Stripper's Guide: Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Herbert Roese

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Herbert Roese

Life 4/21/1941

Herbert F. Roese was born in New York, New York, on October 11, 1900, according to a 1935 passenger list at Ancestry.com. The 1900 U.S. Federal Census was enumerated in June. Roese’s parents, Jacob and Emma, were German emigrants residing in the Bronx, New York, at 725 East 155 Street. Jacob was a baker.

In the 1905 New York state census, Roese was the second of three sons. The family lived in Manhattan, New York City at 410 East 81 Street.

The 1910 census recorded the family of five in Bronx at 450 East 171 Street. The family remained in the Bronx, at1320 Webster Avenue, according to the 1915 state census.

Information about Roese’s education and art training has not been found.

On Roese’s New York World War I service card, he resided at 1256 Clay Avenue in the Bronx. He enlisted on September 20, 1917. As an Army private he served overseas from October 18, 1917 to February 12, 1919. Roese was slightly wounded on July 29, 1918. The date of his discharge was March 11, 1919.

Roese and his brothers were in their father’s household in the 1920 census. They resided in the Bronx at 1303 Findlay Avenue. Roese was unemployed.

The New York, New York Marriage Index at Ancestry.com said Roese married on June 23, 1923.

Roese, his wife, Irene, and daughter, Louise, were listed in the 1925 state census at 124 Fort George Avenue in Manhattan, New York City. Roese’s occupation was artist. In the book, Biographical Sketches of Cartoonists & Illustrators in the Swann Collection of the Library of Congress, Sara Duke said Roese was a partner in the Goesle-Roese Studio.

Samples of the studio’s work can be viewed in the 1925 Art Directors Annual of Advertising Arts above, here and here, and on the cover of Advertising & Selling Fortnightly, May 6, 1925.

1927

Roese was a Manhattan resident in the 1930 census. His family resided at 50-8 West 96th Street. Roese was a freelance artist.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle 10/25/1932

A 1933 New York city directory listing had Roese’s home at Randall Manor in Staten Island, and his studio in Manhattan at 154 East 37th Street, on the fifth floor.

Modern Screen 12/1933

Roese took his family on a cruise in 1935. His home address was 51 Conyingham, Staten Island.

Commercial artist Roese was a lodger at 154 East 37th Street in Manhattan at the time of the 1940 census. City directories from 1942 to 1946 had him at 151 East 37th Street.
Life magazine published Roese’s drawings on three occasions: First Road to Ruin, August 7, 1939; This Is a Day in Babe’s Life, April 21, 1941; and Blithe Spirit, October 22, 1945.

Roese illustrated several books including Topper (1926), Topper Takes a Trip (1932), The Merry Mixer or Cocktails and Their Ilk (1933), Rain in the Doorway (1933), The Glorious Pool (1937), The Passionate Witch (1941), All-Out Arlene (1943) and Bats in the Belfry (1943).

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Roese was one of several cartoonists and illustrators who worked on the Calvert Reserve Whisky advertising panel, Metropolitan Moments, during the 1940s.