Stripper's Guide

September 21, 1908 -- This can give you an idea of how partisan newspapers operated back in the day. I keep looking to the Los Angeles Herald (available in the California Digital Newspaper Collection) to find out what's going on in the "Solid Three" bond-fixing scandal. Oh well, so sorry. The Herald was a Republican paper, so their coverage of this scandal was slight compared to the Examiner. They treated it as more like a minor misunderstanding and perhaps a little bad judgement, while the Examiner was (as you can see above) screaming for blood on a daily basis.

Labels: Herriman's LA Examiner Cartoons

Labels: Connie Sci-Friday

James Paul Fogarty was born in Michigan City, Indiana, on November 8, 1893, according to his World War I and II draft cards.

In the 1900 U.S. Federal Census, Fogarty was the oldest of two children born to James and Hannah. HIs father was a railroad engineer. The family resided in Michigan City at 324 East Sixth Street.

The next census recorded two more children in the Fogarty household at the same address. Who’s Who in the Midwest (1958) said Fogarty had a Ph. B. in Journalism from the University of Notre Dame in 1917.

Fogarty signed his World War I draft card on June 5, 1917. On the line for occupation it said: Candidate, U.S. Government, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. He was described as tall, medium build with blue eyes and dark hair. Who’s Who said he served from second lieutenant to captain in the U.S. Army infantry.

Fogarty has not yet been found in the 1920 census. According to Who’s Who, Fogarty was an instructor at the Culver Military Academy from 1920 to 1923.

Fogarty tried his hand at song writing. The Catalogue of Copyright Entries, Part 3, Musical Compositions, 1924, New Series, Volume 19, Numbers 5–6, has this entry:

’Neath the Wabash moon; w J. Paul Fogarty, m Herbert B. Keller, of U. S. © May 5, 1924 ; 2 c. May 6; E 587897: Richmond-Robbins, Inc., New York. 10419

The 1929 song, Joe College, had words by Fogarty and music by Ted Fiorito and Guy Lombardo.

Fogarty resided in Chicago, Illinois at 5349 Sheridan Road, as recorded in the 1930 census. He was the manager of hotel entertainment. Fogarty collaborated with Rudy Vallee on Betty Co-Ed (1930), She Loves Me Just the Same (1930) and Charlie Cadet (1931).


In 1932 Fogarty was at Chicago radio station WGN where he produced and wrote the baseball program, Rube Appleberry. American Newspaper Comics (2012) said the Rube Appleberry comic strip began August 3, 1936. The strip ended June 12, 1937 in the Illinois State Journal (Springfield, Illinois). Fogarty was the writer and Al Demaree the artist.

The 1940 census recorded Fogarty at the Edgewater Beach Hotel, 5555 Sheridan Road, in Chicago. His occupation was broadcast radio script writer. A 1941 issue of Broadcasting reported Fogarty’s second comic strip: “Paul Fogarty, producer of WGN, Chicago, is producing a comic strip, Draftie, based on his experiences as a captain of U. S. Infantry during the World War.” American Newspaper Comics said the strip was written by Fogarty and drawn, initially, by William Juhre, who was followed by Loren Wiley and Len Dworkins. Draftie ran from February 3, 1941 to May 5, 1946.

1943 Big Little Book

Fogarty tried writing lyrics and music. He had a listing in the Catalogue of Copyright Entries, Part 3, Musical Compositions, 1941, New Series, Volume 36, Number 6. 

Pretty co-ed has gone to my head; w & m Paul [i. e. J. Paul] Fogarty. © June 16, 1941; E pub. 95860; Broadcast music, inc., New York. 29193

The Billboard, March 21, 1942, reviewed Fogarty’s morning exercise program, Keep Fit Corps.

On April 27, 1942, Fogarty signed his World War II draft card. He still resided at the Edgewater Beach Hotel and employed at WGN radio station. He was six feet, weighed 190 pounds and had blue eyes and gray hair.

Who’s Who said Fogarty married Elizabeth Sackley, August 1, 1942.

Radio Daily, March 8, 1948, noted Fogarty’s appointment as sports producer on the WGN-TV staff.

The Chicago Tribune, October 2, 1950, reported Fogarty’s televised exercise program, Your Figure, Ladies. Fogarty’s exercise book, Your Figure, Ladies, was published by A.S. Barnes & Company in 1955.


Paul Fogarty’s Famous Forty Exercises was released on a vinyl recording.

Fogarty passed away March 24, 1976 in Florida. The Register-Republic (Rockford, Illinois), March 26, 1976, published the Associated Press report of his death.

Ex-WGN personality Fogarty dies
Del Ray, Fla. (AP)—Funeral services for former WGN radio and television personality Paul Fogarty will be held Saturday in Del Ray.

Fogarty, 81, died Wednesday in Del Ray.

A figure in Chicago broadcasting for more than 31 years before he retired, Fogarty had a morning exercise program on WGN-TV during the 1950s.

He also was a sports writer and song composer.

