Cartoonists Ring In New Years!!!

 NEW YEARS 

CELEBRATED 

IN THE OLD YEARS!

by Rick Marschall

Cartoonists almost congenitally embrace holidays. Comic artists are inspired by happy events, and in turn inspire their readers. Serious artists and illustrators create commemorations. In general, a job of cartoonists is to celebrate things worthy of celebration.

There is the additional allure of holidays to cartoonists. On those days the artists do not have to scratch their heads quite so much to come up with ideas!

In any (or all) events, here are some New Years themes from Old Years. I have chosen from my collection images that -- by coincidence -- not only raise the glass to the New Year, but appeared in roughly "round number" years ago (unless you are reading this as an archive post...!)

(Above) Winsor McCay, as "Silas," drew this fanciful exception to my rule here. At the end of 1907 he drew this strip of Father Time replacing the old 1907 with a baby 1908. Where did Old Man 1907 reside? In a grandfather's clock, of course! This appeared in the New York Telegram.

We will proceed chronologically. One hundred fifty years ago, the Father of American Editorial Cartooning, Thomas Nast, introduced the New Year in his short-lived magazine Nast's Almanac.

Ten years later in Puck Magazine this greeting appeared. The drawing by Friedrich Graetz, an Austrian cartoonist who worked in the US for three years, is an original in my collection.

The prolific Dwig (Clare Victor Dwiggins) created dozens of strips from the Turn of the Century into the 1950s; and many hundreds of comic postcards in the century's first decade. This was sent in 1910. 

Almost a hundred years ago, in 1920, someone received this charming New Year card drawn by the amazing cartoonist Rose O'Neill (happy-spoiler alert: A major treatment of her life and work is in the works for the imminent arrival of NEMO Magazine!)

Also from my collection (on the wall, as you can see, of the Gibson Room in my house) from one century ago -- Charles Dana Gibson drew Life's cupid (mascot of his magazine, Life) toasting the baby cupid with the sash labeled "1925." This appeared as a cover of Life, and was then inscribed to Gibson's niece. 

The lone New Years cartoon sans smiles is also from the mid-1920s, by John Held Jr. Hoping that your own celebrations do not result in headaches -- nor, in fact, may any other activities in the upcoming Twelvemonth, we wish you a...

HAPPY 

NEW 

YEAR! 

Don't Open Till XMas...!

 

Under the Tree...

More 

Surprises!

by Rick Marschall

I have been sharing Christmas cards and drawings from my collection, and I wanted to share a rare "corporate" card, and then miscellaneous cards from a variety of artists... no theme except Christmas itself. All the cards were produced for the three Fs -- family, friends, and fans. That is, not for stationers marketing in stores. Enjoy!

Back during the high-flying (literally) days of EC Comics, this was the "corporate" card Bill Gaines sent out. Among the elves are John Severin, Maries Severin, Al Williamson, Jack Davis, Al Feldstein, Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder, Joe Orlando, Wally Wood, and Bernie Krigstein.

As with many of the cards here, if a Christmas came and went without certain cartooning friends' cards, it would feel like a bleak midwinter. Wonderful Edwina Dumm, the creator of creator of Tippie the dog and Jaspurr the cat (her strip was the long-running Cap Stubbs and Tippie), sent cards every year. Some were privately printed; some were hand-drawn. As my children met her, and she cherished them, she often wrote greetings to them too.

This card was sent by Sidney Smith, before The GumpsThis 

In the last year of his life, the greatest mixing in a touch of his perennial themes. He was optimistic about the world's future...

Hal Foster, sans Prince Valiant

Fred Lasswell, in his early Barney Google and Snuffy Smith cards, emulated the style and shading that the strip's creator Billy DeBeck used in his cards.

Even after retirement from his great Toonerville Folks panel and strip, Fontaine Fox sent out cards -- literally, postcards. His drawn greeting was printed, but every card would have some pen-and-ink addition, and, always, hand-coloring.   

The great (and great friend) Al Kilgore usually sent custom-drawn images. In 1964 he reprinted a daily strip of his great BullwinkleThe great (and great friend) Al Kilgore usually sends custom-drawn images. In 1964 he reprinted a daily strip 

How to read a Nancy Christmas card...?

The great Cliff Sterrett drew Polly and ALL her pals, ca. 1927

Walt Scott's card was a custom silk-screen printed, a true and charming craft-driven creation. The characters are his classic Little People from his Sunday comic strip. 

Dreams of Sugar-Plums Danced In Their Heads -- In Fact, They Were Animated!

CHRISTMAS CARDS OF ANIMATORS AND THEIR STUDIOS

by Rick Marschall

In the worlds of comic strips and other branches of cartooning, through the years the artists have created personal cards for family, friends, and fans. More occasionally did syndicates and publishers send out greetings featuring their casts. Of course it happened, and we will share some in the next posting.

