Stripper's Guide

Nathan Leo “Nate” Collier was born in Orangeville, Illinois on November 14, 1883. His full name and birth date were recorded on his World War I and II draft cards. A 1923 marriage certificate identified his birthplace.

The 1900 U.S. Federal Census recorded Collier as the only child of James, a painter, and Laura (Bobb). They were residents of Pearl City, Loran Township, Stephenson County, Illinois.
The Illinois History: A Magazine for Young People, April 1975, published Perry Eden’s profile of Collier. Below is an excerpt about Collier’s early life.

Because of my vivid interest in cartooning and comic books, I learned that one of the best cartoonists was from my hometown of Pearl City. Nate Collier was born on November 14, 1883, in a log cabin one mile north of Orangeville. In 1888 he moved with his father, James Riley, and his mother, Laura, to Pearl City (then called Yellow Creek, and changed to Pearl City in 1893). His father then operated a photography gallery which was located in a tent.

Collier is remembered by his friends in Pearl City, not for his little doodlings which appeared literally everywhere, but for his ability as a pitcher on the Pearl City baseball team, the Invincible Browns.

Before freelance drawing took him to New York he attended art schools …

The Rockford Daily Register-Gazette (Illinois), April 16, 1904, noted Collier’s early art training, “Pearl City, Ill., April 9.— … Nate Collier went to Indianapolis to attend an art school.”

In Art & Life, November 1924, Collier detailed his path to becoming a cartoonist.

Two years and a half after I started my first correspondence course in drawing I sold my first comic to the American Boy for $6. That was in 1906. I had taken a correspondence course from the National School of Illustrating, Indianapolis, Ind., and spent a few months at their resident school in 1904, also studied with J. H. Smith, contributor to Judge from 1904 to 1907. Took correspondence course in cartooning from Acme School of Drawing, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1905. Attended their resident school a few months at the start of 1906. In May same year obtained my first position as cartoonist on the Kokomo, Ind. Dispatch. In 1907 I sold a dozen or so drawings to Judge's amateur contest and also freelanced comics to The Chicago Daily News. In 1908 took Lockwood’s cartoon course and worked in a country print shop at $6 a week to get enough money to attend his resident school. Went to Kalamazoo in January 1909 and remained a couple of months, continued selling comics to Chicago News, and sold my first drawing for the regular pages of Judge.

Later in the same year went to Sandusky, Ohio, as cartoonist on the Star Journal of that place, remained there until November 1910.

Sold my first drawing to Life in 1910.

Caralee Aschenbrenner profiled Charles Sughroe and wrote

His [Sughroe’s] talent for drawing and painting culminated in going to Chicago to the Art Institute to school hoping to pursue an art career.

He had become acquainted with two other local artists-illustrators, Nate Collier, Pearl City and [J.] Howard Smith of Pleasant Valley, his dad’s home when young. They had all three graduated from the Art Institute so felt a kinship for that reason, too.

The other two both became noted in their field. Collier in cartooning and Smith for his excellence in portraiture, the western genre and outdoor life seen then in men’s sport magazine. …

Collier did not mention graduating from the Art Institute.

In Illinois History, Eden wrote “Collier married Alma Snetcher, a local Pearl City woman, on November 25, 1909. She died in Leonia, New Jersey, in 1922 …” 

According to the 1910 census, newspaper cartoonist Collier and his wife, Alma, lived in Sandusky, Ohio at 730 Perry Street.

In Art & Life Collier elaborated further on his career.

From 1911 to March 1913 I conducted a humorous column, made sport cartoons, and illustrated the Sunday Magazine Section for the Duluth, Minn., News Tribune; also freelanced work to Hope, Coming Nation, News Times, and sold a few to Life and Judge.

In 1913, ’14, ’15 to May 1916, Cartoonist, Chicago Daily Journal and freelanced a lot of comics to The Motion Picture magazine.

From October 1916 to October 1917 animated ads for a Cleveland Ohio Film concern.

Came to New York in October 1917.

1917, 1918 and 1919 Animated Katzenjammer Kids, Happy Hooligan and Jerry on the Job. Had comic strip put out by International Syndicate of Baltimore, Md., called “Our Own Movies” and sold a number of drawings to Life. …

… From 1909 to 1919 I submitted over four hundred drawings to Life out of which I sold 14, and I have made enough comic strips, that never landed to keep a syndicate going a year or more.

The Sandusky Star-Journal (Ohio), November 8, 1919, promoted Collier’s new comic, Our Own Movies with this article.

OHO! Look who's here!

Our old friend, Nate Collier, cartoonist.

Ten years ago, Nate was the Star-Journal’s special cartoonist, and many readers will remember his pictures which created a sensation at the time, and were decisive factors in political campaigns and in bringing about such needed projects as the elimination of grade crossings.

Well, Nate’s coming back to the Star-Journal.

Since he left Sandusky, he has specialized in comics and, with his frequent contribution to Life, Judge and other periodicals, his animated movie pictures, etc., has become famous. Now he is putting out a new feature, “Our Own Movies,” and the Star-Journal has secured it.

So Nate will make his initial bow as a “come back” in Monday’s Star-Journal, one of the new features of the Star-Journal's big DAILY COMIC PAGE.

Nate’s drawings are funny. They caricature the movies in fine shape and every one will get a laugh.

What is more, Nate plans to give the pictures a Sandusky touch. He asks for suggestions from readers.

“If you know anything funny about yourself or your neighbors, send it in,” he writes. He’ll endeavor to use his “camera” on such incidents and turn out “movies” that will have the whole city screaming with laughter.

When he was in Sandusky ten years ago, Collier was decidedly modest and shy. He was finally persuaded to write his own life sketch and draw a picture of himself as an introduction to the public. He told how he cut corn, painted, played baseball and a few other things, and finally studied art in the hope that he might become as famous a Joe Cannon. He said his teeth were curly, his hair pink, etc., etc. He might have said that he was almost as thin as the little scarecrow which decorated all of his pictures.

Today, Nate is fleshier—looks more prosperous, and all that—but he has the same broad grin and happy smile. He simply can’t see the hole in the doughnut. He’s optimism and fun, bubbling over all the time, and he imparts this feeling to those who look at his pictures.

The Star-Journal is mighty glad to have Nate Collier back on the job and believes its thousands of readers will rejoice.

There’s a big feast of fun, a whole riot, coming.

On September 12, 1918, Collier, a Pearl City resident, signed his World War I draft card. His occupation was editor. He was described as medium height, slender build with gray hair and dark brown eyes.