—Alex Jay 

Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles

William Hugh “Bill” Juhre was born in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin on February 21, 1903, according to Wisconsin Births, 1820-1907 at Ancestry.com. His name was recorded as “Wilhelm”. His middle name is from a family tree at Ancestry.com. According to the Milwaukee Journal, October 27, 1927, “...his name is pronounced ‘Joo-ray,’ with the accent on the second syllable…”. In the 1905 Wisconsin State Census, he was the youngest of two children born to Alice, a widow and dressmaker. They lived in Milwaukee.

In the 1910 U.S. Federal Census, he lived in Milwaukee at 934 Fratney Street. His mother was a laundress. Sometime after the census his mother remarried. The Journal, February 28, 1919, reported his World War I exploits.

Though only 16, Private WIlliam Juhre, 538 Stowell av. recently discharged from service, spent a year in the trenches, was gassed and wounded, and took part in five big battles. He was only 14 when war broke out, but he gave his age as 18, and did not tell his mother about it until ready to leave.

“Twenty of our 250 men came through at Chateau-Thierry, and I was one of them,” Private Juhre said. He was wounded by a piece of shrapnel in this drive. At Soissons he was wounded by a machine gun bullet, and at Champagne he was caught in mustard gas.

A follow-up story, in the Journal, appeared March 8.

Milwaukee’s first public reception for returned wounded soldiers, sailors and marines will be stage in Plankinton arcade Sunday, 3 p.m., under the auspices of the Society of Loyal Americans. Arrangements have been completed for every wounded man in Milwaukee to be on the platform, where several of them will give five minute talks.

“It is time for Milwaukee to honor these boys and we hope every American will be present,” said W.J. Kershaw, president.

Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles

I guess it must have been pretty darn obvious to the average American, and thus the folks at the comic strip syndicates, that the USA was going to get into World War II well ahead of our actual entry into the conflict. I say that because it is quite astounding how, starting around 1940, the syndicates began to roll out their military strips en masse.

Take for example Draftie. It debuted on January 27 1941, eleven months before Pearl Harbor. And I don't think I'm far off-base if I say that a strip about a couple of raw Army recruits would not have found many takers in, say, 1937. But by January 1941 Americans generally knew it was just a matter of time, and our comic strips were ready to reflect that. You might say that our newspapers' comic strip pages went onto a war-time stance well before reality finally kicked in.

Draftie paired up well-established radio and comic strip writer Paul Fogarty with accomplished cartoonist Bill Juhre. For some reason, Juhre signed himself 'Pony Proehl'on the strip at first.* Well, actually not quite -- Juhre mistakenly signed his own name on the first Sunday (oops!). Otherwise, though, Proehl got the art credit through June of 1941, and Juhre did not begin to sign the strip until far into the run, on 9/12/1943. (A footnote -- Len Dworkins said he ghosted the art for about six months in 1942).

The credits on Draftie are made even more interesting by an apparent mistake in Dave Strickler's E&P index. He credits Loren Wiley on the strip in 1942-43, and this information has been popping up in various places around the web, and even wormed its way into my book, I'm very sorry to admit. Only one problem with that credit --- there were no E&P syndicate directories in 1942 and 1943, so how could that credit be there? As far as I can tell, Loren Wiley, whoever he is, is a typo of Strickler's. I'm very glad to put that error to rest, and I hope the folks around the web who refer to this person will update their information accordingly.

Draftie concerns a couple of privates, Lem the country bumpkin and Oinie the Brooklyn-bred wiseacre, as a pair of completely mismatched but devoted best buddies. When the war came, there was an uncomfortably long time lag before the boys caught on. This, of course, is because newspaper cartoonists are generally working 6-8 weeks in advance. Once the boys got into the war, though, the comedy vied with drama, especially in the dailies. The boys shipped out to the south seas, and while the stories still allowed the boys to be their loveable half-witted selves, they were also fighting for Uncle Sam and doing more than their share (usually inadvertently) to help win the war.

As the strip continued, the title seemed less and less apt, and so it was officially changed to Lem And Oinie on October 1 1944.

After the war, the strip tried to hold the interest of returning GI's by chronicling the travails of Lem and Oinie as they adjusted  back to civilian life. There were so many strips trying to remain relevant in the same situation, though, that the goofy duo were fighting their first and last losing battle. The strip managed to soldier on until May 5 1946, when the boys were permanently discharged from the newspaper comics pages.

* That intrepid ink-slinger-tracker-downer Alex Jay tells me that there was an illustrator named Paul Proehl working in Chicago at this time, which also happens to be where Juhre was based in this era. Maybe this Proehl fellow was the original artist on the strip, but I really don't think so. The style on Draftie appears to be that of Juhre from start to finish. Maybe Juhre was contractually unable to take credit on the strip at this time, and so played a little practical joke on his friend, Mr. Proehl?

Labels: Obscurities

A remarkably lucid explanation of the amazing amount of work that went into making a metal printing plate, via the method of line photoengraving. This explanation was originally published in The Students Art Magazine, April 1916.

About Photoengraving

by

C.F. Sauerbrunn

By the term photoengraving is meant the production of printing plates having images formed in relief upon a metal surface, these images being obtained by a series of photographic and chemical operations.