But here are cards that were designed by animators and animation studios. Although none of these were marketed in stores, they did serve as promotions for the characters and their studios.

Enjoy early Disney Studio cards; Otto Messmer (when he was doing the newspaper-strip Felix); a cast of stars from Paramount / Famous Studios; and a card inscribed to Seymour Kneitel from Max and Dave Fleischer.

The last example is a Christmas drawing probably by the great Hank Porter. The woodland Christmas image features all the Disney characters and superb penwork and shading. It has got to be one of the finest Disney pieces, or any cartoon by any cartoonist. I first saw the original art more than 50 years ago, framed on the wall of the great collector Howard Bayliss in his apartment in Queens, New York City.

HAVE A

MERRY

AND ANIMATED

CHRISTMAS! 

Christmas Presents!

 UNWRAPPING SOME CHRISTMAS SURPRISES

by Rick Marschall

It is not surprising that cartoonists would send Christmas cards, nor that they would, in the spirit of holiday cheer (not to mention proudly sharing their best efforts to friends and fans), draw special designs... and expend extra effort to impress. 'Tis the Season!

What will be surprises, in a few Yesterday's Papers posts, are treasures not widely known. We will share vintage cards by prominent cartoonists and illustrators -- scarce because they were not produced a la Hallmark, for the general public, but for family and friends, as we say, but occasionally for selected fans.

 

This is a card drawn by Krazy Kat's kreator, George Herriman, not to the Hal Roach family, but possibly for them. The stout fellow in the double-breasted suit is the legendary producer himself; he embraces his son Hal Junior; his wife Marguerite; and daughter Margaret. Herriman did not sign the drawing... except as a self-caricature, lower right, where he labelled himself "the Squatter." For years Herriman maintained a studio on the Hal Roach movie lot in Culver City, Los Angeles, making the location the true "fun factory."

An accomplished painter and illustrator, J Allen St John is best remembered for his painted covers, chapter headings, and illustrations for the Tarzan books of Edgar Rice Burroughs. This family Christmas card was drawn seven years after that famous collaboration commenced.

This card is thought to be an advertisement for Flit insecticide, which was a client of Theodor Geisel (Dr Seuss) for many years. He produced hundreds of cartoon ads for the corporation. This was, however, produced as a separate card and I suspect was Ted's personal card, mentioning Flit as a major aspect of his professional work, even after the success of And To Think I Saw It on Mulberry Street, his first "children's books" for all ages of readers. "Better Times" refers to hopes against the Great Depression.

Harrison Cady is best known for his cartoon animals, so this messenger of holiday cheer is appropriate in the card he sent to  friends. Cady was a social cartoonist for Life Magazine in the 'teens; drew hundreds of illustrations for the "Mother West Wind" children's tales of Thortnon W Burgess; and drew the Peter Rabbit Sunday page that appeared in many newspapers and comic books. 

If you have a strange urge to eat breakfast cereal when you see this card, it might be because Vernon Grant was the creator of the little imps Snap, Crackle, and Pop, who were the advertising mascots of the Rice Crispies cereal. A wonderful stylist, those ads and cereal-box art is what he best remembered for; but through the years he designed many magazine covers and illustrated storybooks for children.

CARTOONISTS AND THEIR CHRISTMASSES

CHRISTMAS 
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE

FROM THE CARTOONISTS

by Rick Marschall

As this site's late, beloved founder, John Adcock, occasionally planned, in the run-up to Christmas I will share some seasonal and rare artwork by cartoonists, illustrators, and animators through the years. 

In a week or two I will share custom artwork cartoonists did for me, but today I got to thinking of "ghosts" (not ghost artists!) of Christmases past. Below is card that I cherish. I was on the Christmas-card list of Hergé. This is perhaps his last, with the handwritten salutation of him and his wife Fanny. 

It got me to thinking of cards I received through the years, that ceased, somewhat logically, when the cartoonists died. On the other hand, Jeannie and the Schulz family have maintained the list, and their greetings are gratefully received: Charlie Brown Christmasses live on. Dean Young, whose Blondie -- and himself -- magnificently flourish today, still designs and mails out custom, personalized (i.e., not Hallmark/commercial) greetings. I hope not amiss to share this year's:

My ol' friend Dean (our book Blondie and Dagwood's America was the second of my 75 books...) is loyal to the iconic strip's many fans. A merrrry Christmas indeed.

So as I plan to share some other vintage and precious treasures in coming days, I will share again the Tintin card from 1982. (By the way, by my calculation, these days and dates will apply again in 2033, if you can wait to hand this above your desk (for more than the great artwork!) I used to own three original Tintin pages, so I get nostalgic over such mementos...

