Friday, September 30, 2011
Ink-Slinger Profiles: T.S. Sullivant
Thomas Starling Sullivant was born in Columbus, Ohio on November 4, 1854, according to a passport application issued on July 7, 1873, and the book, 200 Years of American Illustration (1977). In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census he was the third of four children born to William and Caroline. They lived in Columbus, Ohio. Ten years later the family remained in Columbus. He was the third of seven children. His father was wealthy, owning real estate valued at $200,000 and a personal estate of $40,000. The Illustrator in America, 1860-2000 said Sullivant studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. He has not been found in the 1880 census.
Godey's Magazine, September 1897, published V. Robard's profile, "The Caricatures of T.S. Sullivant"; it can be read here. Robard wrote,
...Mr. Sullivant left Columbus at the age of eighteen and lived for several years in Europe, returning finally to Philadelphia. Though he had always drawn more or less for his own amusement, he never took his art seriously until he reached the age of thirty-three, when, after a comparatively brief study at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts [sic] in 1887, he apprenticed himself to E.B. Bensell, an illustrator of the old school, who drew on the woodblock.
In the 1900 census Sullivant was married with two children. They lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 3820 Spruce Street. He and Agnes had been married 17 years. His occupation was illustrator. A selection of his editorial cartoons can be viewed here and here.
Life Magazine, 12/26/1901
In the following census the family of five lived in Plainfield, New Jersey at 978 Park Avenue. Sullivant was a newspaper cartoonist. Major Rupert Hughes wrote an article about people who overcame handicaps; it was published in the Montgomery Advertiser (Alabama) on October 8, 1918. He wrote this about Sullivant:
…The American cartoonist, T.S. Sullivant, who has drawn so much laughter from the readers of Life, lost the use of his right hand, too. He learned to draw with his left and his followers never knew the difference.
Sullivant, his wife and oldest daughter returned to Philadelphia, at 2117 Delaney Street, according to the 1920 census. He was a magazine artist. He passed away on August 7, 1926. The New York Times published the Associated Press story on August 9.
Thomas S. Sullivant.
Illustrator, Formerly on the Staff of Life, Dies at 71 Years
Jamestown, R.I., Aug. 8 (AP).—Thomas Starling Sullivant of Philadelphia, until his retirement one of the oldest illustrators on the staff of Life, died at Maplewood Sanatorium here last night, in his seventy-second [sic] year. He had been spending the Summer in Jamestown with his wife and became ill three weeks ago.
Mrs. Sullivant was with her husband at the end, and their son, A.V.R. Sullivant, arrived from New York today. The body will be taken to Philadelphia for burial.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Thursday, September 29, 2011
News of Yore 1934: Chic Jackson Dies Suddenly
Chic Jackson, Cartoonist, Is Heart Victim
Creator of "Bean Family" Is Fatally Stricken When Leaving Office.
Indianapolis, June 3—(AP)—Chic Jackson, who created "The Bean Family," cartoon strip for the Indianapolis Star nineteen years ago, died suddenly today. He was 57 years old.
He was stricken with a heart attack a few feet from his office door as he left his office this afternoon, and died a few minutes later.
The activities of the "Beans" had spread in recent years to other middle western and eastern newspaper comic pages, but they remained a typically Hoosier family. One feature of the strip drew especial notice—the characters grew older as the years passed. "Woodrow Bean," a foundling on the Bean doorstep in 1914, now is a freshman in college.
Chic Jackson was born Dec. 31, 1876, in Muncie, Ind., where he attended school and was employed on the Muncie News when it was absorbed by the Muncie Star.
There he met Margaret Wagner of Springport, also employed on the newspaper, and they married on 1902. He was an illustrator and front page cartoonist.
Jackson and his bride went to Chicago, where he studied at the art institute, and then came to Indianapolis in 1907 to become artist on the Star. At first he did Sunday feature illustrating, later developing the Bean family.
Mrs. Jackson survives, with two sons, William Charles Jackson of Indianapolis, and Richard Wagner Jackson of South Bend. Two brothers are Dr. Frank Jackson and Warren Jackson, both of Muncie.
Funeral arrangements had not been complete tonight.
Kokomo Tribune (Indiana), June 4, 1934
[According to the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Charles Bacon Jackson was the youngest of four sons born to William and Sarah, whose name was not recorded; her name was found in the 1870 census. The Jacksons lived in Muncie, Indiana. He and his father were recorded in the 1900 census; they resided at 1100 East Main Street in Muncie. Jackson married on September 17, 1902 (Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941 at Ancestry.com). His father passed away on November 20, 1902 (Muncie County Health Office). In 1910, Jackson, his wife and two sons lived in Indianapolis at 924 Hamilton Avenue. His comic strip Roger Bean began in the Indianapolis Star on April 22, 1913. Jackson signed his World War I draft card on September 12, 1918; this document had his middle name. The family remained in Indianapolis at 3029 Broadway Avenue in the 1920 and 1930 censuses. Lastly, there was a Roger Bean Coffee advertised in the Indianapolis Star.]
Labels: News of Yore
Comments:
Roger Bean was a much beloved strip in it's time, among the earliest of what we could call a proto-comic book featured a collection of his strips.
The Manchester N.H. Leader ran it for almost exactly twenty years, from June 1914 to June 1934.
When Jackson died they ran a cartoon tombstone at the top of the funnies page that day, memorializing him.
The Manchester N.H. Leader ran it for almost exactly twenty years, from June 1914 to June 1934.
When Jackson died they ran a cartoon tombstone at the top of the funnies page that day, memorializing him.
# posted by 
: 9/29/2011 10:08 AM
: 9/29/2011 10:08 AM
Hi, I'm working on a project for Beech Grove Cemetery where Chic Jackson is buried and I was wondering how to go about getting the copyrights to your photo. Please let me know if you can help!
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Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Wrigley's Sunday Comic Strip Ads -- Part III
Last batch of Wrigley Sunday comic ads today. First we have a nice jam page, published October 9 1926, with characters from the Katzenjammer Kids, Tillie the Toiler, Boob McNutt, Toots and Casper and Freddie the Sheik.
Next, a strip published November 14 1926 featuring one panel each of (in order) Russ Westover's Tillie the Toiler, Knerr's Katzenjammer Kids, Chic Young's Dumb Dora, Freddie the Sheik by Jack Callahan, Harry Hershfield's Abie the Agent, and Jimmy Murphy's Toots and Casper.
Finally, bringing up the rear, we end with Pat Sullivan's Felix, presumably ghosted, as always, by Otto Messmer. This one was published May 1 1927.
Thanks to Cole Johnson for the scans of all these great ads!
Oh, and if you're wondering what in the world P.K. stands for, it's Philip Knight Wrigley, son of William Wrigley the gum magnate. All together now .... awww, isn't that sweet.
Labels: Advertising Strips
Comments:
Would these ads appear in a comic section outside of the Hearst chain?
# posted by : 9/28/2011 9:07 AM
: 9/28/2011 9:07 AM
Hello----Going against the trend of the actual artists contributing to these ads, the "Everybody's Doing It" episode has the Toots and Casper panel by Doc Winner.
# posted by : 9/28/2011 11:11 AM
: 9/28/2011 11:11 AM
Hi Mark --
I haven''t seen them elsewhere. I'd guess that Hearst volunteered the services of his cartoonists for this probably exclusive ad campaign. I wonder how many other ads there were in this series though?
--Allan
I haven''t seen them elsewhere. I'd guess that Hearst volunteered the services of his cartoonists for this probably exclusive ad campaign. I wonder how many other ads there were in this series though?
--Allan
Never heard of Freddie the Sheik!
That's ought to be a Obscurity of the Day feature to talk about!!!
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That's ought to be a Obscurity of the Day feature to talk about!!!
# posted by : 9/29/2011 10:37 PM
: 9/29/2011 10:37 PM Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Wrigley's Sunday Comic Strip Ads -- Part II
More Wrigley's Sunday comic strip ads from King Features cartoonists, courtesy of Cole Johnson. Today we feature George McManus' Bringing Up Father (published June 6 1926) and Rube Goldberg's Boob McNutt (August 29 1926).