The 1920 census reorder Collier, Alma, seven-year-old Theron and six-year-old Thurlo in Manhattan, New York City at 500 Isham Street.

In Art & Life, Collier said

1920, Made “Our Own Movies,” was cartoonist for The Associated Newspapers. Freelanced to Life, Judge, Harpers, Brownings Magazine, Cartoons magazine, etc.

1921. Freelanced to Judge and Fun Book and animated Mutt and Jeff.

1922. Freelanced to Judge and animated Aesop’s Fables, and with Hearst Syndicate a while.

Since April 1923 have had my studio at home and am at present doing work for Saturday Evening Post, Life, Judge, Harper’s, McNaught Syndicate, The World Color Printing Co., of St. Louis, and others. …

… Most students think that they are ready to hold a position long before they are. It takes years of study, persistence and a never-give-up attitude; and above all a love of the work for the work itself to overcome all obstacles and discouragements.

After Alma’s passing in 1922, Collier married Nettie Florence Crane in 1923. The Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 16, 1923, reported the upcoming wedding.

Proposal Scene Is Wedding Spot
Artists to Marry in Grove Above Chagrin River Nears Gates Mill.
Here’s a story of two artists and a romance of perfect artistic temperament.

Miss Florence Crane, 955 Lakeview road N.E., head of the department of English at Spencerian school, and Nathan L. Collier, professional artist, grew up in the same Illinois county 120 miles west of Chicago. The romance began when they were both children, whether they recognized it or not.

Both wanted careers: Mr. Collier, whose fingers itched for the crayon of a cartoonist, and Miss Crane, who wanted to teach. They grew up and into their careers almost identically. Mt. Collier got to Chicago and into newspaper work, Miss Crane went off to Carthage college and then to Radcliff college for special study. Months in and months out they corresponded happily about their “life work;” occasionally they met to talk over the world and its ways—yes, finally—

Last October Mr. Collier, who jumped from the cartoonist’s berth on the Chicago Journal to feature syndicate cartooning in New York—he contributes regularly to Life, Judge and other periodicals, and incidentally draws the funny pictures for Will Rogers’ Sunday letter to The Plain Dealer—came on to Cleveland, very serious. The intent of his mission, during which he called on his old friend Florence, became somewhat more vague as he began a systematic search of Cuyahoga county for beauty spots.

Mr. Collier visited them all; the ones in the city guide books, the ones he was told of by friends. One day he announced to Miss Crane that he had found it—the prettiest spot in northern Ohio. They drove to a grove on the west bak of the Chagrin river, not quite half way between Gates Mill and Chagrin Falls.

Chooses His Setting.

You may remember the spot—it has some fame for its beauty. Out of a thick wooded west bank has been hollowed a little clearing; across is the sheer cliff of the east bank, solid rock; the water is like a mirror, and one tree on the west bank dips out above the stream.

When they got there, Mr. Collier, still very serious, said, in effect, that he had ben waiting to propose marriage to her; that he didn’t want to risk a refusal; and that therefore he had hunted high and low for a spot whose beauty would be too alluring for her to refuse him.

And did she? Well, Miss Crane, after admitting yesterday that all this was true, added that the wedding Sept. 8 is going to take place in this same grove. In other words, she said, she couldn’t let any soul out-art her soul—and it is one superb spot for a wedding, she remarked. There’s a winding path form the groom and the best man; another, emerging from the sylvan grove, for the bride and her maids, while the minister stands by the tree that dips over the placid Chagrin.

Miss Crane for two years has been the chief advisor to a good many students at Spencerian, something in the capacity of a dean of the women students.

The Freeport Journal-Standard (Illinois), September 25, 1923, said the wedding guests included Mr. and Mrs. G.H. Lockwood of the Lockwood Art School.

In the 1925 New York state census, the Colliers were living in Queens, New York City, at 24 Acorn Street. Collier’s occupation was recorded as illustrator and artist.

On September 11, 1926, Collier and Florence returned from their European trip. Aboard the S.S. Berlin they departed Bremen, Germany on September 2. Their address on the passenger list was 24 Acorn Street, Elmhurst, Long Island, New York.

According to the 1930 census, the Colliers were Leonia, New Jersey residents at 140 Paulin Boulevard.

The Lebanon Daily News (Pennsylvania), May 3, 1935, published Charles B. Driscoll’s interview with Collier.

Today's victim is Nate Collier, famous illustrator, cartoonist, artist. Let me show him to you. He is somewhere between 40 and 50, and that's an age at which I hesitate to inquire bluntly, "How old are you?" However, he has very little gray in his ample head of hair. The hair is fine, brown, combed straight back, but somewhat unruly. Eyes blue, eyebrows rather heavy. He wears pince-nez with gold chain over right ear. He is five feet six in height, weighs 127 pounds and you'd say at once that his ancestry was Scotch, since he has the Scottish complexion, with a tendency to freckle.

Where do you live and why, Mr. Collier?

In Leonia, New Jersey, because I consider it the most beautiful town in the New York metropolitan area.

Well, isn't there any other place in the world besides the New York metropolitan area?

Why, I suppose there must be, but I don't want to live in them. As a matter of fact I lived in Duluth two years, and I didn't like it a bit.

Where were you born, and how did you happen to leave there?

On a farm near Orangeville, Ill., but I moved to Pearl City, Ill., when I was four years old. My parents are both buried out there. I left there as a young man, to go to work on the Kokomo, Ind., Dispatch as cartoonist. I worked with chalk plate there, and later went to a cartooning job on the Sandusky Star-Journal. I was on the Chicago Journal four years, and then I came to New York.

What do you think of the present state of the country, and do you think we'll come out of the depression?

I know we'll come out of the depression but it'll be in spite of Roosevelt and his schemes.

What, then, will bring us out?

The spirit and hardihood of the American people? Even Roosevelt can't keep them down.

You're a bit hard on Mr. Roosevelt, aren't you?

Well, I think he is the greatest demagogue in history and has a lust for power that is dangerous in a democracy.

We'll change the subject. What is the most beautiful spot in the world?

The River Avon, viewed by moonlight from an English garden.

Do you enjoy sports?

Yes, I go in for baseball, boondoggling, steam shovel watching and golf.

What do you consider the greatest good in life?

Absolute faith in your own inborn, indomitable spiritual power.

The Evansville Courier (Indiana), May 26, 1937, reported Collier’s visit.

