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Thursday, August 14, 2014

Obscurity of the Day: G. Whiskers




Geoffrey "Fola" Foladori, a Uruguayan cartoonist, received worldwide syndication of his strip, G. Whiskers, through Press Alliance. While that syndicate may have been a selling gangbuster overseas for all I know, in the U.S. the features they handled are scarcely ever found.

Although G. Whiskers was advertised in Editor & Publisher  from 1940-58, the only samples of the strip thus far found in U.S. papers are from 1942-43 (collection of Cole Johnson). If anyone has see the strip appearing earlier or later in a U.S. newspaper, I'd appreciate hearing from you.

Foladori's strip probably went by different names depending on the country. For instance, apparently in a French-Canadian paper the strip was titled Tibi.The strip was ideally suited for international distribution because it is a strict pantomime (which means that in addition to no dialog, there are also rarely labels on objects). An impressive achievement, to be sure.

Thanks to Cole Johnson for the samples.

2 comments:

  1. Great information!
    Fola live his life in Uruguay and works most of his life in Argentina.
    I put some links with his creation here.
    Thanks for this post!
    http://eloficiodelplumin.blogspot.com.ar/2008/07/fola-gumersindo.html

    http://pelopinchocachirula.blogspot.com.ar/

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  2. Allan, here's 2 current obscurities, both published in the Falls Church Press -

    Nick Knack by N.F. Benton and Wombania by Peter Marinacci. They've been appearing for at least a year, but I think it's considerably longer. Also in the paper is Out on a Limb, Chuckle Bros. and Loose Parts.

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