Dining with “Us Mortals”

From 1917 until 1955, W. E. Hill (William Ely Hill) created weekly panels of cartoons for newspapers under the overarching title “Among Us Mortals.” They featured ordinary people going about their business in public settings – always in ways that revealed their foibles. Clearly he was a sharp observer of people who possessed a wry sense of humor. His project – a “romance of the commonplace” – has been compared to that of Charles Dickens. I began “collecting” his images when I noticed that his observations often took place in restaurants.

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Summer People, 1937

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The Age of Hurry, 1939

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Quick Lunches, 1941

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Summer Tea Room, 1946

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A Waiter’s Headaches, 1955

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Where They Lunch, 1955

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Where They Lunch, 1955