Mr. and Mrs. Nate Collier of Leonia, New Jersey, are guests of Mr. and Mrs. Karl Kae Knecht, 31 Adams avenue. Mr. Collier is a well-known artist who draws cartoons, comics and illustration for such magazines as The Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, New Yorker, and Judge, as well as for newspaper syndicates. They have been touring the southeast and now are enroute for a visit at their former homes in Illinois, and on farther west before returning to New Jersey.

Four days later the Courier said

Nate Collier of Leonia, N.J., well-known free-lance artist, visited here with Karl Kae Knecht, Courier cartoonist, during the week. They are boyhood friends, having gone to Freeport (Ill.) high school together, and having begun their cartooning together.

Cartoonist for the late Chicago Journal, Collier now does comics for the humorous publications here and in Europe, and prepares syndicated material, including a full-page color comic for Sunday. Through McNaught, he was the illustrator of the late Will Rogers’ Sunday articles.

With Mrs. Collier, he is on a motor trip through the country.

In 1940 freelance cartoonist Collier and Florence were empty-nesters in Leonia at 100 Knapp Terrace. The same address was on Collier’s World War II draft draft card which he signed on April 25, 1942.

Collier was profiled in the Freeport Journal-Standard, (Illinois), July 7, 1960.

Nate Collier, Nationally Know Cartoonist, Keeps Close Tab on Hometown of Pearl City

Pearl City — A nationally known cartoonist, humorist and poet who grew up in Pearl City has kept in constant touch with the Stephenson County community which he left over 40 years ago.

Nate Collier, whose cartoons have appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, the old Judge magazine, Colliers and the London Opinion, to name just a few, still writes an occasional article of reminiscence for the local weekly newspaper, the Pearl City News.

In fact the 76-year-old Collier is known as the “New York correspondent” of the paper.

Returned in 1918

The amiable cartoonist returned to Pearl City from New York for six months in 1918 to edit the local newspaper while its editor, O. Glenn Hooker, served in the Army during World War I.

The semi-retired Collier is now living in Riverdale, N.J., a small community in the northern part of the state. His home is “only a stone’s throw from George Washington Bridge” which spans the Hudson River, joining New York and New Jersey.

Collier has been a free lance cartoonist and writer of humorous articles and poetry for the past 37 years. He does all his work at home now, mailing material to newspapers and magazines throughout the country. He resigned from his last regular job in 1952 with the National Assn. of Manufacturers for whom he worked 16 years.

Worked With Will Rogers

Some of the accomplishments of which he is most proud include the illustrations he did for the late Will Rogers. Collier illustrated a number of Roger’s newspaper articles and his book “The Illiterate Digest.” Collier later presented a copy of the book to the Pearl City library.

The easy-going Collier also played a role in the election of William Hale Thompson as mayor of Chicago in 1915 with his political cartoons. At the time, Collier was employed as an editorial cartoonist for the Chicago Evening Journal. Mayor Thompson thought so highly of Collier’s cartoons that he had three of his originals framed on the wall of his office.

Nate Collier was connected with movie cartoons at one time. He drew the animated figures for the Katzenjammer Kids, Happy Hooligan, Krazy Kat, Silk Hat Harry and Mutt and Jeff movie cartoons for four years.

Born Near Orangeville

Although he is far removed from the Midwest today, Collier still reminisces about his boyhood days in the Pearl City area. Born in 1883 in a log cabin one mile north of Orangeville, Collier says of the event, “I heard that Abe Lincoln was born in a log cabin so I did my best to come as close to that as possible.”

He moved to Pearl City with his parents in 1888, although the community at that Lime was known as “Yellow Creek.” His father, James Riley Collier, operated a photographic gallery in a tent here and also worked as a cooper.

Collier says he “vividly remembers the time he and several other local residents found pearls in Yellow Creek in the early 1890s. In 1893 the village was incorporated and its name was changed to Pearl City because of the pearls discovered in the stream,”

Ambidextrous Pitcher

The versatile Collier also has an avid interest in athletics. He pitched for the Pearl City “Browns” in the early 1900s and claims he could pitch with both his right and left hands. He said he will never forget one summer afternoon in which he was a “victim of circumstances.”

Collier pitched a one-hitter that day against the Stockton ball team but the opposing hurler, who had the unusual name of “Bunker” Hill, threw a no-hitter—beating the Pearl City club 1 to 0.

Then in 1904, at the age of 21, he began his artistic career, attending art schools in Indianapolis, Ind., and Kalamazoo, Mich. The following year, he had his first cartoon published, appearing in the old Freeport Standard. Collier joined the staff of the Kokomo, Ind., Dispatch as a cartoonist in 1906 and later ran an illustrated humorous column in the Duluth, Minn., News Tribune which he called “A Little Dope On The Side.”

Worked On Many Newspapers

He was then employed by a number of Midwestern and Eastern newspapers during a career which took him to Chicago, Cleveland and Sandusky, Ohio, New York City, and several other cities.

Artistic ability seems to run in his family as Collier’s two sons, Theron and Thurlo, have both followed in their father’s footsteps. They also live in New Jersey and work at an art studio in New York City. The younger Colliers draw animated figures for television commercials.

Collier’s main hobby now is golf, a sport he still plays with great enthusiasm. “My biggest thrill in the game came in 1954 when I carded a hole-in-one on a 205-yard hole on a New York golf course,” he said.

The Nate Collier of 1960, as witty a personality as ever, says “I want my friends back in Pearl City to know that I don’t feel any older today than I did at 50 and I’m still full of ‘wim,’ ‘Wigor’ and ‘witality.’ ”

Collier passed away February 16, 1961, in River Vale, New Jersey. The Freeport Journal Standard, February 27, 1961, published an obituary.

Nate Collier, Well-Known Cartoonist, Humorist, Dies
Pearl City—Word has been received here of the death of Nate Collier, River Vale, N.J., a nationally known cartoonist, humorist and poet.

Collier, a native of Orangeville, spent much of his youth in Pearl City. He left the Stephenson County community permanently 42 years ago but kept in close touch with his hometown in the ensuing years. He contributed humorous articles to the Pearl City News right up until his death.

He died Feb. 16, in New Jersey at the age of 77.

Collier’s cartoons have appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, Life, the old Judge magazine, Colliers and the London Opinion, to name just a few of the publications.

Drew Movie Cartoons

At one time he drew animated figures for several movie cartoons, including the Katzenjammer Kids, Happy Hooligan, Krazy Kat, Silk Hat Harry and Mutt and Jeff. However he termed the animating profession “tedious” and turned to other fields after four years in business.