Labels: Advertising Strips
Comments:
Hello---Wrigley's "P.K." (Named after the founder's son, Phillip K.), is still marketed internationally. It's really just chewing gum, here being called a "sweet" to make it seem a little classier, I guess.---
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# posted by : 9/27/2011 12:52 PM
: 9/27/2011 12:52 PM Monday, September 26, 2011
Wrigley's Sunday Comic Strip Ads -- Part I
(By the way, I posted last week that Cole was being chased around by a surgeon with a knife. Well, the report is in; Cole was indeed carved up but came through the ordeal and is home again breathing those refreshing old newspaper fumes.)
Labels: Advertising Strips
Comments:
Good to hear Cole is well.
What was the first advertising strip? Was it these?
What was the first advertising strip? Was it these?
# posted by : 9/26/2011 9:54 AM
: 9/26/2011 9:54 AM
Oh my, no. Assuming you mean advertising strips using licensed characters, they go further back. I recall seeing Mutt & Jeff ad strips, pre-1910 if I recall correctly. I can't think of any actual STRIPS earlier than that, but of course advertising using licensed characters goes right back to the Yellow Kid. I bet there are earlier strips than the M&J, too, but they're not coming to mind at the moment.
--Allan
--Allan
Wasn't there also at least one in this series where all (or at least six) Hearst cartoonists collaborated, each doing one panel with their characters?
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# posted by : 9/26/2011 12:38 PM
: 9/26/2011 12:38 PM Sunday, September 25, 2011
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Herriman Saturday
Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Friday, September 23, 2011
Obscurity of the Day: Butter & Boop
The late 1960s to mid-70s was a time when 'relevance' tried its darnedest to invade the comic strips. Whether advancing a social or political agenda, young cartoonists all seemed to have Something Important to say. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but if all these relevant strips had been picked up by papers, it would have been like reading a page of a social studies textbook every day on the comics page. The key, of course, is to get your point across with humor. Doonesbury and Pogo were masterful at combining humor with relevant content, and Wee Pals, appealing to a less sophisticated demographic, got its point across with a smile.
Butter & Boop is an example of a comic strip that tended to forget that nagging problem of being funny. And no wonder -- the comic strip was begun under the aegis of Black Light Inc., an inner city arts project that was sponsored by a do-gooder starch magnate (yes, there really is such a thing). The studio began in 1968 with a full complement of budding artists, but most drifted away until there were but two -- Louis Slaughter and Edward J. Carr. For reasons that seem a little misty in the retelling, these two guys, who seemed to have basically no interest in comic strips, began producing Butter & Boop. With starch money buoying up the self-syndicated operation and a big-hearted magnate encouraging these guys to "tell it like it is", a few papers were found to take the daily strip, which first appeared on May 15 1969.
The samples above are from two years into the run, and you'll have to take my word for it that the quality of the strip had already improved by leaps and bounds. The early stuff is quite militant and pugnacious in its desire to 'expose' inner city life to suburban newspaper readers. Although that flavor is still there two years later, Slaughter and Carr were toning it down and trying to entertain a little instead of beating readers over the head.
It was at this point that they were able to interest McNaught Syndicate in distributing the strip. McNaught took over syndication on May 17 1971. Despite the marketing push of a major syndicate, the strip found few new takers. The fact that the strip was still a little on the rough side, and that the similarly themed Wee Pals was in its heyday were the probable obstacles. Butter & Boop was with McNaught for a bit over two years; they seem to have parted ways in August 1973. The creators commented later in a February 1974 Ebony feature article that they didn't feel the syndicate did enough to market the strip and so they went back to self-syndication.
At that point the strip becomes really hard to find. Reading between the lines of the Ebony article the strip may have been down to two clients, the Kansas City Star and the Nashville Tennessean, neither of which I've had an opportunity to check. In the Ebony article, the creators seem to be saying that self-syndication was too much of a drain on their time and that if a syndicate couldn't be found then Butter & Boop was not going to continue much longer. The last indication I find that it was running is a citation that the co-creators got a Lord Calvert Whiskey Men of Distinction award in 1975.
EDIT: Looks like the last place it was seen running was August 1 1978 (mid-week) in the Virgin Islands Daily News.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
Butter & Boop ran in the PHILADELPHIA TRIBUNE at one time, and also the DELAWARE COUNTY DAILY TIMES (Chester, Penna.) ran it from 17 May 1971 until 15 September 1973.
# posted by : 9/23/2011 9:11 AM
: 9/23/2011 9:11 AM
Do you have any idea of Slaughter and Carr's birth years, and if they are still alive? A "Dewar's Profile" whisky ad of the two of them ran in 1975, saying they were were ages 25 (Carr) and 32 (Slaughter). I can do the math, but that is plus or minus a year. I ask because I'm writing an article for a reference book and I'm finding it near impossible to locate information on the pair. Here is a link to the ad: http://books.google.com/books?id=xEMdQgT54O8C&pg=PA28&lpg=PA28&dq=%22Louis+Slaughter%22+Kansas+City+comics&source=bl&ots=Mmi9AiO_gV&sig=0PaIuX3utgQHh_EbqIszpFtpRfQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=p5M9T8bJEunx0gGJ-uXfBw&sqi=2&ved=0CDYQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=%22Louis%20Slaughter%22%20Kansas%20City%20comics&f=false
# posted by : 2/16/2012 6:48 PM
: 2/16/2012 6:48 PM
Just stumbled in here looking up "Butter and Boop." For anonymous, the age of Louis Slaughter was about right although I suspect that he might have been a couple of years older. I went to school with Louis and his brother, Michael, for a year or two in the Kansas City area in the early 1950s. As I recall, they moved to the area from Lexington, MO.
# posted by : 11/14/2013 5:44 PM
: 11/14/2013 5:44 PM
I Have 18 of these strips can you tell me more info on them?what they would sell for and who to contact about these strips please?
# posted by : 10/14/2014 7:58 PM
: 10/14/2014 7:58 PM
Spotted "Butter and Boop" in the archived funny pages of the Santa Rosa Press Democrat. As you noted, it's credited to "Black Light Inc." I had to look it up. Looks like B&B first appeared in the Press Democrat on Monday 14 June 1971, dropping NANCY to make room for it! Thanks for the info!
I found "Butter & Boop" in the Virgin Island Daily News (news.google.com/newspapers), where it ran from 12/30/69 to 8/1/78.
# posted by : 7/13/2020 5:10 AM
: 7/13/2020 5:10 AM
Dear Adam, Hi! My name is Judyth Hill, and I am editing a book for Lisa Garmon. Her husband, Gary Garmon, along with his friend, George Price, created the comic strip, Butter and Boop.
She would like to quote and cite your 9.2011 blog, Obscurity of the Day: Butter & Boop....
Would you please grant us permission for that?
My email is Judythhill@gmail.com
Thank you so much!
Judyth
She would like to quote and cite your 9.2011 blog, Obscurity of the Day: Butter & Boop....
Would you please grant us permission for that?
My email is Judythhill@gmail.com
Thank you so much!
Judyth
The latest I found running on Kansas City Times is July 1, 1978 (the strip ran in Kansas City Star on Mon-Fri). The Nashville Tennessean dropped it sometime in 1976.
https://i.imgur.com/I5goVdu.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/I5goVdu.jpg
The original art for 12/24/1971 is currently being auctioned at Russ Cochran Auctions. I've notified the staff there as it is described as "Unknown by Unknown":
https://russcochranauction.auctionanything.com/Bidding.taf?_function=detail&auction_uid1=6586248
[I have no financial interest in this auction or this item]
https://russcochranauction.auctionanything.com/Bidding.taf?_function=detail&auction_uid1=6586248
[I have no financial interest in this auction or this item]
Louis Slaughter is my Uncle on my mothers side. I have a few original strips he gave me over the years. I’d never sell them but I’m happy to hear the strip is still being talked about in some way.
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# posted by : 11/03/2023 10:10 PM
: 11/03/2023 10:10 PM Thursday, September 22, 2011
Ink-Slinger Profiles: Jerry Stewart
Gerald W. "Jerry" Stewart was born in Pine Bluff, Arkansas on May 18, 1923, according to the Social Security Death Index and an obituary in the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel (Indiana) on October 30, 1995, which said "he moved to Fort Wayne one year later."
