The Newspaper Feature Service Romantic Cartoon Series, Part 11 (1931-33)

Today we cover the most consistent and therefore least interesting years of the romantic cartoon. As you may recall from the previous post, in 1930 Dorothy Flack (DF) completely took over the cartoon starting in September. Based on the earlier history of the panel you might have been assuming that wouldn't last long. But if you look below at the index, you'll find a sea of DFs. Flack was essentially the sole contributor for two and a half years. The only exception is a single cartoon, published on February 5 1931, credited to Natalie Jenkins Bond (NB).

First King Features copyright, January 14 1932

There is one important change in January 1932. It was then that Hearst decided to phase out some of his many different syndicate company names, and concentrate most everything under the King Features banner. The copyright changes on this feature with the installment of January 14 1932, making our post title inaccurate for the remainder of the run. I'm going to stick with that title, though, because in the 1920s there was another romantic cartoon series that was distributed by King Features, which I can only assume had disappeared by 1932 (that one firmly resists indexing so far), and I don't want to confuse the two.

Finally in 1933 we get some of the familiar action with the romantic cartoon panel as Flack gets reduced to just part of a team of contributors.Unfortunately for a weary indexer, the magazine page now can't keep to a regular schedule of cartoon appearances. Generally speaking, the three cartoons per week are now appearing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, but there are lots of exceptions. There are also quite a few weeks when only two cartoons make it to the page. As best I can tell, this is a problem with the page, not with the papers carrying it.

The new contributors for 1933 show that the Depression made most any work attractive to cartoonists and illustrators. Our new regulars are well-known and respected names: Raeburn Van Buren starts on April 3, and Russell Patterson follows on June 5. Oddly, Van Buren, known in this era mostly as an illustrator, eschews the paragraphs of romantic drivel everyone else uses and supplies gag titles. Patterson, on the other hand, merely illustrates the romantic paragraphs.

Other contributors in 1933 are Fred Royal Morgan who offers a single cartoon on September 20, and Eugene (Gene) McNerney, who makes two appearances with honest-to-good gag cartoons, on June 19 and July 15.

 

1931

Jan     Su                  M                  Tu                 W                  Th                F                   Sa

								1	DF	2		3
4		5		6	DF	7		8	DF	9		10	DF
11		12		13	DF	14		15	DF	16		17	DF
18		19		20	DF	21		22	DF	23		24	DF
25		26		27	DF	28		29	DF	30		31	DF

Feb

1		2		3	DF	4		5	NB	6		7	DF
8		9		10	DF	11		12	DF	13		14	DF
15		16		17	DF	18		19	DF	20		21	DF
22		23		24	DF	25		26	DF	27		28	DF

Mar

1		2		3	DF	4		5	DF	6		7	DF
8		9		10	DF	11		12	DF	13		14	DF
15		16		17	DF	18		19	DF	20		21	DF
22		23		24	DF	25		26	DF	27		28	DF
29		30		31

Apr

						1		2	DF	3		4	DF
5		6		7	DF	8		9	DF	10		11	DF
12		13		14	DF	15		16	DF	17		18	DF
19		20		21	DF	22		23	DF	24		25	DF
26		27		28	DF	29		30	DF

May

										1		2	DF
3		4		5	DF	6		7	DF	8		9	DF
10		11		12	DF	13		14	DF	15		16	DF
17		18		19	DF	20		21	DF	22		23	DF
24		25		26	DF	27		28	DF	29		30	DF
31

Jun

		1		2	DF	3		4	DF	5		6	DF
7		8		9	DF	10		11	DF	12		13	DF
14		15		16	DF	17		18	DF	19		20	DF
21		22		23	DF	24		25	DF	26		27	DF
28		29		30	DF

Jul

						1		2	DF	3		4	DF
5		6		7	DF	8		9	DF	10		11	DF
12		13		14	DF	15		16	DF	17		18	DF
19		20		21	DF	22		23	DF	24		25	DF
26		27		28	DF	29		30	DF	31

