Saturday, June 18, 2011
Herriman Saturday
In Today in Sports, Herriman bids goodbye to Gavvy Cravath and Walter Carlisle, who were picked up by the Red Sox at the end of the PCL season. Cravath would go on to an impressive major league career, Carlisle on the other hand only made a handful of appearances with the Sox in 1908.
Cliff Peuman, a local boxer of little note, is also featured, as are Battling Nelson and Rudy Unholz, about to meet in the ring on the 4th of this month.
Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons
Friday, June 17, 2011
News of Yore: C.R. Macauley
Brooklyn Eagle Personalities
Today—Meet
C.R. Macauley
Editorial Cartoonist
[Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 9/22/1929]
Charles R. Macauley's first cartoon appeared in the Canton Repository in 1892, on the defeat of John L. Sullivan by James J. Corbett…he loses patience with people who ask him if Canton is in Ohio, where it is…He'll bet on it because he was born there…although he can't prove it because he hasn't been there in 35 years…he has drawn for Puck, Judge, Life, the World, and the New York Herald…he started out in life as a bookkeeper…discovered that he couldn't add, and was eventually fired for drawing a caricature of his boss in the company ledger…he became a cartoonist two weeks after winning a prize offered by the Cleveland Press for the best cartoon on the subject of Thanksgiving…he conceived the unusual idea of including a Turkey in the winning composition…and got a job on the Cleveland World two weeks later as cartoonist…
when he works he wears a blue smock and a stiff collar…his favorite hates are hypocrisy and intolerance…he likes the theater, the movies and all sports, among which he classes chess…he likes the color blue, when it's touched off with a complementary of yellow…he gained considerable reputation as an artistic, albeit amateur book-binder…he's never written a testimonial letter or interviewed Bernard Shaw, whom he classes as the world's foremost humorist…he thinks Mussolini is a synonym for applesauce…his godfather and mentor, who was President William McKinley, did his best to talk him out of art into commerce, unsuccessfully…back in the days when "T.R." was bullying the Big Navy into being, it was Macauley who drew the "Big Stick" and sent it thumping its way down the Ages…
he has known five Presidents intimately, although one of his very best friends was the late Chuck Connors, Mayor of Chinatown…one of his most cherished possessions is a personal letter written him by the late President Wilson a few weeks before his death…he gets goose pimples when you mention the name of Volstead…and Prohibition has him to thank for its emblem, the camel…he has no hobbies, and collects anything…he prefers Biographies to all other forms of literature, and smokes cigarettes in a long, black holder…he has read Einstein and claims actually to understand the Theory of Relativity…which he'll explain to anybody who'll listen…he is an eager student of Astronomy, and once spent two weeks behind the Telescope at Mount Wilson, same being the largest in the world…he has several pet hates but can't remember what they are…
he averages seven hours of sleep every night, although he doesn't need more than five…with the exception of the Executive Offices, he has the only office in the Eagle Building that has a carpet…he has no superstitions, and eats fish on Friday only because he likes it…his chief ambition is to make a good after-dinner speech, but he has never been able to gratify it…his office walls are covered with contemporary cartoons signed by Briggs, Rollin Kirby, Ned Brown, and Maurice Ketten…he thinks there should be a law against thin soup…he is married and likes it…his favorite sport is trout fishing in blue water, and he wears tortoise-shell glasses…he smokes cigars when he has to…his middle initial stands for Raymond…and he declares vehemently that if he had it to do all over again he'd be a cartoonist. —Rian James
[Charles Raymond Macauley was born in Canton, Ohio on March 29, 1871, according to The Artists Year Book (1905). In the 1880 U.S. Federal Census, he was the first of three children born to John and Abbie; they lived in Austintown, Ohio. A few years later the family returned to Canton where Macauley would meet his godfather, William McKinley, the future president of the United States.
