Monday, November 21, 2016

 

Obscurity of the Day: The Ready Money Ladies




When George McManus first arrived at the New York World, among his earliest efforts was a short-lived series titled The Ready Money Ladies. The concept was as thin as they come: a pair of fashionable and very well-bred ladies compete for the honor of paying for something. It's basically the same idea as Opper's Alphonse and Gaston strip, except it's women, and the subject is always money. The fun comes in as McManus shows us life all around them on hold while the ladies ever so primly debate. He shows us his mastery of both madcap slapstick material and more subtle conceptual humor. This series, which ran from January 3 to March 6 1904 let New Yorkers know that the World had a new cartooning star-in-the-making.

Thanks to Cole Johnson for the samples.

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# posted by Allan Holtz @ 8:00 AM
Comments:
My take on the Ready Money Ladies were a knock off on Carr's Lady Bountiful. If one gullible heiress is funny, the fun will increase exponentially with the ascending number of millionairesses. Also, wasn't this McManus's first Pulitzer and in fact, nationally syndicated work?
# posted by Anonymous Mark Johnson : 11/23/2016 8:54 AM
 
Hi Mark --
It's actually tied with "Helpful Hints for Happy Homes" as his first. They both started on January 3.

--Allan
# posted by Blogger Allan Holtz : 11/23/2016 11:51 AM
 
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