Stripper's Guide: Rolfe Who?

Friday, November 03, 2006

Rolfe Who?

You just never know where you're going to learn something interesting. This ad from the October 21 1939 edition of Editor & Publisher trumpets the addition of Brenda Breeze to the NEA syndicate lineup. The strip was not of any great consequence and is hardly remembered today, but it had a long prosperous run of 23 years.

But that's not the interesting part. What interested me was that the strip was signed just "Rolfe" for all those years, and I never found any further information about the creator except for a quick mention in Ron Goulart's The Funnies, wherein we are told that the creator's name was Rolfe Mason. I took that as mystery solved and dutifully logged the name in Stripper's Guide. Now along comes this ad, about the only advertising NEA ever bothered to do for the strip, and we learn in the fine print at the bottom that 'Rolfe' is actually Rolfe Memison, so called "internationally known artist and humorist".

Okay, so it's not exactly solving the riddle of the Sphinx, but I'm always gratified to find a nugget of knowledge tucked away in an unexpected place. And Rolfe Memison, internationally known artist and humorist, you can rest easy knowing that your rightful fame is restored, and no longer someone named Rolfe Mason getting credit for 23 years worth of pretty gals and pantomime yoks in the Sunday funnies.

Labels: News of Yore