In the 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Stewart was the oldest of three children born to William and Evelyn. They lived in Fort Wayne, Indiana at 1823 John Street. His father was a "car repairman" for a "rail road shop." Polk's Fort Wayne City Directory 1937 listed the Stewart family at 327 Melita Street.
The U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946, at Ancestry.com, show Stewart enlisted on February 26, 1943; he had two years of college; his civil occupation was porter; his height was 65 inches and weight, 124 pounds. Polk's Fort Wayne City Directory 1945 recorded Stewart and his father on page 493.
Stewart GW USA r327 Melita
Stewart Wm (Evelyn B) reprmn PRR h327 Melita
After Stewart's initials it said "USA" which, I think, referred to his service in the Army; he was a resident at the address. His father's listing included his mother's name, his father's occupation as repairman for the Pennsylvania Railroad, and home address. Indiana's Laughmakers: The Story of Over 400 Hoosiers: Actors, Cartoonists, Writers and Others (1990) profiled Stewart and wrote, "Stewart joined the News-Sentinel as a copy boy on March 25, 1946. He was promoted to staff artist three months later." The News-Sentinel obituary said, "Stewart was the first minority hired by The News-Sentinel and was a pioneer in the newsroom." His listing in Polk's Fort Wayne City Directory 1946, page 547, was, "Stewart Gerald W (Manda R) artist News Pub Co r327 Melita". Stewart married some time in 1945 or 1946. His listing was the same in the following years through 1949.
Polk's Fort Wayne City Directory 1950, on page 539, recorded him as, "Stewart Gerald W (Amanda R) artist News Pub h915 Horace". His comic panel, Little Moments, debuted in 1961.
Indiana's Laughmakers said, "In 1986 he received the Indiana Journalism Award from the Ball State University journalism department. In 1986 he retired after 40 years with The News-Sentinel. He and Amanda, his wife of 40 years, plan to remain in the Fort Wayne area, where Stewart continues to serve as a volunteer art teacher for inner-city children…" (The profile was based on the article, "Artist's 40-year Career Draws to a Close Today," published in The News-Sentinel, on May 30, 1986.)
Stewart passed away on October 29, 1995, in Fort Wayne, according to the Social Security Death Index and News-Sentinel obituary.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Comments:
I remember seeing Stewart's cartoons quite often when I was growing up, but I have to confess that his style didn't appeal to me back then. He had at least one or two books published locally, and it was always interesting to know that we had a real, live, local cartoonist amongst us.
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Wednesday, September 21, 2011
News of Yore: Death of Walter R. Bradford
The Camera, July 1925
Walter R. Bradford, the creator of those inimitable cartoons of the "Pickleweights," "Scow," "John Dubalong" and "Jingling Johnson," which featured for so many years in the daily pages of the North American, died at his home in Philadelphia, June 4th, of tuberculosis, against the inroads of which he had courageously fought for months, arousing the admiration of his associates by his heroic cheerfulness and unabated flow of humor.
The closing down of the North American, however, was a severe blow to him, as it seemed like a separation from all that he had so delighted in for years. His desk had become his playground as much as his workshop. When his newspaper passed to the hands of the Public Ledger, Bradford was the radio editor, and his creations in that role were of the same subtle humor which characterized his exploits in other roles.
Walter Bradford was 53 years old. He was born in Dayton, Ohio, and began work in the Studebaker Carriage Works, at South Bend, Ind., but his inherent talent for sketching led him to attend the night classes for instruction in drawing and inadvertently to the [missing text] John T. McCutcheon [missing text].
He worked for some time on the Chicago Tribune and the North American, shifting to theBaltimore Herald, finally settling down again with the North American. Bradford's whole soul was in whatever he undertook and he enjoyed the children of his own brain probably as much as those who eagerly waited for their performance in the daily issue of the paper.
Leary and his Wonderful Tomato Can
Mr. Bradford said he loved his work and got fun out of his characters as if they had actuality. Enoch, Maria, Dill Pickleweight and Scow, the black cat. Walter Bradford's cartoon-sketches had an individuality. His characters remind us of the characters of Charles Dickens. They not only were intensely humorous, but they had that touch which made them real, reflecting the traits and frailties of human nature with geniality and sympathy, which made them more than comic representations, for Bradford had a fine mental organization and a subtle apprehension for the best in human nature, which he reflected in his cartoons. There was never anything cynical, for his sympathetic, kindly nature was foreign to anything pessimistic. Bradford was well read in English literature and could discourse on authors and analyze in a way that would have given him renown as a literary critic. He was an expert photographer and a pictorialist and his work possessed individuality of treatment, reflecting his peculiarity of temperament and his judgment in selection. He contributed papers to The Camera, written in his humorous style and illuminated by most original photographs, and arrangements were being made for his connection with the editorial staff when the sad news came of his death.
Walter Bradford's ability as a critic in art rendition by the camera gave occasion frequently for invitation to serve on jury awards, and his decision evinced sane judgment in analysis.
While insistent on the necessity of conformance to the time-honored rules and principles of art, he was broad in his views and appreciated all the advances made by the new photography, and was unbiased in his estimation of individuality of expression. Although he never put his own work in competition, it was characterized by possession of taste and originality and emphasized by the personal equation.
His literary contributions to the photographic journals were instructive, though instruction was conveyed in an Aristophanic way, which was most delightful, accompanied by illustrations intensely funny, but hitting off to perfection the idiosyncrasies of pictorial cults.
He is survived by his widow, who was born in England, and his son, William Bradford.
Mrs. Rummage
[Walter R. Bradford was born in Dayton, Ohio in May 1872, according to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census and numerous obituaries. In the 1880 census, Bradford was the youngest of five children born to Harry and Sarah. They lived in South Bend, Indiana at 46 General Taylor Street. His father was a painter.
In 1900 Bradford lived in Chicago, Illinois, at 301 Osgood Street, with his wife Sara, of six years, and son William. His occupation was recorded as typewriter. (Bradford's playful sense of humor at work!) At the Chicago Tribune, he produced Animal Land and Languid Leary and his Wonderful Tomato Can, and helped out on the strip Alice's Adventures in Funnyland. Some of his strips for the Philadelphia North American were Doctor Domehead, Tommy Tuttle, The Geteven Youngsters, and Fitzboomski the Anarchist.
In 1910 they were recorded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 1245 56th Street. Bradford was a newspaper cartoonist, and ten years later, he was still cartooning but in Willistown, Pennsylvania on Monument Road. Bradford passed away on June 4, 1925, in Philadelphia. Cartoons & Movies published an obituary in its June 1925 issue, which has some of the art training information that is missing in The Camera article.]
Labels: News of Yore
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Obscurity of the Day: The Almost Family
I'd like to point out an example of the subtle little things that, to my mind, set apart a great comic strip creator from a hack. Notice in the top strip that we never actually see poppa getting walloped by the coal man. Instead Bradford lets us fill in the blank by having Junior comment on dad's new cauliflower ear. A small point, surely, but when you read as many bad comic strips as I do, that sort of little thing is thrilling. It's a nod to the reader's basic ability to make a simple inference that few comic strip creators, even today, seem to grasp. When Junior makes his comment, the reader takes a beat and in a moment a mental image of pater saying something smart to the coal man and getting a knuckle sandwich in return is conjured. Draw the reader in, make him a co-conspirator -- good advice for any cartoonist, or for that matter, an artist of any stripe.
Thanks to Cole Johnson for the samples! I just heard that Cole is in the hospital, going into surgery this morning. I'm sure all Stripper's Guide readers join me in sending Cole best wishes for a most positive outcome and a speedy recovery.
Labels: Obscurities
Monday, September 19, 2011
Obscurity of the Day: That Smith Boy
Thanks to Cole Johnson for the scan!
Labels: Obscurities
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Herriman Saturday
Did you notice that famed cartoonist Jimmy Swinnerton gets caricatured in this collection of vignettes? And have you noticed that Herriman's duck, someday to be known as Gooseberry Sprig and have a strip of his own, is now a regular mascot to his sports cartoons?
