Monday, August 12, 2024
Obscurity of the Day: Little Abe Corncob
Little Abe Corncob was yet another Katzenjammer Kid rip-off, but of the low rent sort who couldn't even muster a brother to assist him in his pranks. What he did have, though, was a setting in farm country and he used that to great effect, enlisting farm animals to do the heavy lifting on many of his escapades.
The strip debuted in the C.J. Hirt version of the McClure Syndicate Sunday comics section on October 18 1903*. The strip was very rarely signed, in fact the only time I know for sure it was signed was on the very first strip. A.D. Reed signed that installment, and I'm confident he was responsible for it throughout the run, which ended on June 17 1906**. That end date is when the Hirt copyright was last seen, and the next week the section was revamped and now copyrighted by Otis F. Wood.
Little Abe Corncob reprints were sometimes used by McClure to fill holes in the 1910s, when their bullpen of artists was so shallow that they sometimes couldn't fill the four pages. Known reprint appearances include occasions in 1912*** and February 8 to March 8 1914****.
* Source: Chicago Inter-Ocean
** Source: Washington Star
*** Source: Battle Creek Moon-Journal
**** Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Labels: Obscurities