Aug

												1	DF
2		3		4	DF	5		6	DF	7		8	DF
9		10		11	DF	12		13	DF	14		15	DF
16		17		18	DF	19		20	DF	21		22	DF
23		24		25	DF	26		27	DF	28		29	DF
30		31

Sep

				1	DF	2		3	DF	4		5	DF
6		7		8	DF	9		10		11	DF	12	DF
13		14		15	DF	16		17	DF	18		19	DF
20		21		22	DF	23		24	DF	25		26	DF
27		28		29	DF	30

Oct

								1	DF	2		3	DF
4		5		6	DF	7		8	DF	9		10	DF
11		12		13	DF	14		15	DF	16		17	DF
18		19		20	DF	21		22	DF	23		24	DF
25		26		27	DF	28		29		30		31	DF

Nov

1		2		3	DF	4		5	DF	6		7	DF
8		9		10	DF	11		12	DF	13		14	DF
15		16		17	DF	18		19	DF	20		21	DF
22		23		24	DF	25		26	DF	27		28	DF
29		30

Dec

				1	DF	2		3	DF	4		5	DF
6		7		8	DF	9		10	DF	11		12	DF
13		14		15	DF	16		17	DF	18		19	DF
20		21		22	DF	23		24	DF	25		26
27		28		29	DF	30		31	DF

1932

Jan     Su                  M                  Tu                 W                  Th                F                   Sa

										1	DF	2
3		4		5	DF	6		7	DF	8		9	DF
10		11		12	DF	13		14	DF*	15		16	DF
17		18		19	DF	20		21	DF	22		23	DF
24		25		26	DF	27		28	DF	29		30	DF
31

* Start of King Features copyright

Feb

		1		2	DF	3		4	DF	5		6	DF
7		8		9	DF	10		11	DF	12		13	DF
14		15		16	DF	17		18	DF	19		20	DF
21		22		23	DF	24		25	DF	26		27	DF
28		29

Mar

				1	DF	2		3	DF	4		5	DF
6		7		8	DF	9		10	DF	11		12	DF
13		14		15	DF	16		17	DF	18		19	DF
20		21		22	DF	23		24	DF	25		26	DF
27		28		29	DF	30		31	DF

Apr

										1		2	DF
3		4		5	DF	6		7	DF	8		9	DF
10		11		12	DF	13		14	DF	15		16	DF
17		18		19	DF	20		21	DF	22		23	DF
24		25		26	DF	27		28	DF	29		30	DF

May

1		2		3	DF	4		5	DF	6		7	DF
8		9		10	DF	11		12	DF	13		14	DF
15		16		17		18		19	DF	20		21	DF
22		23		24	DF	25		26	DF	27		28	DF
29		30		31

Jun

						1		2	DF	3		4	DF
5		6		7	DF	8		9	DF	10		11	DF
12		13		14	DF	15		16	DF	17		18	DF
19		20		21	DF	22		23	DF	24		25	DF
26		27		28	DF	29		30	DF

Jul      Su                  M                 Tu                 W                Th                   F                  Sa

										1		2	DF
3		4		5	DF	6		7	DF	8		9	DF
10		11		12	DF	13		14	DF	15		16	DF
17		18		19	DF	20		21	DF	22		23	DF
24		25		26	DF	27		28	DF	29		30	DF
31

Aug

		1		2	DF	3		4	DF	5		6	DF
7		8		9	DF	10		11	DF	12		13	DF
14		15		16	DF	17		18	DF	19		20	DF
21		22		23	DF	24		25	DF	26		27	DF
28		29		30	DF	31

Sep

								1	DF	2		3	DF
4		5		6	DF	7		8	DF	9		10	DF
11		12		13	DF	14		15	DF	16		17	DF
18		19		20	DF	21		22	DF	23		24	DF
25		26		27	DF	28		29	DF	30