Sam Coulter, the fellow with the bandaged ear, was a local boxer; he has only two known professional fights, both of which he won. Dick Dunnigan was a local attorney; I don't know why he had privileged access to Jimmy Britt.
Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Friday, September 16, 2011
Ink-Slinger Profiles: Ed Goewey
Edwin A. "Ed" Goewey was born in Albany, New York in July 1871. Goewey's father was a resident of Albany when he received his patent for an improvement to a tea kettle design, as recorded in Commissioner of Patents Annual Report, 1864; also, he was listed in the Albany Directory 1875. The date of birth is from the 1900 U.S. Federal Census.
In the 1880 census, Goewey was the oldest of three children born to J. Augustus and Mary. They lived in Albany at 142 Swan Street. His father was a jeweler. The first time Goewey's name appeared in the Albany Directory was 1887; he was an editor. The listing was the same the following two years.
In the 1890 directory his occupation was reporter for the Albany Morning Express. The following two years his occupation was clerk. According to the 1893 directory he had moved to New York City. His Albany Directory listing was clerk in 1894, then back to reporter in 1895 to 1897. There was a significant occupation change, in 1898, to artist.
The 1900 census recorded Goewey in Brooklyn, New York at 257 Prospect Place. He had been married to Harriet for six years. His occupation was newspaper writer and artist. In 1904 he produced the comics series Fish Stories and Handy Andy, the Man of Good Intentions, and worked on Joco and Jack. He also contributed to Cousin Bill from the City in the second half of the decade.
Baltimore American, 11/13/1904
In 1910 Goewey and second wife, Gertrude, lived in Brooklyn at 581 Park Place. He was an artist and writer for magazines. The New York Dramatic Mirror (New York) reported the following on November 16, 1910 [date corrected 10/28/2013]:
Edwin A. Goewey, who for the past five years has been connected with the Leslie-Judge Company, first as art manager of Judge and later holding a similar post as well as that of sporting editor with Leslie's Weekly, will soon leave for the West to join the forces of the Kansas City (Mo.) Post. On the latter publication Mr. Goewey will have charge of the dramatic desk, acting both as critic and dramatic cartoonist. His series of caricatures of stage folk that has been running in Leslie's Weekly for some two years will be continued as a feature on the Post. Mr. Goewey was with the World for some years as a writer and artist, and later conducted newspaper art departments in St. Louis.
His father passed away on July 25, 1917 according to the Hartwick Village Cemetery website. Goewey has not been found in the 1920 census.
Ten years later Goewey and Gertrude lived in Queens, New York at 162-33 Yuma Lane (later renamed 86th Avenue). His occupation was a writer for magazines. The census said Gertrude was 25 years old at the time of her first marriage, presumably to Goewey, which would have been around 1905.
Goewey passed away on July 18, 1930. The New York Times published a death notice on July 20.
Goewey—Edwin A., husband of Gertrude B. Goewey, July 18. Funeral services Sunday, Albany, N.Y.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Comments:
I've just spent an hour trying to track down that quote from the Dramatic Mirror. The paper didn't go to press on the 6th, only on the 2nd and the 9th.
I know this is an older post, but is there any chance you have any notes or anything on this? I've gone through both issues and can't find it anywhere...
I know this is an older post, but is there any chance you have any notes or anything on this? I've gone through both issues and can't find it anywhere...
You're correct. I made the error of writing 6 instead of 16. The article was published November 16 and is on page 10, at the bottom of column 3.
The Jocko and Jack comic that was in the Baltimore American 11/13/1904 was in the San Diego Union on 11/27/1904 ... first comic I've run into for a while... they've been having Puzzle cartoonish art... the Witches Puzzle, the Elephant Puzzle etc.
The Union had some strips in 1903... artists I don't know...copyright TCMcClure.
The Union had some strips in 1903... artists I don't know...copyright TCMcClure.
Only recently discovered Goewey, and that through his writing. He seemed no average illustrator, one can only wonder where he would have gone if he had lived until the golden age of comics. But, if you want to read his short fiction, one of his stories has been reprinted Gwandanaland Comics facsimile reprint of the January 1927 issue of Ghost Stories.
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Thursday, September 15, 2011
Obscurity of the Day: Do You Remember Your Kid Days?
The bottom sample may be confusing to today's audience, so I should explain that back in those days rag recycling was an actual occupation. Rag-pickers would gather up clothes and other materials that were beyond use and in turn sell them to companies that recycled them. Rags were used in paper-making (you've heard of rag paper?).
Thanks to Cole Johnson for the samples!
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
I don't know about wacky weed, but that first strip is so disjointed that it looks like Goewey was struggling to figure out what ought to come next and how to make it all hang together. The black bear someone just happens to have, the hysterical villagers, and the grandma who changes appearance from one panel to the other is all just part of the odd fun.
The man with the bear is a stereotype of what once would be a familiar sight, the travelling trained bear act. The man(always depicted as an Italian) would make the bear dance for pennies, much as an Organ Grinder with a monkey. In fact there's a comic strip about such a pair, Bruno and Pietro.
# posted by : 9/16/2011 9:46 AM
: 9/16/2011 9:46 AM
Thanks Mark. I assumed it was supposed to be some sort of trained bear act, but it just strikes me as strange ... as well as terribly dangerous.
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Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Ink-Slinger's Profile: Fred Morgan
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| First signed cartoon in Inquirer, 7/21/1898 |
Frederick "Fred" Morgan was born in England in February 1865, according to the 1900 U.S. Federal Census; his birth year differs in later censuses. He has not been found in the 1880 census. So far, the earliest mention of Morgan, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, was on August 31, 1889; an advertisement for James S. Earle & Sons, an art dealer, listed a piece, "School Belles," by Morgan. In the Inquirer column, "Everybody's Column," of May 21, 1904, there was an answer to Miss E.G.G.'s question about Morgan: "His name is Fred Morgan and he resides in this city. His father was an artist of renown in Great Britain…." There was a London artist Frederick Morgan (1846-1927), who might be his father. A biography at Rehs Galleries said
...Fred Morgan married three times. His first wife was the genre and landscape artist Alice Havers (1850-1890) and together they had three children. Their eldest son became an artist and exhibited landscape and figure subjects regularly at the Royal Academy under the name Val Havers. With his second wife, he had two children, one of whom also became an artist....
I believe the child from the second marriage may be Morgan the editorial cartoonist. The date of Morgan's employment at the Inquirer is not known. The Inquirer of September 15, 1899 mentioned him.
…Several fine proofs had been pulled of the splendid portrait of Admiral Sampson which accompanies this paper and which was drawn from a very recent photograph by Rau, of Philadelphia, by Fred Morgan, of The Inquirer's art staff. The original pen-and-ink drawing was presented to the Admiral and then the famous officers attached their signatures to the proofs….
In the 1900 census he was boarding in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania at 931-933 Arch Street; his occupation was Inquirer artist. Also in the same building were an Inquirer editor and manager. The census said Morgan immigrated to the U.S. in 1875. The census also revealed that he married in the 1880s; his three children, Horace, Dorothy and Ruth, resided at the Five Points House of Industry, an orphanage, in New York City. The oldest, Horace, was born in New York in January 1890. The fate of Morgan's wife is not known.
Morgan was thoroughly entrenched in the newspaper artists community. The Inquirer, on October 23, 1902, reported the following:
Newspaper Artists' Exhibition
A special meeting of the Newspaper Artists' Association was held at 1430 South Penn square yesterday, when preliminary steps were taken for holding its second annual exhibition in December. The following executive committee was elected to serve until the end of the present year: F.V. Wilson, Charles Bell, W.M.F. Magraw, John Sloan, Herman Rountree, Arthur Crichton, Jean Mohr, Walt McDougall, William Hofacker, F.R. Gruger, Fred Morgan, V. Floyd Campbell, Henry Gage and Mrs. Benson Kennedy. The manager of the last exhibition, C.W. Parker, was appointed to take charge of the coming show.