Collier had his first cartoon published in the old Freeport Standard in 1905. His long and varied newspaper career then found him employed on such newspapers as the Duluth, Minn., News Tribune, the Chicago Journal, Kokomo, Ind., Dispatch, Sandusky, Ohio, Star Journal and he once drew several cartoons for Hearst newspapers.

Collier also worked with Will Rogers for a time. He illustrated Roger’s book, “Illiterate Digest,” and a number of Roger’s newspaper articles. Collier told friends he was especially proud of his illustrations for the American humorist.

For the past 38 years, Collier had been a free lance cartoonist and writer of humorous articles and poetry. He did most of his work at his home in New Jersey.

Editorial Cartoonist

In recent years, he drew editorial cartoons exclusively. His formula for success as an editorial cartoonist was to “Draw one thing and call it something else.”

He was born Nov. 14, 1883, in a log cabin near Orangeville, the son of James Riley and Laura Bobb Collier. Of the event Collier later commented, “I heard that Abe Lincoln was born in a log cabin so i did my best to come as close to that as possible.”

He and his parents moved to Pearl City in 1888 where his father worked as a cooper and a photographer. He attended art schools in Indianapolis, Ind., and Kalamazoo, Mich., before launching his cartoonist’s career in 1905.

Collier married Elma Snetcher of Pearl City who died in 1922. He later married Florence Crane of Ohio. She also preceded him in death.

Surviving are two sons, Theron of Harrington Park, N.J., and Thurlo of River Vale, N.J. and one grandson.

Service and burial were held in New Jersey.

Further Reading and Viewing
Nate Collier on Cartooning Courses
Nate Collier on Cartooning
Postcard
One To Make You Drool
Biographical Sketches of Cartoonists & Illustrators in the Swann Collection of the Library of Congress
Nate Collier's Daily Panel


—Alex Jay

Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles

I'm ambivalent about posting today's obscurity, Our Own Movies, because I have a great affinity and respect for the work of Nate Collier. This series unfortunately affords me few opportunities for compliments.

Our Own Movies seems to have debuted on November 3 1919*, syndicated by Baltimore's International Syndicate. International was an important early syndicate twenty years earlier, but by 1919 they were just getting by with some second-rate material that they sold to smaller papers. Nate Collier was a perfect fit for them because he was always on the prowl for another outlet for his constantly drawing pen, and he wasn't precious about who signed his checks.

Collier was creative enough that he didn't need to resort to plagiarism, but for some reason he offered International a bald-faced copy of Ed Wheelan's Minute Movies**, less the most original aspect of Wheelan's creation, the recurring 'actor troupe'. For my own happiness, I'm going to assume that International ordered him to produce this me-too strip.

When first offered, the strip was designed so that it could run as a very thin page-width strip, like Bert Link's A Reel of Nonsense.  However, I have yet to find a paper that ran it that way. The strip was also offered formatted as a three-column three-tiered square (as seen above). This succeeded in making the captions sometimes refer to a drawing on a different tier, making the strips a bit confusing to readers. Nevertheless, this was the format everyone seemed to pick.

By early 1920, the strip was reformatted to fit in the standard six-column comic strip format of the day, and now looked exactly like Minute Movies by switching to its two-tiered format. By then Collier was beginning to offer continuities, also like you-know-who.

The strip was actually running in a goodly number of papers (by International Syndicate standards), when it disappeared on August 28 1920***, not even a full year into the run. My bet is that International stiffed Collier and he flew the coop, but that's just a guess. No harm done, though, since it was not doing Collier's resume any good to be producing copycat material for an over-the-hill syndicate.




* Source: Ottawa Journal
** Actually, it was still titled Midegt Movies in 1919. The Minute Movies moniker would not come until 1921.
*** Source: Salina Evening Journal

Labels: Obscurities

Associated Newspapers began offering a daily cartoon series penned by Donald McKee in May 1919, but something went awry in September 1920, because the series was abruptly passed along to Nate Collier. Collier's first cartoon seems to have appeared on September 7 1919 (a Tuesday)*.

Collier offered up his take on the Clare Briggs / H.T. Webster style of feature, using various rotating titles. Sophisticated urbane humor was mixed with liberal dollops of homespun wisdom and nostalgia for days past.  He picked up the flavor of the Briggs/Webster school so deftly that you would have thought that it had been his specialty for years. But that's just how good Collier was.

Not only was his humor closely patterned on other successful features, his cartooning style also underwent a magical transformation. His more typical bigfoot style was shelved for this feature and all of a sudden he was drawing in a very attractive cross between H.T. Webster and Frank King.


Despite the superior quality of the feature, perhaps its 'me-too' nature was too much for editors to overlook. Whether for that or other reasons, this feature ran in very few papers, much like the McKee version before it. Collier or his syndicate pulled the plug after less than four months on January 1 1921** after which the same format was passed along to Herbert Johnson who managed to keep it up for about two years.


* Source: Akron Evening Times, which could have been running a day late.
** Source: Boston Globe.

Labels: Obscurities

Nate Collier was a journeyman cartoonist, active mainly in the 1920s. He had work published in Judge and Life, plus many more small-time publications. He also had several syndicated features published, unfortunately all with smaller outfits who didn't have much luck with them. He was an outstanding cartoonist and was one of those guys who seemed to know everyone in the business.

Collier began writing a monthly column for Guy Lockwood's Art & Life magazine, a curious amalgam of art instruction, philosophy essays and nude photos, in 1924. His column covered cartooning news, advice to amateurs, and right in line with Lockwood's oddball vision, philosophical essays.

Reproduced below is one of his first columns, a particularly interesting one as he's slamming Cartoons magazine for publishing swiped material. I think Collier's columns are fascinating, but I realize some of it can be a little esoteric for the typical comic strip fan. If you folks would like to see more of Collier's Art & Life columns please post a comment below on the post. If I don't hear a reaction I'll assume this material isn't of interest and I'll not publish more of them.

Oh, and a reminder that you need to click on the images once or twice to see them at proper readable size.

Nate Collier had a regular column in Guy Lockwood's Art and Life magazine, and in his first installment he obliged readers with a career summary:

Art & Life November 1924

One correspondent asks if I had a hard time getting started.