In 1900 Macauley was a cartoonist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he boarded at 1416 Arch Street, near the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. The following year he returned to New York City. In 1910, Macauley, his second wife, Emma, and daughter, Clara, lived in Manhattan at 203-205 West 112th Street; his occupation was cartoonist at a newspaper. He moved to California where the 1920 census recorded him and his third wife, Edythe, in Los Angeles at 6778 Hollywood Boulevard; he was a cartoonist in the motion picture industry. The book, Los Angeles from the Mountains to the Sea (American Historical Society, 1921), has an excellent profile, up to 1920, of Macauley.
The couple returned to New York City. Macauley's Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoon, Paying for a Dead Horse, can be viewed at the Ohio Newspaper Association website. The cartoon was published in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle on February 23, 1929; the award was announced on May 13, 1930. The Macauleys lived in Brooklyn at 231 Ocean Avenue, as recorded in the 1930 census. Macauley succumbed to multiple ailments on November 24, 1934 in New York CIty. Excerpts from the New York Times article of November 25:
Charles Raymond Macauley, the newspaper cartoonist…died yesterday morning in St. Vincent's Hospital after an illness of only a few days. The causes of death were pneumonia, a cardiac malady and low blood pressure.…From 1901 to 1904 he was engaged in literary work…Besides a number of novels which he wrote and illustrated, Mr. Macauley wrote several photoplays. His written works, besides "Fantasmaland," were "The Red Tavern." "Whom the Gods Would Destroy," "Keeping the Faith," "The Man Across the Street" and "The Optimistic Spectacles."…
…Mr. Macauley was born at Canton, Ohio, on March 29, 1871, the son of John K. and Abbie Burry Macauley. He went to public school in his home town but devoted more time to sketching his teachers than to study…For forty years Mr. Macauley's cartoons had appeared in leading newspapers and periodicals in New York and Philadelphia, but for three years previous to his coming East he had drawn cartoons for newspapers in Canton and Cleveland….Walt McDougall, veteran cartoonist, said of Macauley that he was "a heaven-inspired thirty-third degree master cartoonist."
He married three times. His first wife, whom he married in 1893, was Miss Clara Hatter. They had one daughter, Clara. He married Miss Emma Worms in 1897. In 1914 he married Miss Edythe Belmont Lott, who survives. Mr. and Mrs. Macauley lived at the Hotel Chelsea, 222 West Twenty-third Street….]
Labels: New of Yore
Comments:
wow this is cool, Clara daughter of Charles is my great grandmother, we have a few items from Charles, his silver flatware set monogrammed M a signed first edition of fantasmaland with additional illustrations my aunty has several drawings and my uncle has the Pulitzer Prize Charles won, Clara married Howard I Earl.
you can contact me at
jonearl1985@hotmail.com
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you can contact me at
jonearl1985@hotmail.com
# posted by 
: 7/05/2014 10:24 PM
: 7/05/2014 10:24 PM Thursday, June 16, 2011
Obscurity of the Day: Mr. Goodthynge
Mr. Goodthynge is nothing memorable plot-wise, harried husband yada yada yada, but the art, of course, is topnotch.. The series ran in the New York Herald January 13 to February 3 1901.
Labels: Obscurities
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Ink-Slinger Profiles: George Hopf
George Hopf was born in New York City in September 1880 according to an obituary and the 1900 U.S. Federal Census. Researching his older sister, Nellie, I found their parents, Christ and Sophia, in the 1880 census; Nellie was born in December 1877 and lived on Ninth Avenue in Manhattan.
In the 1900 census, Hopf and his sister lived with an aunt, Johanna Reiff, and her family in Manhattan at 339 East 80th Street. It is not known what happened to Hopf's parents. Nellie's occupation was listed as artist while her brother's line was blank. She may have been an artist, but it might have been a census enumerator's entry error. According to the 1910 census, she married around 1901 to John Merklein and moved to North Dakota. During this decade Hopf found work at the New York World where he produced strips such as Reddy the Rooter and Opportunity, which were found at Chronicling America.