In the 1910 census, Morgan was reunited with two of his children, Horace and Dorothy. They lived in Philadelphia at 3331 Gratz Street. His occupation was newspaper artist, and his age was given as 48, which made his birth around 1862. The Inquirer published an advertisement in its July 14, 1918 issue, highlighting its coverage of the war. Near the bottom of the ad was a box about its comics and cartoonists.
FRED MORGAN, the leading cartoonist of the United States, not only draws cartoons on the war, but he also deals with national and State political issues and important events of every kind throughout the world.
Alone, Morgan remained at the same address in 1920. He was a newspaper cartoonist. His age was listed as 58. In the Inquirer's "Everybody's Column", of May 26, 1921, was this item:
Size of Original Cartoons
Editor Everybody's Column:—Would you please print in your wonderful column how large is the original cartoon which appears every day on the editorial page? Do these cartoons have to be drawn a certain size to fit 2 columns, 3 columns, 4 columns, etc? Hoping to see this in your column soon. Y.T.
A one-half reduction is the general rule. Our friend Fred Morgan, however, had long made it a practice to draw his cartoons about three times larger than the cut they are intended for, with a view, no doubt, to preserve the fine lines for which his work is noted.
Next time you pass by 1109 Market st., have a look at the original exhibited every morning in the Inquirer's window.
Morgan's youngest daughter lived with him at the same address in the 1930 census, which recorded her as Florence (Rawlinson), her middle name. She was divorced. According to the census, Morgan was 70 years old, which made his birth year 1860. And the census recorded his age as 27, at the time of his first marriage. Further information about him has not been found. I believe the Inquirer published his obituary, but it has not been found.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Comments:
The English painter Fred Morgan was born in 1846, his first wife in 1850, and she died in 1890. It is nearly impossible that the illustrator Fred Morgan (born in 1865, came to the US in 1875) was a son from the second marriage of painter Fred Morgan (who, as far as we know, never migrated to the US), considering that Fred Morgan was only 31 (and his first wife only 26) when his son supposedly moved to the US.
# posted by : 9/14/2011 9:30 AM
: 9/14/2011 9:30 AM
Note also that "School Belles" was a famous 1877 painting by the English painter Fred Morgan, so the 1889 mention of it may well be a reference to the English painter, not to the US illustrator
# posted by : 9/14/2011 9:32 AM
: 9/14/2011 9:32 AM
On a more positive note, he seems to have worked at the Inquirer at least as early as 1898 (http://msmcdushistory2.pbworks.com/w/page/21881743/American-Imperialism-Political-Cartoon-Activity)
# posted by : 9/14/2011 9:39 AM
: 9/14/2011 9:39 AM
That's a very good point about the birth year, 1846, of Fred the painter, who would have been about 19 when Fred the illustrator was born, if that date is accurate. Without a birth certificate or baptismal document we really don't know how accurate the census info was. It's true Fred the painter did not immigrate to the U.S., but, for the sake of argument, his second wife could have immigrated on her own and brought her children with her; maybe she had relatives in America. A passenger list, if it exists, with her and the children's names would clear that up.
Fred the illustrator may have been 10 years old when he arrived in America in 1875, according to the 1900 census. Again, we don't know how accurate that date was. About twenty-five years had passed when he was asked about his year of immigration. My experience with census information is that inconsistencies and errors abound.
I concede that the reference to the painting "School Belles" was probably the work of Fred the painter.
Looking back at the first paragraph, there is this line about Fred the illustrator's father, "His father was an artist of renown in Great Britain." Here are two lines from Fred the painter's biography at Rehs Galleries website, "Frederick Morgan was born in London, England in 1847. His father John Morgan (1823-1886) was a genre artist who received his training in Paris France under the French painter and teacher Thomas Couture (1815-1879)." Fred the painter and John Morgan are the two most prominent Morgans in the art field, of that time, that I am aware of. If Fred the illustrator was not the son of Fred the painter, could he have been the son of John Morgan, who would have been around 42 years old at the time of Fred's birth. Another question would be, "Who was the mother?" Of course, this is speculation, but it might explain why Fred the illustrator was sent to America.
Who were the parents of Fred the illustrator remains unclear.
On a more positive note, the first editorial cartoon by Morgan appears to have been published on July 21, 1898 in the Philadelphia Inquirer; on the day before, there was an unsigned cartoon that resembles Morgan's work.
Fred the illustrator may have been 10 years old when he arrived in America in 1875, according to the 1900 census. Again, we don't know how accurate that date was. About twenty-five years had passed when he was asked about his year of immigration. My experience with census information is that inconsistencies and errors abound.
I concede that the reference to the painting "School Belles" was probably the work of Fred the painter.
Looking back at the first paragraph, there is this line about Fred the illustrator's father, "His father was an artist of renown in Great Britain." Here are two lines from Fred the painter's biography at Rehs Galleries website, "Frederick Morgan was born in London, England in 1847. His father John Morgan (1823-1886) was a genre artist who received his training in Paris France under the French painter and teacher Thomas Couture (1815-1879)." Fred the painter and John Morgan are the two most prominent Morgans in the art field, of that time, that I am aware of. If Fred the illustrator was not the son of Fred the painter, could he have been the son of John Morgan, who would have been around 42 years old at the time of Fred's birth. Another question would be, "Who was the mother?" Of course, this is speculation, but it might explain why Fred the illustrator was sent to America.
Who were the parents of Fred the illustrator remains unclear.
On a more positive note, the first editorial cartoon by Morgan appears to have been published on July 21, 1898 in the Philadelphia Inquirer; on the day before, there was an unsigned cartoon that resembles Morgan's work.
Ok I am the Great Granddaughter of Frederick Sommerville Morgan 1865-1932. He was born May 22 1862 in London. I was told from my Mother and grandmother that Fred's father was Matthew Somerville Morgan 27 April 1839 London - 2 June 1890 New York City was an artist known mainly for his cartoons in various publications.
I can not verify this as family records were Lost. I was told Fred came to USA some times between 1885 and 1890. His wifes name is no where to be found Yet. ( I am still looking for that) Fred's wife that he did have 3 children with were Horace, Ruth Florence, Dorothy, Died not long after giving Birth To Dorothy. Fred not having anyone here to help him with the Children put them into a home for children untill he could care for them. No records could be found on them so far. The Fred Morgan (1847) you talk about was an Uncle to our family. As for him Leaving England, My Mother was told that he was doing policial cartoons on the Royal Family and was told to leave England. I do know that My Fred Morgan Got Married around 1889 before coming here to stay in USA. Fred's Children Dorothy lived a quiet Life in Phila Untill 1960 and then moved to Cape May NJ where she passed in 1980. Ruth Florence Did not live with her father as she was married in england to a J Rawlinson from London. She divorced Him and went back to school to become a Nurse working with Mental Handicapped people in Phila.Until she passed away. Horace I have no infomation on him as no one ever spoke of him, I found him on the 1900 census In House of Industry. I am trying to locate the records for the House of Industry, as if someone was sick and got off a boat from another country they were sent to this place to live, Parents were seperated from the Children, untill a family could prove that they made enough money to support their family. My mom or Grandmother never had a drawings that Fred did. But I know that they were In England in 1893-1894 as I have a oicture of my Aunt from England Photographer. I hoppe this helps with some of the confusion..
I can not verify this as family records were Lost. I was told Fred came to USA some times between 1885 and 1890. His wifes name is no where to be found Yet. ( I am still looking for that) Fred's wife that he did have 3 children with were Horace, Ruth Florence, Dorothy, Died not long after giving Birth To Dorothy. Fred not having anyone here to help him with the Children put them into a home for children untill he could care for them. No records could be found on them so far. The Fred Morgan (1847) you talk about was an Uncle to our family. As for him Leaving England, My Mother was told that he was doing policial cartoons on the Royal Family and was told to leave England. I do know that My Fred Morgan Got Married around 1889 before coming here to stay in USA. Fred's Children Dorothy lived a quiet Life in Phila Untill 1960 and then moved to Cape May NJ where she passed in 1980. Ruth Florence Did not live with her father as she was married in england to a J Rawlinson from London. She divorced Him and went back to school to become a Nurse working with Mental Handicapped people in Phila.Until she passed away. Horace I have no infomation on him as no one ever spoke of him, I found him on the 1900 census In House of Industry. I am trying to locate the records for the House of Industry, as if someone was sick and got off a boat from another country they were sent to this place to live, Parents were seperated from the Children, untill a family could prove that they made enough money to support their family. My mom or Grandmother never had a drawings that Fred did. But I know that they were In England in 1893-1894 as I have a oicture of my Aunt from England Photographer. I hoppe this helps with some of the confusion..