Oct

												1	DF
2		3		4	DF	5		6	DF	7		8	DF
9		10		11	DF	12		13	DF	14		15	DF
16		17		18	DF	19		20	DF	21		22	DF
23		24		25	DF	26		27	DF	28		29	DF
30		31

Nov

				1	DF	2		3	DF	4		5	DF
6		7		8		9		10	DF	11		12	DF
13		14		15	DF	16		17	DF	18		19	DF
20		21		22	DF	23		24	DF	25		26	DF
27		28		29	DF	30

Dec

								1	DF	2		3	DF
4		5		6	DF	7		8	DF	9		10	DF
11		12		13	DF	14		15	DF	16		17	DF
18		19		20	DF	21		22	DF	23		24	DF
25		26		27		28		29	DF	30		31	DF

1933

Jan     Su                  M                  Tu                 W                  Th                F                   Sa

1		2	DF	3		4		5	DF	6		7	DF
8		9		10	DF	11		12	DF	13		14	DF
15		16		17	DF	18		19	DF	20		21	DF
22		23		24	DF	25		26	DF	27		28	DF
29		30		31	DF

Feb

						1		2	DF	3		4	DF
5		6		7	DF	8		9	DF	10		11	DF
12		13		14	DF	15		16	DF	17		18	DF
19		20		21	DF	22		23	DF	24		25	DF
26		27		28	DF

Mar

						1		2	DF	3		4	DF
5		6		7	DF	8		9	DF	10		11	DF
12		13		14	DF	15		16	DF	17		18	DF
19		20		21	DF	22		23	DF	24		25	DF
26		27		28	DF	29		30	DF	31

Apr

												1	DF
2		3	RB	4		5	DF	6	DF	7		8
9		10	RB	11		12		13	DF	14		15	DF
16		17	RB	18		19	DF	20	DF	21		22
23		24	RB	25		26	DF	27		28		29
30

May

		1	RB	2		3	DF	4	DF	5		6
7		8	RB	9		10	DF	11	DF	12		13	DF
14		15	RB	16		17		18		19		20
21		22	DF	23		24	DF	25		26		27	DF
28		29	DF	30	DF	31

Jun

								1		2		3	DF
4		5	RP	6		7	DF	8		9		10	DF
11		12	RP	13		14	DF	15		16		17	DF
18		19	EM	20		21	DF	22		23		24	DF
25		26	DF	27		28	RB	29		30

Jul      Su                  M                 Tu                 W                Th                   F                  Sa

												1	DF
2		3	RB	4		5		6	DF	7		8
9		10	RB	11		12	DF	13		14		15	EM
16		17	RB	18		19	RB	20		21		22	DF
23		24	RP	25		26	DF	27		28		29	RB
30		31	RB

Aug

				1		2	RP	3		4	DF	5
6		7	RP	8		9		10	RB	11	DF	12
13		14	RP	15		16		17	DF	18		19	RP
20		21	RB	22		23	RP	24		25		26	RP
27		28	RP	29		30	RP	31

Sep

										1		2	RP
3		4	RP	5		6	RP	7		8		9
10		11	RB	12		13	RB	14		15	RP	16
17		18	RB	19		20	FM	21		22		23	RP
24		25		26	RP	27		28		29		30	RP

Oct

1		2	RB	3		4	RB	5		6		7	RB
8		9		10	RP	11		12	RP	13		14
15		16	RB	17		18	RB	19		20		21	RP
22		23	RP	24		25	RP	26		27		28	RP
29		30	RP	31

Nov

						1	RB	2		3		4	RP
5		6		7	RB	8	RP	9		10		11	RP
12		13	RB	14		15	RP	16		17		18	DF
19		20	DF	21		22	RP	23		24		25	RB
26		27		28	RB	29		30

Dec

										1		2
3		4	RP	5		6	DF	7		8		9	RB
10		11	RP	12		13		14	DF	15		16	RP
17		18	RP	19		20	RB	21		22		23	DF
24		25		26		27	RB	28		29	DF	30
31