Saturday, March 09, 2024
One-Shot Wonders: Chinese Money by H.C. Greening, 1903
H.C. Greening jumped around, making appearances at most of the New York syndicates in the 1890s to 1900s, and here he is at McClure with a one-shot strip for their January 11 1903 issue. The gag here regards the Chinese wén, a coin of so minor value that the holed currency was commonly strung together in units of 100 or even 1000 to make for any substantial value.
Labels: One-Shot Wonders
Friday, March 08, 2024
Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Granville E. Dickey
... Granville Dickey won the two spectacular events of the meet—the 220 and the 500 yards. He had very little trouble in gaining first in the 220, and in the 500 he won by two lengths. Dickey is considered the best all-around scholastic swimmer. ...
The marriage of a former Washingtonian, Mr. Granville E. Dickey, to Miss La Verne Carnes will take place this afternoon in Chicago, the home of the parents of the bride. After an extensive trip to Cuba and Spanish Honduras, they will return to Chicago, where Mr. Dickey is advertising manager for a large wholesale house.He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. R.B. Dickey of 1702 Kilbourne place. In 1920, when he graduated from Central High School, he was captain of the swimming team and a captain in the Cadet Corps.In 1924 he was graduated from the College of Journalism of Northwestern University. He was a member of the varsity swimming team, and in his senior year was named as a member of the all-American swimming team.
Dickey, Granville E., J. ’24, “N”; Adv. Man., E. J. Brach & Sons, Adv. for Candy Mfgr., 4656 W. Kinzie, Man. 1200; r. 402 S. Cuyler, Oak Park, Vil. 9283.
Dickey, Ceril. On Thursday, April 5, 1945, at St. Petersburg, Fla. Ceril Dickey, aged 37, formerly of Gaithersburg, Md.; wife of Granville E. Dickey, daughter of Mrs. Florence Cousins, niece of Albert Lancaster, St. Petersburg, Fla. Services and interment St. Petersburg, Fla., on Monday, April 9.
Dickey Granville E. On Wednesday, January 28, 1948. Granville E. Dickey, father of Rosemary Dickey, son of Rose M. Dickey and the late Raymond B. Dickey, brother of Mrs. Alice Beaton, John Maxwell Dickey and Raymond R. Dickey. Funeral from the W. W. Deal Funeral Home, 4812 Georgia ave. n.w., on Saturday, January 31, at 2 p. m. Relatives and friends invited. Interment Cedar Hill Cemetery.
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Wednesday, March 06, 2024
Obscurity of the Day: Mr. Lowe
Okay, so when I decided that Mr. Lowe would make a good Obscurity of the Day, I didn't know that the strip had been appearing in re-runs on GoComics for several years. Hmm, not so terribly obscure after all. But hey, it's a great strip, and I did the scanning, so yer gettin' 'em.
Mark Pett's Mr. Lowe is a strip about an enthusiastic young grade school teacher, a subject that Pett knew very, very well since he had recently been one. Pett sold the strip to Creators Syndicate, who in my opinion had every reason to think they had a winner on their hands. The strip is sweet but never saccharine, the gags are consistent, funny and very much rooted in reality, and the art is pretty darn fab. Pile on to that list of plusses that the strip is about a subject very relatable to teachers and students, two big juicy demographics, and it seems like a powerhouse.
So now is usually when I try to explain why it might not have gone so well. But on this one I'm a bit flummoxed. The best I can come up with is that it got lost among a number of other good strips that debuted in 2000 -- Baldo, James, Monkeyhouse, Pooch Cafe, Red and Rover, Soup to Nutz, Six Chix ... that's a lot of tough competition for very few opening slots. I'll say one thing; it'll be interesting to see what Jeffrey Lindenblatt has to tell us about new features in The 300 series when he gets to year 2000.
Mister Lowe debuted in a very small number of papers on May 15 2000*, and the last I can find it running is February 10 2001**. It was a Sunday and daily strip, but if the daily is rare, Sundays are like the proverbial hen's teeth. Surely some paper ran them?!?
If you're intrigued enough to read Mr. Lowe, you can get it on GoComics, and there was also a reprint book of the feature published back in 2002 by Cottonwood Press.
Mark Pett soon returned to syndication with (in my opinion) an even better strip, called Lucky Cow, about employees in a fast-food restaurant. This one managed to stick around for five years, but was barely touch and go for sales the whole time. Since then Pett has recognized the weird newspaper syndication curse that hangs over his head, and has perhaps wisely switched to other pursuits like illustrating books.
* Source: Cartoonist PROfiles #128.
** Source: Salt Lake Tribune.
Labels: Obscurities
I have the reprint book, which contains most, but not all, of the strips. The missing strips I saw for the first time when GoComics reran it.
Monday, March 04, 2024
Firsts and Lasts: King of the Royal Mounted Rides Forth
Above is the seldom seen first Sunday of King of the Royal Mounted, which appeared on February 17 1935. The art on this inaugural Sunday was unsigned but by Allen Dean. I love how the story just jumps right in there and rockets right off. No intro, no explanatory dialogue, just slam-bang action.
As much as I should be well-versed in King of the Royal Mounted lore, being a Canuck and all, I must admit to having read very little of the strip. So I think I'll just shut up and ask you to keep reading over at Don Markstein's Toonopedia, where he gives you all the lowdown on this classic adventure strip. He'll even tell you Sergeant King's first name, and I bet there was a lotta reading went into finding that li'l factoid!
Labels: Firsts and Lasts
: 3/04/2024 11:20 AM It would have seemed to be better to launch one of the new Tab features the week that the Hearst chain sections converted, on 3rd of February, but they waited until the 17th.
Years ago, Ron Goulart brought up the obscure "MEN OF THE MOUNTED" strip, syndicated by the Toronto Star, as ending on 16 February 1935, indicating that KFS may have had to wait for, or even somehow hasten, that ending, in order to clear the deck for another, presumably better, Mountie strip.
What do you think? I can see a natural fan base in Canada, of course, was it especially supported there? There were foreign clients, of course, I have comic books in Spanish, for instance, where he's "Rey De La Policia."
: 3/04/2024 2:39 PM That is a real head-scratcher about the Canadian strip. Do you need permission to feature a real public organization in a strip? If so, it makes perfect sense, as the RCMP might have said, effectively, "Get in line, chum." But I don't recall ever hearing that being a rule -- maybe just a smart and ethical business decision not to peeve the organization on which you're basing a strip.
Do you happen to know if "King..." paid any sort of royalties/commission/donation to the RCMP over the years? Did the RCMP keep tabs on the strip and provide guidance?
Gee, I wonder if "Crock" sought the okay of the French Foreign Legion?
--Allan
When it was launched, I think they had really high hopes for it, after all, it had Zane Grey's name on it, and some licensing and movie contracts appeared, thus avoid a direct competitor at the start to eliminate confusion.
Never ran across much promotional material for the strip, on either side of the border, that's why I was curious if there really was any special feeling by Canadians. I get the impression that it never rose above the status of mediocrity. Note that it was killed off in 1954, right in the middle of a story. No way to treat a strip that had a worthwhile fan or client list.
At some point early on, about 1940, Stephen Schlesinger's name started appearing in the copyright line, so maybe that's a reason for the course of the strip's history- he owned it and not King Features.
: 3/06/2024 2:48 PM --Allan
Sunday, March 03, 2024
Wish You Were Here, from Rube Goldberg
Here's another postcard from Rube Goldberg's Foolish Questions series, also known as Samson Brothers Series 213. This is one of my favourites, the first time I read it I could have done a spit-take.
Labels: Wish You Were Here
