In February, 1925, the first issue of The New Yorker was published, featuring a drawing by the art editor Rea Irvin of a top-hatted dandy examining a butterfly through his monocle. This dandy—later named Eustace Tilley—has made an appearance on the cover virtually every February since and, in the process, has become one of the most recognizable mascots in the history of magazines. After Eustace’s busy year celebrating his hundredth birthday, the artist Barry Blitt finally let him sit, for his hundred-and-first birthday, front and center at the movies. “As an inveterate hat wearer, I’ve often been asked to remove my fedora or Borsalino by a fellow audience member at a movie,” Blitt said. “It’s yet another reason I’m thankful for Netflix and the Criterion Channel.”
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