Two years and a half after I started my first correspondence course in drawing I sold my first comic to the American Boy for $6. That was in 1906. I had taken a correspondence course from the National School of Illustrating, In­dianapolis, Ind., and spent a few months at their resident school in 1904, also studied with J. H. Smith, contributor to Judge from 1904 to 1907. Took cor­respondence course in cartooning from Acme School of Drawing, Kalamazoo, Mich., 1905. Attended their resident school a few months at the start of 1906. In May same year obtained my first position as cartoonist on the Kokomo, Ind. Dispatch. In 1907 I sold a dozen or so drawings to Judge's amateur con­test and also freelanced comics to The Chicago Daily News. In 1908 took Lockwood's cartoon course and worked in a country print shop at $6 a week to get enough money to attend his resident school. Went to Kalamazoo in January 1909 and remained a couple of months, continued selling comics to Chicago News, and sold my first draw­ing for the regular pages of Judge.

Later in the same year went to Sandusky, Ohio, as cartoonist on the Star Journal of that place, remained there until November 1910.

Sold my first drawing to Life in 1910.

From 1911 to March 1913 I conduct­ed a humorous column, made sport car­toons, and illustrated the Sunday Mag­azine Section for the Duluth, Minn., News Tribune; also freelanced work to Hope, Coming Nation, News Times,and sold a few to Life and Judge.

In 1913, '14, '15 to May 1916, Car­toonist, Chicago Daily Journal and free­lanced a lot of comics to The Motion Picture magazine.

From October 1916 to October 1917 animated ads for a Cleveland Ohio Film concern.

Came to New York in October 1917.

1917, 1918 and 1919 Animated Katzenjammer Kids, Happy Hooligan and Jerry on the Job. Had comic strip put out by International Syndicate of Balti­more, Md., called "Our Own Movies" and sold a number of drawings to Life.

1920, Made "Our Own Movies," was cartoonist for The Associated News­papers. Freelanced to Life, Judge, Harpers, Brownings Magazine, Car­toons magazine, etc.

1921. Freelanced to Judge and Fun Book and animated Mutt and Jeff.

1922. Freelanced to Judge and ani­mated Aesop's Fables, and with Hearst Syndicate a while.

Since April 1923 have had my studio at home and am at present doing work for Saturday Evening Post, Life, Judge, Harper's, McNaught Syndicate, The World Color Printing Co., of St. Louis, and others.

From 1909 to 1919 I submitted over four hundred drawings to Life out of which I sold 14, and I have made enough comic strips, that never landed to keep a syndicate going a year or more.

Most students think that they are ready to hold a position long before they are. It takes years of study, persistence and a never-give-up attitude; and above all a love of the work for the work it­self to overcome all obstacles and dis­couragements.

I'll add that Collier was then doing the art on Kelly Kids for World Color, but would give it up in the next year. His only other verified newspaper credit is for Goofus Animals which he did 1930-31. He's listed in E&P for a few other later features I've not been able to find. Collier was much more successful selling freelance gag cartoons, which he placed in not only the A-list magazines but lots of trade, semi-pro and oddball publications.

Kahles version

Collier version

Lyman Young version

The Kelly Kids was the last major attempt by World Color Printing to keep their foundering Sunday comic section alive after its heydays in the 1900s and early 1910s. After the truly awful Dem Boys was finally put out of its (or is that our) misery, it was replaced by The Kelly Kids on July 14 1918. You'd think after killing one outright Katzenjammer Kids rip-off, the folks at WCP would try going in a different direction. Well, you might think that, but you'd be wrong. The Kelly Kids was yet another Katzenjammer Kids pastiche, this one with the frightfully original angle of having the family be of Irish descent rather than German.

At least in the move from Dem Boys to The Kelly Kids readers could be heartened that the new strip was at least competently drawn. The strip was penned by old hand Charles Kahles, who was apparently looking to augment the income he received from his main bread-and-butter strip Hairbreadth Harry, which was being syndicated by rival C-grade syndicate McClure.

Kahles never signed The Kelly Kids*, but there's no doubt of his distinctively stiff and formal style. Being anonymous on the strip, Kahles evidently saw no great need to put a lot of effort into the proceedings, and about the best you can say for The Kelly Kids during his tenure is that the strip is professionally done, and does the basic job of pulling off standard Katzie-style hijinks.

Kahles remained on the strip for five long years, finally jumping ship after the installment of May 20 1923. He was replaced by the great Nate Collier who, sadly, gave WCP as much effort as he was being paid for, which evidently wasn't much. Although Nate occasionally penned a somewhat funny original strip (see above), usually he stuck to the standard prank-pulling silliness expected of him, seldom even bothering to make the pranks stand up to basic logical scrutiny. What's more, Collier's normally crisp penwork was nowhere to be found on this strip, leading me to wonder if he was subbing out the artwork to an assistant. As this was one of the few times that Collier did a newspaper strip, it is doubly sad that he evidently considered it not worth his while to make it attractive and breezily funny, which are otherwise his hallmarks.Collier left after two and a half years, his last strip appearing on September 4 1925.

Next to take the helm was Lyman Young, later to create the long-running Tim Tyler's Luck, in his earliest known professional newspaper cartooning job. On The Kelly Kids Lyman exhibited a barely professional grasp of humorous cartooning, which he would apparently later cure as much with the liberal use of art assistants as with improvement of his own skills.Young's run on the strip is marked by the addition of a topper strip called Bill and Sue, the tale of a swain and his sweetie in the same vein as George McManus' topper strip Rosie's Beau.

A note about Lyman Young's run on The Kelly Kids. It has been put forth, apparently first by Maurice Horn, and then repeated ad nauseum, that the kids were brother and sister, and that Young's next strip, The Kid Sister, was an offshoot of The Kelly Kids in which the sister was elevated to the starring role. Of course, the Kellys are a pair of brothers, and looking through a stack of Young's Sundays, I find no addition of a sister character. So please folks, let's put that bit of mythology to bed.

What I do find (vaguely) interesting about Young's version of The Kelly Kids is that he wasn't too fond of the standard Katzie prank-pulling. He added a recurring fantasy element (see above for an example) and often elevated the adults to starring roles, sometimes sneaking the kids into the background of just a single panel of their own strip.

Lyman Young stuck with the strip for a year and a half, signing off with the episode of March 6 1927. Next up was a fellow who generally only signed himself 'Ring', and whose full name was George Rohlfing. Rohlfing's style was a pretty close approximation of Lyman Young's, in other words not exactly memorable. His contribution to the strip was to add another occasional topper titled Silent Silas, which occasionally ran in place of Bill and Sue. Rohlfing's tenure was brief, ending after just five months on August 7 1927.

