Obscurity of the Day: Katy-did

 

Frank Ladendorf was a pioneer of the funnies pages, but is little remembered because his material just couldn't compare to others like Outcault, Opper and Dirks. He was with the New York World for years, and his last comics section contribution was no soaring coda, but more of a last gasp. Katy-did is your typical naughty kid strip, the only thing unusual about it is that it stars a girl. It was one of the quarter-page World strips, and only made it into the syndicated version three times, from March 15 to 29 1908. According to Ken Barker's World index, it ran in the flagship paper a few extra times, from March 1 to 29 (apparently the syndicated version used Jay Jones - His Camera rather than the Ladendorf strips). 

Our sample above is the final strip in the series, and bids goodbye to Ladendorf's comic section career by cutting off the right edges of his panels so that his final signature is partially missing. Not quite the gold watch treatment...