Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Obscurity of the Day: He's Talking to a Stranger
At first only two titles alternated -- He's Talking to a Stranger, an entertaining bit featuring blowhards who expound on subjects about which they may not have quite the grasp they think, and Victim Number ..., a series that was sort of a snarky adult version of Briggs' When a Feller Needs a Friend. Each episode gave the victim a more-or-less random number.
In June of 1917 DeBeck tired of the Victim title and began a series titled Feeding the Jinx, but this title in turn disappeared after July of that year and the Victim series was resurrected. In early 1918 two more series titles were added, Brother Bulls and Ain't Bothered.
DeBeck didn't get much time to explore the possibilities of his new series, because when Hearst bought the Herald in May the feature was dropped, on May 4 to be exact. DeBeck's other series, Married Life, did continue under the new Hearst regime.
Labels: Obscurities
