Obscurity of the Day: Deb's Diary

 

 

Previously a long-standing resident of our Mystery Strips list, Ray Bottorff Jr. sleuthed out this feature for us. Thanks Ray! Deb's Diary is a rather text-heavy feature for inclusion in our ranks, but the referee is feeling magnanimous today, so in it goes. 

The feature debuted on March 21 1927*, sporting art by Raymond Flanagan and text by Earl Reeder, and distributed by the John F. Dille Company. The idea was a twist on the flapper panels so popular in the 1920s. Instead of a pithy little one-liner from a beautiful young thing, Deb's Diary would offer readers somewhat lengthy entries from her diary. 

The feature didn't really click with readers, probably because it was a substantial amount of reading they were expected to do in order to get to relatively weak gags. In other words, the pay just wasn't commensurate with the job. 

Raymond Flanagan, a very good cartoonist/illustrator, didn't help things much. He seemed to think of his panels as mere window-dressing; no attempt was made to contribute to the humour of the feature. 

With an already slim client list getting slimmer with every week, the creators and Dille decided that something needed to change. On December 19, after what seems to have been a one week hiatus, the feature was changed into a humorous take-off on advice columns. Deb would now supply funny answers to romantic conundrums. 

This new direction, I think, was a good one. Reeder seemed to be able to get off better gags more frequently. Unfortunately he was still wordy, and Flanagan still seemed to feel no compunction to add to the hilarity. The Harrisburg Telegraph finally dumped the feature on March 3 1928. Since the feature was listed in the Editor & Publisher listings for 1928, though, it was possibly still limping along in August of that year, when the Syndicate Directory is published. 

Reeder hung onto the feature like a bulldog. Although I am unable to find a single example anywhere, in the 1931 Syndicate Directory Deb's Diary appears once again, this time as a daily 500 word column, sans illustration, also syndicated by Dille.

* Source: All dates from Harrisburg Telegraph