Friday, December 09, 2022
Toppers: Our Antediluvian Ancestors
Now that we're all on the same page about the many alternate titles of Happy Hooligan (see the last post, ye of short memory), we're no longer fooled about that title you see above, Mr. Dough and Mr. Dubb. So now let's cover the first Happy Hooligan topper, Our Antediluvian Ancestors.
As did many cartoonists who were faced with having to add a topper to their strips, Fred Opper simply thought back over the many series he had done in the past, and picked one that seemed to have a little mileage left. Our Antediluvian Ancestors, a delightfully fun strip about cavemen, was originally an occasional weekday and Sunday feature of Opper's in the period 1900-04. It was dug back up starting on January 10 1926 as a topper.
For some reason the cartoonists in the Hearst stable rarely stuck with their first topper choices, and Our Antediluvian Ancestors was no exception to the rule. It only ran until May 16 1926, after which it was replaced by another golden oldie from the Opper stable, And Her Name Was Maud.
Oh, and if you aren't much of a logophile, the word 'antediluvian' is of Latin derivation, meaning before the Biblical flood; a delightful word to add to your arsenal, as it is usually used more in the sense of just primitive or ridiculously old-fashioned. Our tastes here on Stripper's Guide do certainly run to the antediluvian.
Labels: Topper Features