That date is also the last of the original material Kelly Kids. Although the strip would be a part of the World Color Printing comic section until the bitter end in the late 1930s, from then on it would be a mishmash of reprints from each of the four creators. 

*EDIT 8/24/2022: Actually, Kahles did start signing the strip in April 1921 .. why he all of a sudden felt comfortable signing it is a mystery, since he was still producing Hairbreadth Harry for McClure.

Labels: Obscurities

Goofus Animals was a panel cartoon with verse series, a popular form before poetry in newspapers was deemed old-fashioned. Here the poet, one Herbert Kirk, supplies odes to imaginary creatures, while the great Nate Collier adds the visuals. The feature ran 1930-31.

Nate Collier is one of the great forgotten cartoonists. His obscurity, I suppose, is deserved since he never managed to produce anything of truly memorable value in his many years of producing magazine cartoons and newspaper art. He always seemed to be working for the grade-B magazines and newspaper syndicates, though his wonderful artwork should have led him to greener pastures. Ah, well, that's life.

Too bad on these samples his signature is printed so small. Collier's signature is a wonder to behold.

Labels: Obscurities

 

At first blush you'd think Uncle Abner Says, a panel that ran from 1936-38, is just another one of those ubiquitous panels of cracker-barrel wisdom like Abe Martin, Ching Chow or their many copycats. When you look over the gags, though, you find that ol' Abner is a bit of a one-note local yokel. He's pretty gosh darn unhappy about the gov'ment, specially the way they pick his pocket with them goldurn taxes. And not just his pocket, by cracky, he's fuming over the way that Roosevelt feller is taxing big corporations, too!

Hey, wait a minute now. A bewhiskered rustic like Abner complaining about taxes? Well, sure. But concerned about corporations? Hmm, that seems a bit out of character. I hate to even suggest it of such a kindly old soul as Abner, but .... could he be on the take?

I hate to be the one to break the news, but it's true; Abner is a shill. He doesn't say a word that isn't bought and paid for by secret interests. Not surprisingly, those interests just happen to be big corporations. To lay all the cards on the table, Uncle Abner Says was a production of Six Star Service, a newspaper syndicate created by the National Association of Manufacturers*, a trade association and lobbying group of big businesses. They sent out propaganda material like this to newspapers free of charge: the newspaper filled some space with something mildly entertaining for free, and the manufacturers got their message out surreptiously, without running ads that few would bother to read. You might call it a win-win situation, except there were losers involved -- the newspaper readers who got a daily brainwashing session from what seems like an innocuous panel cartoon. 

This sort of hidden advertising material was usually sent out in small batches, but in the case of  Uncle Abner Says it was a full blown daily panel that ran for a very long time. I can track it from June 22 1936 to April 30 1938**, an unheard of almost three year run.

For almost the first year the feature was unsigned, but finally in March 1937 Nate Collier was allowed to start signing his work. I'm a big fan of Collier, but his talents, which skew to the goofy, are utterly wasted on this panel. But hey, it put food on the table at the Collier household, no foul there. I also feel sorry for Nate if he was tasked with creating all these gags, which get pretty darn monotonous in their one-note dirge for lower taxes. Not only did Nate have to write six gags a week on the same subject, but undoubtedly had to submit them for review to some corporate minister of propaganda who last smiled when Herbert Hoover was elected.  

* Source: reported in Pittsburgh Press, June 26 1936.

** Sources: start date from Belvidere Republican, end date from Edinburg Courier.

Labels: Advertising Strips

 

Here is a Nate Collier card from Taylor Pratt's Series 892 (aka Red Border Series), published in 1912. It seems to me this card is a brilliant bit of marketing magic -- those who shun religion will buy it, knowing their recipient will understand they are being sarcastic. Those of a religious bent will also buy it for the opposite reason. Nice one Nate!

Labels: Wish You Were Here

From a 1927 issue of Art & Life, here's Nate Collier commenting on the very popular mail order cartooning courses of the day:

After saying a few months ago that I only had one Nate Collier postcard example, I found another one lurking in the collection. This one is much more forthcoming on publishing details. It was issued in 1912 by Taylor Pratt and is marked as "T.P. Red Border Series 892".

Labels: Wish You Were Here

 

Here's another card from the collection of Mark Johnson, this one by a very young Nate Collier, when he still signed his first name as 'Nathan'. It was published in 1911 by the Hoover-Watson Printing Company of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Labels: Wish You Were Here

This is the only postcard I've ever found from the very able pen of Nate Collier. Evidently it was very early in his career, since he is signing his first name as Nathan, which I've never seen him do. The card maker is not credited, and although it is postally used, the postmark has faded away, so the year is unknown. I'd take a guess that it is from the very early 'teens.

Labels: Wish You Were Here

[Cartoons Magazine, debuting in 1912, was a monthly magazine devoted primarily to reprinting editorial cartoons from U.S. and foreign newspapers. Articles about cartooning and cartoonists often supplemented the discussion of current events.

In November 1913 the magazine began to offer a monthly round-up of news about cartoonists and cartooning, eventually titled "What The Cartoonist Are Doing." There are lots of interesting historical nuggets in these sections, and this Stripper's Guide feature will  reprint one issue's worth each week.]


A CARTOONIST FISHERMAN
H. C. Norberg, of the Kansas City Journal, claims to be the champion cartoonist fisherman of the United States. During the warm summer months he can be found at the Journal office working at his drawing board until 11 p.m. Early the next morning he will be seen loaded down with fishing tackle in the accumulation of which he has spent many years. He will be headed for a stream or a puddle. Because of the democratic administration, he says, the fish are not biting in his district, and he is planning a chalk talk route along the streams and lakes of Missouri and Kansas. Mr. Norberg's own idea of a fishing jaunt may be had by a glance at the accompanying sketch.

NATE COLLIER AS A POET
It may not be generally known that Nate L. Collier, the self-styled “crazy cartoonist” of the Chicago Journal, like Mr. Wegg, sometimes drops into poetry. Much of his humorous verse, illustrated by himself, appeared in the Duluth News Tribune during 1912. Here are a few samples of his “poetry.”

The summer maiden gaily trips—
She raises quite a din,
And cries, as she gets on her feet,
“Darn that banana skin'"

Under the title of “Who’s Who” a number of rhymes appeared like these:

In Hibbing just two weeks ago
I met a man who owned a show;
His face was filled with moles.
Within his hand he held a dog,
And by a rope he led a hog;
His socks were full of holes.