# posted by : 4/21/2012 1:20 PM
: 4/21/2012 1:20 PM
Yes, Fred Morgan is the son of Matt Morgan, the cartoonist for Frank Leslie's (1870-1875) and the general manager of Strobridge Lithography, Cincinnati (1880-1885). Father and son worked together on Collier's Once-A Week (1888-1890). Fred came to the US when his father did in 1870. He became a naturalized citizen in 1888.
Matthew Sommerville Morgan was Fred Morgans son. Matthew died in 1890 in New York City NY. Fred came to the US when his father asked him to help out with his work. His first trip here was in 1885 to help with Collier's. He would come here for a month do his job and go back to England. As, His Mother died he went back to help his brothers and sisters out. Fred Married Elizabeth Brotherton 1888 in England and their first child was born 1889. Fred never did get his naturalized citizenship here. Fred died in 1932 in Philadelphia PA.
# posted by : 2/27/2014 12:20 PM
: 2/27/2014 12:20 PM
If anyone is still out there, I am the great grand daughterof Fred Morgan. I have the Morgan family box, with pictures drawings newspapers and documents. If anyone is interested in pursuing the information on him, you may contact me.
I would like to contact JMorganGGD. I am a descendant of Fred Morgan also (the great-grandson of Fred Morgan's daughter Dorothy). This is first time I've used blogger so I don't how contacts can be made. Feel free to email me at gmedwards8758@gmail.com
I would like to contact both JMorganGGD and GMEdwards though I do not know how to do so belonging as I do to an earlier generation.
I am writing the biography of Matthew Somerville Morgan and know a good deal about his two remarkable careers in England and the United States.
I welcome emails at chris.kent@usask.ca
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I am writing the biography of Matthew Somerville Morgan and know a good deal about his two remarkable careers in England and the United States.
I welcome emails at chris.kent@usask.ca
# posted by : 5/25/2021 1:42 PM
: 5/25/2021 1:42 PM Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Ink-Slinger Profiles: F.R. Morgan
Fred Royal Morgan was born in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin on February 8, 1885, according to Wisconsin Births, 1820-1907 at Ancestry.com. In the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, he was the oldest of two sons born to Joseph and Jennie; the family lived in Chippewa Falls at 426 Chippewa Street. In the Wisconsin State Census 1905, Morgan was a newspaper artist, presumably for one of the Wisconsin papers. His father's name was recorded as Vesper.
A selection of strips from, top to bottom, April 12 and 13, and May 8 and 10, 1913.
The 1910 census recorded Morgan in Chicago, Illinois at 6059 Ellis Avenue. He was a newspaper artist. His comic strip, The Nut Club was distributed in 1913 by the Western Newspaper Union. The Trenton Evening Times (New Jersey) published the strip beginning on April 12 and ending on May 11; it was published daily except Fridays but included Sundays. The Nut Club replaced O.U. Chump by "Gosh". (O.U. Chump has been attributed to Pete Llanuza, but I believe Myer Marcus was the artist.) The strip was also published weekly in Kentucky newspapers Mt. Sterling Advocate and Breckenridge News; both papers can be found at Chronicling America.
He signed his World War I draft card on September 12, 1918. He was employed as a mechanical draftsman at the Chicago Northwestern Railroad. His description was short height, medium build, brown eyes and black hair. He and his brother, Robert, resided at 1321 North Dearborn. On the back of the draft card Robert wrote, "I personally know that the registrant has a bad chronic infection of second turbinate bone sending a constant discharge." Morgan suffered from a chronic nose infection.
Morgan has not been found in the 1920 and 1930 censuses. For the McClure Syndicate, he produced Dolly the Drummer in 1925. He passed away on September 14, 1947 in New York City. The Brooklyn Eagle (New York) reported his death on September 16.
Fred R. Morgan, Cartoonist, 62
Fred Royal Morgan, 62, cartoonist and freelance commercial artist, died Sunday night in the Roosevelt Hospital, Manhattan, after a brief illness. He resided at the Hotel Diplomat.
Mr. Morgan, a native son of St. Paul, Minn. [sic], was a son of the late Vesper Morgan, Judge of the Circuit Court of Wisconsin, and formerly lived in Chippewa Falls, Wis. After studying at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, he did political cartoons for the Chicago American and drew a comic strip called "The Nut Club," which was syndicated by the Western Newspaper Union.
Later, coming to New York, he worked for the New York Evening Graphic, one of his duties being drawing of cartoons in which he rated the popularity of vaudeville acts at the Palace Theater. After leaving the Graphic he became associated with the New York Daily Mirror. In recent years he had specialized in commercial art.
Surviving are a brother, Robert C. Morgan, of Garden City, publisher of The Travel Agent and the American Travel, trade magazines.
It should be noted that this is not the Fred Morgan who drew editorial cartoons for the Philadelphia Inquirer for many years in the first quarter of the century.
It should be noted that this is not the Fred Morgan who drew editorial cartoons for the Philadelphia Inquirer for many years in the first quarter of the century.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Monday, September 12, 2011
Obscurity of the Day: The Nut Club
The other interesting thing about The Nut Club is the syndicate. Western Newspaper Union, provider of boilerplate material to rural papers, really didn't get into the comic strip game until the 1920s, so to find a comic strip series from 1913 distributed by them was quite a surprise to me. It sure does make me wonder if there could be a lot more WNU comic strip material from the 1910s lurking out there. Nice to know that they were putting prominent copyright tags on their material, though, so I don't have to start worrying that they produced material that I've credited to other syndicates.
But there's even more to the syndication. The early strips in this series were copyright by Joseph B. Bowles and ran in the Chicago Daily News. Bowles ran an eponymous newspaper syndicate in the 1900s-10s which specialized in short articles about science, history and the like. Comic strips seemed to be way out of his line, and the Chicago Daily News certainly had no need of his wares between having their own cartooning staff plus whatever they wanted from Associated Newspapers. Why they ran The Nut Club (and a second strip named Butch) from Bowles is a mystery. Bowles' only other comic strip connection is that he brokered a deal between George Peck and the Philadelphia North American to do a Peck's Bad Boy strip back in 1906-07. So how and why did Bowles, WNU and the Chicago Daily News, all based in Chicago, come together for this one comic strip? Wish I had an answer to that. It's certainly not like F.R. Morgan was a huge draw that brought rivals together to capture his genius.
So, some interesting stuff going on here, perhaps the least of which is the actual strip itself. Not that it was a bad strip, mind you. In fact it's pretty funny. I especially like the membership applications, with questions like, "Number of Bats in Belfry ____". The strip ran from February 10 until about November 1913. Several papers have been found running the strip into 1914, but I think they're all late. The Racine Journal-News has a relatively consistent run that ends on November 4.
Labels: Obscurities
Comments:
Hello Allan-
I see the NUT CLUB running until 20 March 1914 in the (Owosso, Mich.) Evening Argus. I couldn't say if at some point they became reruns, all have a 1913 copyright in the title, but that would seem to be part of an immovable boilerplate. There's nothing special about the final one, and the date is a friday, not finishing a week out, if that means anything.
Also, you will remember two years ago I speculated that MR. HENRY PECK AND HIS FAMILY AFFAIRS and UNOSPHISTICATED OSCAR might be the earliest WNU strips because of their size and the trash panel. Now this one fits in well with those titles, and it has the WNU imprint.Good evidence?
I see the NUT CLUB running until 20 March 1914 in the (Owosso, Mich.) Evening Argus. I couldn't say if at some point they became reruns, all have a 1913 copyright in the title, but that would seem to be part of an immovable boilerplate. There's nothing special about the final one, and the date is a friday, not finishing a week out, if that means anything.