Hopf was married and lived at 1050 Amsterdam Avenue as recorded in the 1910 census. His wife, Dorothy, had been married to him for a year. His occupation was artist in a studio. In the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Part 4, Works of Art, etc., 1914, New Series, Volume 9, Number 3, on page 299, there is a "Geo. C. Hopf" who did seven nursery rhyme drawings (e.g. Old King Cole, Little Miss Muffet) plus three others, used on lantern slides, for the Armstrong Cork Company of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Hopf has not been found in the 1920 census. In 1930, he was divorced and a cartoonist who lived 341 Lexington Avenue. Some time later he remarried. His panel, Animalgrams, appeared in the late-1930s (Allan's note: I cannot vouch for the existence of this feature).
The Kingston Daily Freeman (New York) reported Hopf's passing on September 7, 1949.
Cartoonist Hopf Dies in WoodstockGeorge Hopf, nationally known cartoonist of New York, who lived during the summers at his home in Woodstock, died Monday afternoon. Funeral will be held tonight at 8 o'clock at the Lasher Funeral Home, Woodstock, and cremation will take place Thursday morning in Troy.Mr. Hopf was born in New York city. He has been coming to Woodstock for the summer season since 1919. He was formerly employed on the old "Evening World," was connected with the firm of Drygoods Economist for many years; and with the Federal Advertising Agency for 10 years. During the last few years he has been doing free lance work.He originated the comic strip, "Reddy, the Rooter," also "Lollypop" and the little dog character of the same name. For the New York Herald Tribune, he created "Animal Grams."Surviving are his wife, Mrs. Magda Hopf, and one sister, Mrs. John Merklein of Eatonville, Wash.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Comments:
Animalgrams appeared in the LA Times in late 1937. However, I can't access it, so I can't say whether it qualifies as a comic strip or not.
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&tbs=cdr:1%2Ccd_min%3A1920%2Ccd_max%3A1950&tbm=nws&source=hp&q=%22animalgrams%22+hopf+1937&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=a6c1a6f91aa006d5&biw=1600&bih=741
http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&tbs=cdr:1%2Ccd_min%3A1920%2Ccd_max%3A1950&tbm=nws&source=hp&q=%22animalgrams%22+hopf+1937&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=a6c1a6f91aa006d5&biw=1600&bih=741
# posted by : 6/16/2011 10:20 AM
: 6/16/2011 10:20 AM
Hello, All---"ANIMALGRAMS" was actually done for the HERALD-TRIBUNE's syndicated Sunday magazine supplement, "THIS WEEK". The supplement began on Feb. 24, 1935, and outlived the Herald-Tribune by a few years, ending in 1969. THIS WEEK appeared as part of the LOS ANGELES SUNDAY TIMES beginning on Sept. 12, 1936, and it's the earliest issue I have access to. ANIMALGRAMS is already there on that date, and the last one appeared on Mar. 27, 1938. It's a small, one-column cartoon with a four-line humorous poem about the animal of the week.
# posted by : 6/18/2011 2:03 PM
: 6/18/2011 2:03 PM
CORRECTION! The date of the earliest found THIS WEEK is actually Sept. 12, 1937. My eyes are going on me.
# posted by : 6/18/2011 2:05 PM
: 6/18/2011 2:05 PM
My Google news link aboce gives as the earliest date 25 April 1937, and as the latest date 26 December 1937. Those dates don't come from the LA Times but from the Baltimore Sun.
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# posted by : 6/21/2011 9:18 AM
: 6/21/2011 9:18 AM 
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Obscurity of the Day: Mr. Fergetit
Hopf's first series at the World was Mr. Fergetit, which ran from August 21 to September 24 1904 as a single-tier quickie in the Sunday comics section. Why this delightful cartoonist wasn't given better billing is a mystery to me. Here was a guy who really 'got' how a newspaper strip worked when plenty of other cartoonists at the big New York papers still seemed pretty clueless.
Profuse thanks to Cole Johnson for the heads-up on the existence of this strip and the scans!
Labels: Obscurities
Monday, June 13, 2011
Ink-Slinger Profiles: Johnny Gruelle
John Barton Gruelle was born in Arcola, Illinois on December 24, 1880, according to Patricia Hall, author of the biography, Johnny Gruelle, Creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy (Pelican Publishing Company, 1993). Her website, Raggedy Land, has a bio of Gruelle. Another bio of Gruelle can be found in Ray Banta's book, Indiana's Laughmakers (PennUltimate Press, 1990).