I cried: “Who are you, Box of Snuff?
You're lookin' pretty all-fired tough;
I fear your heart is fickle.
He looked at me and heaved a sigh,
And cried: “Ods Blood! Why, I'm the guy - - - -
Who put the pick in pickle.”

I met a man last Friday night;
His hat was trimmed with lace;
His great big feet were in his shoes;
His nose was on his face.
I cried: “Who are you, little simp?
I've seen your like quite of'en."
He yelled: “Hooray! Why, I'm the guy
Who put the coff in coffin.”

 In still another vein is the following:
Susie spied a sassy spider
Sitting down quite close beside her;
Susie sighed, and sadly eyed her;
Then the sassy spider spied her.

A verse entitled “The Old Copy Book” was first published in the Student's Art Magazine. It goes:

In a dusty cobwebbed attic hid within forgotten nooks
There I found one rainy Sunday just a pile of thumb-worn books.
And I sat me on the floor 'neath the rafters gray and old,
And I gazed upon those keepsakes dearer far to me than gold—
While above the raindrops pattered and the deep-toned thunder rolled.

Oh! I thought, if Time's grim fingers would turn back the clock of life,
Turn it back to the beginning of our seeming endless strife;
How much better I would live it if I could but live it o'er,
For my past deeds were misshapen and some steps I did deplore—
Thus in vain I dreamed and pondered, seated on the attic floor.

But among those books forgotten an old copy book I found,
With its writing old and faded and the corners thumbed and round;
And mine eyes sought out a maxim as above it I did bend,
I had copied it in childhood: " It is ne'er too late to mend.”—
And right then I vowed to profit by the words I once had penned.

And in closing I will whisper to you, brothers in the strife:
When your road seems long and rocky and the bitter cares are rife,
Hie away up in the attic and your old school-books review
'Mid the cobwebs on the rafters and your heart with hope imbue,
Read the maxims of your childhood—it will start you in anew.

Mr. Collier was married in 1909 to his “first sweetheart,” and now has two fine boys. He is not, he explains, actually crazy, but only crazy in print. In a sketch which appears on another page he intimates that he prefers the “Made in America” cartoons to the samples of foreign work in Cartoons Magazine.

CARTOONS THAT “HURT KANSAS”
The Wichita Eagle prints an interview with a western traveling man who states that the newspaper cartoons depicting Kansas as a state of great wealth, where farmers ride around in automobiles, are giving a false impression of that commonwealth, and filling Kansas with a floating population, “the poor of the cities,” the salesman is quoted as saying, “thinking that all they have to do is to come out here and they will find a job awaiting them. I don't know whether this is done for the purpose of boosting this state, or reducing the bread lines in the cities.”

STARRETT FINDS A SHELTERED NOOK
W. K. Starrett, who seems to have settled down permanently as C. R. Weed's successor on the New York Tribune, has been house-hunting in the suburbs, and at last reports had found the ideal nook. His own conception of such a nook is like this:

“A little apartment where they use green grass, located in a neighborhood where they've invented trees. One not too near a church bell-tower, and where the bedroom will accommodate a bed long enough for me. Also it must not be too far from the bounding main, for I look forward with much pleasure to a summer near an ocean not used altogether as a fish-and-crab factory. All I want now is an ocean-going canoe; then I shall go down and dig ideas each morning and get damp.”

Helena Smith Dayton

TEA AT THE HUMORISTS'
Caricatures in clay by Mrs. Helena Smith Dayton, and sculptures in paper by Alfred Frueh, were drawing cards at the recent “varnishing day” of the newly-organized American Salon of Humorists at the Folsom galleries, New York. Among Mrs. Dayton's contributions were “The Funeral Hack Drivers—Waiting,” a restaurant scene entitled “Bohemians—Perhaps,” and a group called “Tramps Scorning a Doughnut.” The human figures and animals cut from paper, and arranged so as to tell stories, won for Mr. Frueh many compliments.

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Clifford Knight, cartoonist of the Hartford Post, has been writing some wordless dramas recently that are said to be brimming over with human interest. Mr. Knight also has a monologue which is in much demand at smokers, and is said to be leaning toward a vaudeville career.

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Ryan Walker, the socialist cartoonist, has rechristened his lecture, and now calls it, “What Henry Dubb did with his wife, Henrietta Dubb.” He has been lecturing under the auspices of the Socialist Suffrage Campaign committee, and reports a very successful tour.

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Cartoonists of Columbus, Ohio, are lamenting the removal from its pedestal of the statue of “Doc” Smith, a famous landmark of that city, which figured frequently in their cartoons.

THOSE FLAG CARTOONS
Some of the cartoonists ought to take a course of instruction in how to draw the American Flag. Cartoons with the flag in them are popular these days, but 99 out of 100 are dead wrong. They contain any number of strips from 15 up to 25, while Uncle Sam's whiskers blow in one direction and the flag in another. Another weak point with cartoonists is anything in the marine line. The way they rig ships, and make them sail would drive an old tar insane. Of course we know that many of the cartoonists never came in contact with salt water, except when they took it in merry childhood’s days for worms, but that is no excuse for turning out marine monsters, especially in a big seaport like New York.—Editor and Publisher, New York.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Harper's Weekly, during the last two months, has reprinted a number of cartoons by W. H. Hanny, of the St. Joseph News Press. Much to Mr. Hanny's dismay, however, the cartoons were credited to the Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette. A Hanny cartoon also appeared in a recent number of London Sketch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ray Evans

Ray O. Evans, cartoonist of the Baltimore American, is publishing a deluxe edition of prominent Baltimoreans in caricature. Mr. Evans was once associated with Billy Ireland of the Columbus Dispatch in a similar enterprise, and it was with him that Evans received his cartoon training.

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D. R. Fitzpatrick, cartoonist of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, is planning to spend his vacation in Chicago. Mr. Fitzpatrick was formerly a student at the Chicago Art Institute, and graduated into his present position from the Daily News of that city.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

F. G. Cooper, cartoonist of Collier's Weekly, was among the speakers at the annual “journalism week” at Columbia, Mo., held by the students of the school of journalism of the Missouri State University. Mr. Cooper spoke on cartoons.

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Mr. and Mrs. Frank M. Spangler announce the arrival at their home of a fine ten-pound daughter, Lucile Irene. Mr. Spangler is the cartoonist of the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser.

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Tom Bee's half-page sketches of life in Baltimore in the Baltimore Sunday Sun have met with great favor on the part of the public.