Also, you will remember two years ago I speculated that MR. HENRY PECK AND HIS FAMILY AFFAIRS and UNOSPHISTICATED OSCAR might be the earliest WNU strips because of their size and the trash panel. Now this one fits in well with those titles, and it has the WNU imprint.Good evidence?
# posted by : 12/13/2021 1:22 PM
: 12/13/2021 1:22 PM
In re Oscar and Peck being WNU products, I admit I am slightly bent in the wind by how similar the headers are to this strip, and of course the drop panel. But the fact that this strip carries a prominent syndicate slug and the others do not, and that they don't seem tyo appear in a healthy list of patent insides papers still keeps me from being able to jump on the bandwagon. I'll mention the possibility in their listings, tho.
--Allan
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--Allan
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Herriman Saturday
Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Friday, September 09, 2011
Ink-Slinger Profiles: Bil Dwyer
William Raphael Louis "Bil" Dwyer, Jr. was born in Ohio on January 29, 1907, according to the North Carolina Death Collection, 1908-2004 at Ancestry.com. In the 1910 U.S. Federal Census, he lived with his parents, William and Minnie, in Portsmouth, Ohio at 57 West Second Street. Dwyer Sr. was employed as wire chief at the telephone company; his full name was found on his World War II draft card.
Dwyer lived in Perrysburg, Ohio at 348 First Street, according to the 1920 census. The household included his sister and maternal grandmother. His father was a telephone engineer. In the book Milton Caniff: Conversations (2002), Caniff said he enrolled, in Fall 1925, in Ohio State University, where he met Dwyer and Noel Sickles. Presumably, Dwyer had taken art classes during his four years of college (U.S. World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938–1946, Ancestry.com).
Dwyer was unemployed in 1930; he lived with his parents and two siblings in Paint, Ohio on Blazer Road. The date of his move to New York City is not known, but he produced material for King Features. In 1932 he took over the strip Dumb Dora from Paul Fung; an excerpt from Milton Caniff: Conversations of Will Eisner's interview with Caniff, which was first published in Will Eisner's Spirit Magazine, numbers 34 and 35:
Caniff: …[in 1932] when I reached New York I called Bil Dwyer who had also worked on the Columbus Dispatch.
Eisner: Oh—he did Dumb Dora, that was it.
Caniff: Well, it's pertinent here. I called him just socially and told him I was in town to say hello. I didn't know where he lived, on Christopher Street. I didn't even know where Christopher Street was. So he said, "My God, I'm glad you called! I've got a problem here. Come on down!" This was like the first night I was in town and he had been submitting things to King Features and selling gags, by the way, to the magazines, Colliers and the New Yorker. Anyway, he had submitted a gag-type strip to King Features and he got a call back saying that Paul Fung was being pulled off Dumb Dora and Dwyer had the assignment. Here he was suddenly with six strips and a Sunday page to do and he'd never done anything except single panels.
Eisner: Oh boy!
Caniff: And he was in trouble. Frank Engli was helping him.
Eisner: Frank Engli...He was a sports cartoonist, right?
Caniff: No, he did lettering. He later on did a strip called Looking Back, about stone age characters—
Eisner: Oh, I see.
Caniff: —very well done cartooning. But his lettering was especially good. So I went down to see them and they were laboring away at the first release. Bil was a good gag writer, but he'd never had this kind of assignment before. So he said to me, "Will you sit in on this thing and especially draw the girls?" So I laid out the first batch of stuff and again, it was not hard for me to do because I had those eleven o'clock deadlines every morning. And so then I inked the girls and he inked the other characters; very simple drawing.
Eisner: Who wrote the stuff?
Caniff: Dwyer. He was a very good gag man. Chic Young had originated the character and then Paul finally took over from Chic when Chic started Blondie. Paul was drawing it before Dwyer. I never did find out, by the way, why he withdrew.
Eisner: Dumb Dora was a very successful strip in its day.
Caniff: Maybe Fung had a fight with King Features. I don't know and I never did ask. So we made the deadline, which was the thing that was bothering Dwyer, but in the mean time I had to go to work the next morning at eight o'clock....
Dwyer's first Dumb Dora daily appeared on September 5, 1932, and his first Sunday on October 30, 1932 (see above); the strip was cancelled in 1936. He was living in Pinellas County, Florida, when he was enlisted in the army, on August 27, 1943. Where and how long he served is not known.
He produced the syndicated strip, Sandy Hill, which ran from 1951 to 1954. The date of his move to North Carolina is not known. The Laurel posted an article about Highlands, North Carolina where Dwyer lived. The author walked on Main Street and recalled his memories of him:
How about more recent times? Leeann and Charlie Maybury moved from Florida and opened the Cheese Shop in the old Talley and Burnette Building, a dry goods store owned by Harvey Talley and Johnny Burnette now occupied by Paoletti’s Restaurant, on Main Street. It was across Main Street from Bill [sic] Dwyer’s Merry Mountaineers shop in what had been Louis Edwards’ wood work shop, later the Bird Barn and now a new building for the Acorns Shop.
I digress.
The Cheese Shop was famous for their piled high sandwiches, much like those of the Sports Page today. Another favorite was their loganberry fruit drink. No carbonation but so different from the other soft drinks. Worth Gruelle, of Raggedy Ann and Andy fame like his father Johnny Gruelle, favored the loganberry fruit juice. He would buy two glasses and walk across the street to see his friend Bill Dwyer and share the juice. Bill was in his second retirement with his wife Louise. He had been a newspaper comic strip artist that included Dumb Dora as well as doing cartoons for many national magazines. He also worked with Walt Disney on a number of animated feature films. He and Worth would sit on the bench in front of the Merry Mountaineer and have many interesting discussions.
Among his books are Dictionary for Yankees and Other Uneducated People (1971); Southern Appalachian Mountain Cookin' (1974, with Louise); Thangs Yankees Don't Know (1975); Southern Sayin's for Yankees and Other Immigrants (1976); 2001 Southern Superstitions (1978); How Tuh Live in the Kooky South Without Eatin' Grits: A Fun Guide Book Fer Yankees (1978); Cookin' Yankees Ain't Et (1980, with Louise); Southern Folks Yankees Should Know (1981); Sexy Birds of the South: Fun Book For Yankee Bird Watchers (1982).
Dwyer passed away on December 13, 1987, in Highland, North Carolina, according to the North Carolina Death Collection and Social Security Death Index.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Comments:
Bill Dwyer was an amazing artist. I have many of his small original works. I am missing a great deal of his work that was given to me by his sister, Ruth Dwyer (White) who was my grandmother aND which was being stored for me by my father, William White who died earlier this year. I believe the collection is in the possession of my step mother who has basically stolen it from me.
Bill Dwyer was an amazing artist. I have many of his small original works. I am missing a great deal of his work that was given to me by his sister, Ruth Dwyer (White) who was my grandmother aND which was being stored for me by my father, William White who died earlier this year. I believe the collection is in the possession of my step mother who has basically stolen it from me.
I met him years ago in Highlands NC. We saw him every summer and he would remember us. He autographed a couple of his little pamphlets for us. I really liked him.
That Laurel article, and a couple of other sources, have also claimed that Dwyer worked on the Disney films Pinocchio and Fantasia, but I have not been able to verify that. (I am limited to extensive googling, though, and haven't been able to check anything but what's available online.) I'd love to know what your thoughts are on that.
I actually purchased this artwork from William White before he passed in Diamondhead, Ms. I still have all of it currently.
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# posted by : 9/16/2024 11:12 PM
: 9/16/2024 11:12 PM Thursday, September 08, 2011
Ink-Slinger Profiles: H.C. Greening
Harry Cornell Greening was born in Titusville, Pennsylvania on May 30, 1876, according to Who Was Who in America: With World Notables, 1969-1973 (1973); his World War I draft card has the same birth date. In the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, Greening was the oldest of two sons born to Samuel and Margaret, and they resided in Titusville, Pennsylvania at 56 Monroe. His parents were Canadian and his father was a traveling salesman. Who Was Who in America said he had a public school education, “attended night class Art Students' League, New York. First work appeared in New York Herald, 1896, and sold drawings to Truth and Life same year; on staff New York Journal comic supplement, 1898; subsequently connected with Judge, Puck, Life, Harper's, Scribner's, etc.”