In the 1900 U.S. Federal Census he was the oldest of three children born to Richard and Alice. The family lived in Indianapolis, Indiana at 517 Tacoma Avenue. Like his father, Gruelle's occupation was artist. The Indiana Marriage Collection, 1800-1941 recorded the date of his marriage to Myrtle J. Swann as March 24, 1901. In 1908 he did the strip Handy Andy.
In 1910 Gruelle and family lived in Rockport, Ohio at 1501 Mars Avenue. His occupation was artist drawing cartoons. His daughter, Marcella, would be the catalyst for the creation of Raggedy Ann books and dolls. Dorothy Cryder's Copley News Service article about Raggedy Ann's origin was published in many newspapers.
...One day Johnny drew, for his own pleasure, a funny rag doll and called her Raggedy Ann. The comic strip proved so popular it immediately caught the fancy of the reading public….
…One day in 1914, his little daughter, Marcella, then 12 years old, was playing in the attic of their home. She found an old rag doll tucked away in the a storage barrel.
Disappointed that its face had worn away with time and hard play by a former owner, she hurriedly went down the stairs, carrying the doll to her father, begging him to give it a new face.
Though busy with his work, Johnny always was glad to oblige his young daughter. She was a frail child, and he loved her dearly. He gave the doll's face a smile, shoe-button eyes and a funny nose….
...In 1916, at the age of 14, Marcella died. Her father was grief stricken, but he kept the memory of his daughter alive by keeping the Raggedy Ann doll on his desk.
From this doll's inspiration, Johnny Gruelle wrote Raggedy Ann books of which Marcella was the mistress of all the dolls in each story. And each doll had a smiling face and shoe-button eyes, just like the one that sat on Johnny Gruelle's desk…
In 1915 Gruelle did the strip The Troubles of the Titmouse Twins. He signed his World War I draft card on September 12, 1918. He lived at 2 Union Park in Norwalk, Connecticut. He was described as medium height and build with brown eyes and hair. In 1920 the Gruelles and two sons lived in Norwalk, Connecticut at 152 East Avenue.
They remained in Norwalk in 1930; the family included a daughter-in-law. Gruelle moved his family to Dade County, Florida, at 4455 North Meridian Avenue, as recorded in the 1935 Florida State Census. He passed away on January 9, 1938 in Miami Springs, Florida. The New York Times covered his death on January 10, 1938.
John Gruelle Dead; Cartoonist, Writer
Creator of Comic Strip 'Brutus' Was on The Herald Tribune -Wrote Children's Books
Miami Springs, Pla., Jan. 9 (AP).—John Gruelle, cartoonist and writer, died at his home here today of a heart attack. His age was 57. Survivors include the widow and two sons, Worth and Richard. Mr. Gruelle came here from Norwalk, Conn.
Mr. Gruelle, who had been associated with The New York Herald Tribune since 1928, created the comic strip "Brutus," which he drew for The New York Herald from 1910 to 1921 (sic; they mean Mr. Twee Deedle, 1911-18-Allan), after it won a $2,000 prize offered by The Herald.
He was the author of many books, including "Raggedy Ann," which had an enormous sale; "Raggedy Andy," "Raggedy Ann and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees," "Raggedy Ann's Wishing Pebble," "Eddie Elephant," "Little Orphan Annie Stories," [sic: "Orphant Annie Story Book,"] and "The Johnny Mouse Stories." He sponsored several dolls named after his characters.
Mr. Gruelle wrote many juvenile stories for The Woman's World. From 1912 to 1923 he contributed to Judge the weekly page, "Yapps Crossing," and at other times he had provided for Life a page called "Yahoo Center," and for College Humor, another, "Niles Junction." He was born in Arcola, Ill., and began newspaper work in Indianapolis.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Jim Ivey's Sunday Comics
