World through a Monacle

This morning in lecture I mentioned — while showing this familiar image of the Five Points — that the little fellow up front to the left, the one with the top hat, always reminds me of Eustace Tilley, The New Yorker‘s monacled mascot.

Turns out this week’s magazine includes the results of the 2008 Eustace Tilley contest, in which readers were invited to redesign Tilley for the contemporary city. Lots of people submitted Obamafied versions; lots of representations of a homeless Tilley too (which, along with Tilley the suicidal investment banker, seemed to speak to our current economic crisis).

Here are a couple of my favorites; the rest of the entries can be found here.