In 1900 the family lived in East Orange, New Jersey at 38 Hollywood Avenue. Two more sons were in the family. Greening’s occupation was cartoonist. Who Was Who in America said he was the “originator of various comic series, including Prince Red Feather series for St. Nicholas; drew Percy page series for New York Herald.” Other strips, this decade, include Joco and Jack, Uncle George Washington Bings, and Prince Errant.
Lexington Herald (Kentucky), 5/20/1906
He illustrated The Gentle Grafter by his friend, O. Henry. In 1907 ten stories appeared in the San Francisco Call: June 9; June 16; June 23; June 30; July 7; July 14; July 21; July 28; August 4; and August 11. The stories were collected and published in 1908. It can be viewed at Project Gutenberg.
In 1910 Greening, his parents and youngest brother stayed in East Orange at 9 North Grove Street. He was a cartoonist for periodicals. His strip, Majah Moovie, for the New York Herald, was advertised in the Evening Post (New York) on December 19, 1914; from the ad: “A new comic in full colors by H.C. Greening, ‘Majah Moovie’ wishes to preserve a reel diary for posterity and prepares everything in advance.” In 1918 his strip Fritz von Blitz was published. He signed his World War I draft card on September 9, 1918; his occupation was cartoonist at the New York Herald. His description was tall height, medium build with brown eyes and hair. Who Was Who in America said he “was officially sanctioned by the U.S. Govt. and was used abroad for the A.E.F. [American Expeditionary Force]; made cartoons for the govt.”
In 1910 Greening, his parents and youngest brother stayed in East Orange at 9 North Grove Street. He was a cartoonist for periodicals. His strip, Majah Moovie, for the New York Herald, was advertised in the Evening Post (New York) on December 19, 1914; from the ad: “A new comic in full colors by H.C. Greening, ‘Majah Moovie’ wishes to preserve a reel diary for posterity and prepares everything in advance.” In 1918 his strip Fritz von Blitz was published. He signed his World War I draft card on September 9, 1918; his occupation was cartoonist at the New York Herald. His description was tall height, medium build with brown eyes and hair. Who Was Who in America said he “was officially sanctioned by the U.S. Govt. and was used abroad for the A.E.F. [American Expeditionary Force]; made cartoons for the govt.”
The family of four remained at the same address in 1920. Greening was still a newspaper cartoonist. According to the World Encyclopedia of Cartoons (1980) he drew “for the McClure Newspaper Syndicate (a kid strip, Eb and Flo) and the Illustrated Daily News of Los Angeles. He was the inventor of Sporty Sam and Funnyfishes toys and developed the Wishbone Man Game, which was based on his Eb and Flo strip, as was a storybook.” [Allan's note: I can find no evidence that The Wishbone Man was ever officially titled Eb and Flo or syndicated by McClure -- as best I can tell it originated with Cornelius Vanderbilt's CV Syndicate] The Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 1, Books, Group 1, New Series, Volume 21, Number 71, October 1924 has an entry, on page 640, for Greening.
Greening, Cornell, 1876—
The Wishbone Man; a fairy story for the right kind of boys and girls, by Cornell Greening. New York & London, The Century co. [1924]
31, [110] p. illus. 17 1/2 x 23 1/2. $1.00
© Aug. 15, 1924; 2c. and aff. Aug. 19; A 800520; Century c.
(24-19414) 4401
The Wishbone Man comic strip, Hamilton Daily News (Ohio), 4/10/1925
The date of Greening’s move to Los Angeles, California is not known. He was recorded in the 1930 census as a newspaper cartoonist in Los Angeles at 335 Fremont Avenue. He was in the news when a drawing of him was returned; the Times-Picayune (Louisiana) had the story on April 4, 1930.
Artist Gets Lost Drawing by Caruso
(By the Associated Press)
Los Angeles, Cal., April 3.—Enrico Caruso, the tenor, before his death a few years ago, exercised his hobby by making a crayon sketch of Harry Cornell Greening, pioneer comic strip artist.
Caruso autographed the picture, sent it to Greening, and a few days later it disappeared. Wednesday, from New York, Greening received the sketch in a letter, which did not disclose the name or address of the sender.
The date and place of Greening’s death is not known at this time. The World Encyclopedia of Cartoons said it was circa 1930, while AskArt.com has it at circa 1945. Greening was alive in 1941 and lived well into the 1940s. The New York Times published a death notice, on December 5, 1941, on his youngest brother.
Greening—On Thursday, Dec. 4, 1941, Edward H., son of the late Samuel H. and Margaret Greening of 181 North Oraton Parkway, East Orange, N.J., in his fifty-third year, brother of Charles H. and Harry C. Greening….
The New York Times published, on May 9, 1945, a letter from Greening who wrote, on April 26, from a New York address. On the September 12, 1945 letters page of The Sun (New York, N.Y.) a reader responded to a Greening letter regarding British food. It appears Greening moved to New York City in the 1940s.
Greening was mentioned in the end notes of the book, The Unknown Night: The Genius and Madness of R.A. Blakelock, an American Painter (2003). The Encyclopædia Britannica said artist Ralph Albert Blakelock, “suffered a breakdown in 1891 and spent most of the remainder of his life in New York state mental hospitals. During his confinement his fame burgeoned, and his paintings began to bring high prices. The National Academy of Design made him an academician in 1916, three years before his death.”
The Unknown Night has a chapter on Blakelock’s time in East Orange, New Jersey, where Greening once resided. When Blakelock was released from the asylum it was a major news story, and no doubt, Greening was aware of it. He corresponded with New York Times art critic, Edwin A. Jewell, and two of his letters are noted in the book on page 324, “…letter from H. Cornell Greening to Edwin A. Jewell, 1/13/1942…”; and “Letter from H. Cornell Greening to Edwin A. Jewell, 1/4/1946…” Greening was mentioned on page 325, “…More reliable, in this case, is H.C. Greening, who lived across the street and described the 'extensive' Johnson garden, where he said Blakelock had a studio.”
The Post-Star (Glens Falls, New York) reprinted a Greening letter on September 25, 1946.
City Is Given Boost in Ed Sullivan’s Column
The City of Glens Falls is highly complimented in a letter printed in Ed Sullivan’s famous “Little Old New York” column in the New York Sunday News. The letter, which classifies Glens Falls “as neat a little town as we have in this country.” follows:
“Dear Ed: Noted you line that your family comes from the Saratoga country of New York State, and like it. Me too. I've lived all over the world, excepting Australia, but I know of no finer place than this section. Never had an appetite, yet landed in this section, I want six meals a day, including a double breakfast. My great, great grandfather, Col. Robert Harpur, had a “farm” of 180,000 acres up near Saratoga, according to a book in the public library. He was born in Scotland, went to Dublin U. as a professor, fell in love with the Irish and when he came to America to joint the staff of Kings College, he got the idea of bringing over large groups of Irish. He was a man of means, so he brought over three shiploads of immigrants and put them to work raising flax. How this turned out I don’t know, but Troy, Amsterdam and many other towns in upstate New York still specialize in shirts and collars. Glens Falls, near Saratoga, is as neat a little town as we have in this country. Cordially, Cornell Greening.”
He was not listed in Manning’s Glens Falls, South Glens Falls, Hudson Falls and Fort Edward [New York] Directory for the available years 1941, 1942, 1944, 1946, 1948 and 1949. He was alive in 1946, and, apparently, into the following year. The FictionMags Index has a listing for the periodical, Blue Book, February 1948, which had an article, “New Evidence”, written by Cornell Greening and Richard March; it was about “curious circumstances in the life of John Booth just before his crime.” What became of Greening is still a mystery.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Comments:
Sold my copy of "The Wishbone Man" many years back, sometimes to my regret. It had a few pages of prose about a Knight Errant and then launched into the strip reprints. Well done little landscape title with a picture and quote from young Jackie Coogan on the dustjacket, and another quote by Cornelius Vanderbilt on the back. Seems to be quite rare these days, which explains why I got such a nice price for my copy.
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