for to be drunk, so "three sheets in the wind" means very drunk indeed. Originally British, since the 1820s.

Sexy Willie

Usually I think of Willie the Whaler as a little old man, not a sex symbol, but I have to say, this image is kind of sexy... I'm not sure if it's because he looks like he's doing crunches or if it's the boots. Probably the boots.

I don't know why he's decided the only way to use a "bring 'em near" (is that really easier to say than "telescope?") is to set his knees up like a tripod. It's a mystery. The "green pennant" is not a mystery, but "straighten the Monongahela with our addlings" is the most obscure thing Willie has said yet.

Of all the Wiki definitions for Monongahela only these might possibly fit:

Monongahela (lungfish), a genus of fish
Monongahela River, a waterway
USS Monongahela, one of various ships of the United States Navy

It's a pretty safe bet Willie is not referring to an album by the Oak Ridge Boys.

But I can't say for sure if it's a river, a fish or a ship that Willie proposes to straighten with "our addlings." Fortunately the indispensable Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang has a definition for addlings:

Pay accumulated on a voyage or during a commission’: nautical, esp. naval: late C.19–20. Bowen.

I will hazard a guess that "straighten the Monongahela" is an expression derived from the second Monongahela, a tanker during WWII that limped home during the war which means - what else - to get drunk, and Willie is proposing - highly uncharacteristically - to actually pay his way.

sometimes I just don't understand that Willie

Willie, WTF?

The "green pennant" is also known as the gin pennant and means "the wardroom is inviting officers from ships in company to drinks" - that was entirely predictable.

A marlinspike is "...a polished cone tapered to a rounded or flattened point, usually 6 to 12 inches long, although sometimes 26 inches or longer, depending on what ply and size of rope they are intended for. The marlinspike is a tool made from metal, usually iron or steel, differentiating it from the fid which is similar in shape and function but made from wood or bone."

And a fisherman's walk means "three steps and overboard."

OK, so he sees the green pennant and he wants to get really wasted... but he has to jump overboard? Don't they have gangplanks or rowboats, or in a pinch, a mollymauk? Or is swimming to the bark Wanderer just the quickest distance between Willie and booze?

WILLIE STATS UPDATE - I've posted 34 Willies to this blog so far, and have about 12 more distinct ads waiting in the wings - and I'm only up to the 1951 issues of the New Yorker, which means there could be many new Willie ads before I get to 1965, which I believe is the last year in which Willie ads appeared in the New Yorker.

Willie's girlfriend

I think Willie's been spending a little too much time alone with seamen, he seems to be chatting up the figurehead.

tin fish

Here's another WWII-themed Willie the Whaler ad, from March 7, 1942. Situations don't get any more precarious than this - and here I thought the mollymauk incident was the worst ever. But in spite of the deadly danger, Willie still has his priorities - he's concerned that he's missing out on his usual Saturday night bender.

Gam & Flip

How rude - Willie has taken over this polar bear's igloo. I know polar bears don't live in igloos - but that's sure what it looks like - the bear looks really annoyed.

As always Willie's lingo is an education. It doesn't seem right in context but it appears that gam means "a herd or school of whales" while flip means "a class of mixed drinks." The term apparently comes from the 1887 publication How To Mix Drinks: A Bon Vivant's Companion which has been reprinted and is available on Amazon - but also available on Google Books for free.

Jerry Thomas "is considered "the father of American mixology. In addition to writing the seminal work on cocktails, his creativity and showmanship established the image of the bartender as a creative professional. As such, he was often nicknamed "Professor" Jerry Thomas."

Wikipedia has helpfully provided a list of his recipes:

* Cold Brandy Flip — brandy, water, egg, sugar, grated nutmeg
* Cold Rum Flip — substitute Jamaica rum
* Cold Gin Flip — substitute Holland gin
* Cold Whiskey Flip — substitute Bourbon or rye whiskey
* Port Wine Flip — substitute port wine
* Sherry Wine Flip — substitute sherry
* Hot Brandy Flip — brandy, sugar, egg yolk, hot water, grated nutmeg
* Hot Rum Flip — substitute Jamaica rum or
* Hot Whiskey Flip — substitute whiskey
* Hot Gin Flip — substitute Holland gin
* Hot English Rum Flip — ale, aged rum, raw eggs, sugar, grated nutmeg or ginger
* Hot English Ale Flip — same as Rum Flip, without rum and less egg white
* Sleeper — aged rum, sugar, egg, water, cloves, coriander, lemon
* Egg Flip — vanilla vodka, advocaat, cinnamon
* Peg Flip — pear vodka, advocaat, cinnamon

Advocaat is apparently "a rich and creamy liqueur made from eggs, sugar and brandy." Now you know. This will really liven up your next cocktail party.

There isn't only flip recipes, and some of the drink names are very interesting: Tears of the Widow of Malabar; Sighs of Love; Delight of the Mandarins, Elephant's Milk, Non-such Punch and Bimbo's Punch. There is also a section on how to drink Absinthe. Jerry is nothing if not thorough.

Here is the page on Non-such Punch:

Patriotic Willie

Looks like Willie the Whaler is doing his part for the war effort, promoting the sale of war bonds in this February 2, 1942 issue of The New Yorker.

But what naughty word has he uttered? "...put the darbies on the blasted .......s"?

The word darbies is British slang for handcuffs - probably the missing word is bastards, since it's nice and alliterative along with "blasted."

And not a mention of larceny or alcohol. I guess it's too much to ask of Willie to avoid naughty language too.

a very Willie Christmas

The 1941 run of New Yorkers certainly was a treasure-trove of new Willie the Whaler ads including this one - a close-up of Willie wishing a Merry Christmas! It's weird to see him this way, with fully-delineated hands - maybe too delineated. I almost missed this ad, the style is so different from the typical Willie ad.

shin cracker

Wow, Willie is on the job again. Of course he is dreaming of alcohol, in this case the previously discussed Gloucester Grog.

According to this web site a "shin cracker" was:

O. J. Walker’s wheel, of a type called a 'shin cracker' due to its tendency to whack the helmsman across shins when sailing in rough weather.

Here are the details:

tub of scooch

Mr. Willie T. Whaler is certainly looking annoyed and no wonder! The captain is planning to go searching for another whale (five and forty more) easting down, which could mean, according to dictionary.com either

1. the passage eastward from the Cape of Good Hope, as made by a sailing ship bound for Australia or the East Indies.

OR

2. the passage eastward from Australia, as made by a sailing ship bound for Cape Horn.

Either of which is a looooong way from the Whaler Bar!

Willie is jonesing for Scotch - I assume that's what "a tub of scooch" is - and apparently the bark The Wanderer doesn't carry any Scotch - normally Willie only refers to rum or rum-based drinks aboard that worthy vessel. I guess he likes to get a little variety into his endless boozing.

But what's the captain been smoking? He's going to the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn for a whale? Unless Willie's engaging in a little hyperbole. Looks like Willie will have to get by on rum for awhile. Oh no!

Here is a more detailed definition of "five and forty more" from the intriguing web site Girl on a Whale Ship:

"Five & forty more" was a phrase shouted by the crew when the last piece of blubber from any catch was swung inboard. It refers to 45 barrels, which is the average take from a single whale. No matter what size of the whale was, the call was never varied.