A PICTURE NO ARTIST CAN PAINT
From San Jose, Cal., comes the following remarkable letter to “Cartoons”:

“The writer is a dreamer alright alright, and my dreams suggest numerous cartoons. For example, I dreamed the other night that I was standing on a steep hillside gazing into a stream of blood which made the angels weep and on a hill above the rill in even plain view, I saw the form of Kaiser Bill and he was looking too. His face was blanched, his eyes bloodshot. His bosom heaved a sigh, as he stood on the mountain top, a tear stood in each eye. Mine Got, what have I done he cried, as he gazed on the stream. Is all this blood charged to my pride, or is this just a dream. Later he fell face downward into the stream of blood.”

The writer offers to furnish other dream ideas to such cartoonists as can use them.

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Like many of his fellow craftsmen, Frank M. Spangler, cartoonist of the Montgomery (Ala.) Advertiser, has a double talent. He was quite flattered recently by receiving an invitation to attend the conclave of the Knights Templars at Philadelphia in May, as soloist with the largest Masonic band in the United States. He is a member of the shrine band of Montgomery, which will take a trip to Seattle in July. Mr. Spangler says that he cannot take the western jaunt, as the poultry business, in which he is much interested, will demand his attention.

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Several original cartoons loaned by the Puck Publishing company to a recent exhibition at the Municipal Art Gallery of New York were removed or turned to the wall, owing to objections from certain school teachers. Among the artists whose work thus disappeared were Nelson Greene and Hy Mayer. The pictures, according to one of the censors, “were intended for more mature minds.”

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J. N. Darling (Ding), of the Des Moines Register and Leader, is a vocalist as well as a cartoonist. He is a member of one of the prominent church quartettes of Des Moines, and aside from being a power for good through his cartoons, takes an active interest in church and civic work.

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Claude Gibbs, sports cartoonist of the Baltimore Evening Sun, and also the writer of the “Abe” column of baseball pessimism, has returned from Fayetteville, N. C., where he spent several weeks at the training quarters of the Terrapins, Baltimore's Federal League team.

“SHONK'S” BEST CARTOON
A cartoon by J. H. Shonkweiler, of the Portsmouth (O.) Times, reproduced herewith, has won the artist many compliments, and is said to have reached Von Hindenburg himself. Commenting editorially on the cartoon, the Times says:

“It was a fanciful idea, that making soldiers stand for his hair and cannon and rifles for his eyebrows, but someway as one thinks of what a wonderful man of iron and warfare Von Hindenburg is, the idea assumes concrete form, and its fittingness is apparent. That many others appreciated the strength of the idea is shown by numerous words of praise given the author.”

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A newspaper cartoonist, according to the Wichita Eagle, has succeeded finally in angering Colonel Roosevelt. The artist showed the colonel mounting a war horse. “But the offense wasn’t there,” remarks the Eagle; “the picture showed the colonel getting up with the wrong foot in the stirrup.”

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Eugene Gise, formerly of the Toledo News-Bee, is now cartoonist for the Reading (Pa.) News-Times.

A CARTOON DISCREPANCY
The Corning (N. Y.) Leader points out the following discrepancy in a cartoon in a mid-western newspaper, representing someone, “presumably a child, submerged in the black waters of a river, named ‘Misfortune', that ran between two cliffs, one of which was 'Poverty.’”

“Only two tiny hands,” observes the Leader, “appeared above the murky stream. It would have been mighty effective if the submerged one had not been represented as crying out ‘Help!' It stands to reason that anyone, child or adult, who can yell ‘Help!' while plunged beneath the surface of a river, can make a pretty good living in vaudeville.”

JUST WANTED TO KNOW
James North, cartoonist of the Tacoma Daily Ledger, tells a personal experience that again exemplifies the popular notion that cartooning and real work are anything but equivalent.
Prior to certain restrictions on boxing and wrestling contests, the logging camps of the state of Washington were often the scene of many lively bouts. A big, burly logger, who had been victorious in one of these contests, came to the city to celebrate, and in his wanderings he visited the Ledger offices in search of the sporting editor and some publicity.

The logger's curiosity led him to the art department. For several minutes he stood looking silently over North's shoulder at the cartoon in course of construction. Then suddenly he blurted out: “Say, Bo; what do you do for a living?”

CARTOON ON BILLY
Billy Sunday has his knockers. He received a cartoon and letter from an anonymous source recently which afforded him great amusement. The cartoon showed a cannibal dressed up in silk hat, full dress coat, umbrella under one arm and Bible under the other. A sash of white cloth covered the loins. Under the cartoon was the inscription: “The Billy Sunday of the Fiji islands.” The accompanying letter read: “The more dignified of the two and the one we prefer to have in New York.”

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The Rev. E. J. Pace, a cartoonist in the service of religion, has been doing some effective work for the Christian Endeavor Topic and other religious journals. A cartoon by Mr. Pace, showing the key of obedience that unlocks the Bible, was used recently as a cover-page for the Watchword, of Dayton, Ohio.

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A cartoon from the Jiji, of Tokyo, which had a rather familiar appearance, resolved itself on closer scrutiny into one by Rollin Kirby of the New York World. Kaiser Wilhelm is represented as imploring Uncle Sam to take for him a supply of food which the British lion is guarding.

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Carl Garderwine, of the Terre Haute Tribune, has been bringing the traction company of the Indiana city to time by a cartoon crusade in the interests of the jitney bus.

CARTOON BRINGS LIBEL SUIT
A cartoon in the Los Angeles Tribune entitled “The Brute,” and directed against brutal journalism, has been made the basis of a $125,000 libel suit, filed against the Tribune publishers by the Los Angeles Times-Mirror. The cartoon showed a hog wallowing in filth. Two dollar signs were branded on its nose. The complainants declare that the cartoon was intended to injure their business, and was “understood by the readers to imply that the complainant was a brute, and, like the hog, wallows in filth and indecency; that he is an assassinator of character, and that salacious matter and unverified rumor are his stock in trade.”

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Charles H. Sykes, of the Philadelphia Evening Ledger, smashed a 91-year precedent when a cartoon drawn by him for the suffrage number of the Springfield Republican was published on the first page of that newspaper. It was the first time in the history of that staid old journal's existence that the first page had been thus decorated.

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As the result of a cartoon by Frank Hammond in the Wichita Eagle, the leading merchants of Wichita have placed awnings in front of their places of business. The cartoon was entitled “Which Store Gets the Trade?” and showed the contrast between a shop with awnings and a shop without

Labels: What The Cartoonists Are Doing