There are two general classes of these engravings known respectively as line plates and half-tone plates-r-the former being reproductions of subjects formed only of lines or masses of solid black or white; the latter those of subjects, having intermediate tones such as photographs or wash drawings, ' This article is devoted to a description of the operations necessary in producing a line plate (commonly known as a zinc etching).

Sample of a vintage print block (currently for sale on eBay)

The order for a drawing is first given to the artist who furnishes a pencil sketch to a prospective customer. If the sketch is satisfactory it is returned to the artist for finishing up in ink. Drawings must be in black ink on white paper and ordinarily are made about one-half size larger than the finished engraving. The finished drawing is given to the operator who places it under a piece of plate glass on the copy board in front of the camera and focusses the design down to the proper size. He then coats a sheet of glass by flowing it over with iodised collodion. As soon as the collodion sets it is placed for a few minutes in a bath of silver nitrate to sensitize it. The plate is taken from the bath and placed in the plate holder, wet. Exposure is then given by artificial light—two high power electric arcs being used for illuminating. After exposure the plate holder is taken to the dark room where the plate is removed and developed in iron sulphate and fixed with potassium cyanide. After intensifying with copper bromide and silver nitrate it is cleaned with iodide and cyanide and blackened with ammonium sulphide. The negative is then placed in a rack to dry. When it is dry it is coated with para rubber dissolved in benezine and later with collodion. This is done to thicken the film so it will not tear or stretch in stripping it off the glass. When the collodion is dry the film is cut around with a knife and the negative placed in a solution of acetic acid and water to loosen the film from the glass. The film is stripped from the negative glass, reversed, and placed onto a thick sheet of plate glass which will stand the pressure of the printing frame.

Another from eBay; seller even found it being used in a 1916 newspaper, same year as this article

The next operation is to saw a piece of zinc large enough to take the print from the negative, allowing about an inch margin all around. The zinc is polished with a piece of cotton, powdered pumice stone and water. While wet it is flowed over with the sensitizing solution, composed of albumen, fish glue, ammonium bichromate and water. In this condition the zinc plate is placed in a whirling device and kept in motion over a gas flame until dry. The negative is placed in a heavy printing frame and the sensitized zinc put in just as it is done for printing a post card from a kodak film. This printing frame is supplied with strong clamps that press the metal into absolute contact with the film. The exposure is made and the frame taken to the dark room where the zinc is rolled up completely with etching ink. The zinc with the ink covering is placed under a tap and water allowed to flow over it until all of the unexposed sensitizer is dissolved out, carrying the etching ink with it. Where the zinc has been exposed to light through the transparent lines of the negative, the sensitive coating becomes insolvent and remains in place, retaining the etching ink. When the print is properly dissolved out one has left a piece of polished zinc with the design upon it in lines of etching ink. Now the zinc plate is taken to the etching room, dried with a piece of chamois skin, warmed and powdered with etching powder or dragon's blood. When warm the ink lines are sticky and retain the powder, the surplus being brushed from the zinc with a soft brush. The plate is now placed over a gas flame and heated until the powder fuses with the ink. The back of the plate is painted with shellac to keep the acid from etching it. All the lines being protected with an acid resist we are ready for etching. The first bite, or etching, is given by placing the zinc into the etching tub containing nitric acid and water — about ten per cent solution. The tub is rocked until the metal in the exposed parts is etched away to a depth equal to the thickness of a sheet of heavy writing paper. The plate is taken out, dried, warmed and powdered again, this time in four different directions so that the powder will bank up against the sides of the lines and protect them from undercutting. Two bites are usually necessary and the same method of procedure for powdering must be gone through. When the design is etched deep enough the plate is taken out and the acid resist removed with hot lye water.

Another one from eBay; this one is later vintage without wood backer.

The next operation is to deepen and clean out the open places in the etching with the routing machine. Such a machine has a rapidly revolving spindle head into which is inserted different sizes and shapes of cutting tools according to the kind of work in hand. The spindle head and cutter can be moved universally in all directions and the metal is thus cut or drilled out of the open places. This takes the place of deep etching and can be done more rapidly and economically.

After this the etching is nailed to a block of birch or other hard lumber which has previously been planed flat in the surface planer. Then it is sawed up close and trimmed square on four sides. It is again placed in the surface planer, face down, and the back of the block planed down to type-high.

Several proofs are pulled on a hand press and the print examined for spots or flaws. These spots, etc., are removed by hand by the finished. The final proof is delivered to the customer with the engraving.

The foregoing will give some idea of the many operations necessary in producing even the smallest kind of a line etching. There are many schemes which the photoengraver must make use of in order to turn out the small engravings at a profit. Sometimes a number of exposures of different reductions can be made on the same plate. In this way all of them are developed in the same time it would take to develop one. A large number of negatives can be stripped onto the same plate glass so that the printing and etching can be done at one time.

In case an order comes for a large amount of engravings of the same kind and size, one or two engravings are first made from the copy. A goodly number of clean proofs are pulled from these engravings and the proofs pasted or arranged on a sheet of board so they can be photographed at one time.

The process of making the other kind of plate (halftone) from photographs or wash drawings is practically the same except in making the negative.