Joyeux Noël!

 

                                   

GREETINGS FROM C W KAHLES, A HAIRBREADTH FROM IMMORTALITY

 

The Forgotten Comic-Strip Pathfinder

by Rick Marschall

A Christmas card by C W Kahles, ca 1930, produced for family and fans. Hairbreadth Happy, and probably his fair maiden Belinda, are downstairs, frustrating Santa. But we do see the nasty villain (boo! hiss!) Rudolph Rassendale about to administer his patented form of  holiday greeting.

Recently we profiled Thomas Nast, the Father of American Political cartooning; and mentioned the native Bavarian artist's prolific work, and his comic-connection to Santa Claus.

Another American cartoonist was born in Bavaria: Charles William Kahles (1878-1931) was born in Lengfurt, western Bavaria, actually about the center of three cities of Frankfurt, Nuremberg, and  Würzburg; across the Main River from Triefenstein. We will see a couple of his Santas in this essay. 

The Kahles family settled in Brooklyn, and the cartoonist lived there and in Queens and on Long Island the rest of his life. Kahles did early work for the New York Recorder, a pioneer of color newspaper printing; and then, enormously prolific, cartoons and comic strips for the New York World, Hearst's American and Journal, the Press and Ledger in Philadelphia, the pre-print syndicates of McClure and the World Color Printing Company, the weekly humor magazines Judge and Puck, and many freelance and ghost-artists assignments.

Some day soon we shall profile the career of C W Kahles. Here we will merely visit, and present in best thematic tradition, a Christmas drawing or two.

I can note a melancholy (and personal, I suppose) aspect to Kahles's career. He drew dozens of strips, often simultaneously, even for rival papers or syndicates. His work was much-published when the cartoon weeklies flourished; and he was a pioneer strip cartoonist as the art form was establishing its language and structure. His work was nestled among the greats like George Herriman, Rudolph Dirks, ZIM, Jimmy Swinnerton, and George McManus.

Yet none of his strips prominently survive in memory or the histories, except his eventual claim-to-fame, Hairbreadth Harry. Many of his "hits," like Clarence the Cop, actually were originated by other cartoonists; Kahles probably inherited more strips than any cartoonist in history. He died at the relatively early age of 53, and his successor on Harry, F O Alexander, clearly was a better cartoonist. Kahles seems to have been burdened with two unhappy marriages, and was described as a work-obsessed recluse who ventured out onlt to feed his passion for chess matches.

Kahles was blessed with a daughter, Jessie, who provided the adulation that the critics withheld. Until her death -- I knew her and acquired pieces of original art and documentation from her father's career -- she was an indefatigable booster of C W Kahles. All fathers should have such children! Yet her campaigns were uncritical, historically inaccurate, and perhaps irritating to those historians and publishers she might otherwise have recruited to join her virtual fan club.

I am not damning with faint praise; perhaps the opposite. Kahles pops up, seemingly, with every page you turn in musty bound volumes or early Sunday funnies or humor magazines; the fecundity of his drawings and strips is astonishing; and his awkward figures are discernable, even when unsigned, in ghost-artist work, for instance on several pages of Slim Jim and brochures for Mutt and Jeff animated cartoons.

I present here two Christmas cartoons, interesting in their non-traditional aspects. The first is a rough sketch, a submission, perhaps for Judge Magazine, of Santa Claus delivering presents to soldiers in World War I trenches. A drawing given to me Jessie Straut, who knew no more of its acceptance nor eventual publication. 

The other cartoon is a Christmas card that Kahles drew and color-printed near the end of his life. It features characters from his popular strip Hairbreadth Harry -- yes, he finally received deserved success; the parody of cliffhangers ran for years and even inspired motion-picture treatment. 

To be continued... as those cliffhangers always promised at the end of each episode!      

       Rough sketch by C W Kahles for a magazine gag cartoon, probably for Judge, ca 1918 -- "The Kind of Bombing Raid the Boys Would Like."

 

VIDEO BIOGRAPHY OF LEGENDARY POLITICAL CARTOONIST THOMAS NAST

 

'HOW SANTA CLAUS WON THE CIVIL WAR'

-- A SILLY TITLE FOR A SERIOUS PROFILE

by Rick Marschall

Two years ago I was featured in a television documentary on Thomas Nast. Fox Nation flew me and a case full of pictorial documentation to New York City, where over several days I was interviewed about the Father of American Political cartooning. 

As Christmas was a few months away -- around the corner, in TV-production time -- the producers determined that Nast's role in creating the popular image of Santa Claus would be the "hook." Somewhere along the line, possibly because me and the other guests spoke about Nast's contributions to the Northern cause in the Civil War, that conflict worked its way into the title. 

The documentary remains a decent piece on Nast's career and importance to the war effort, indeed; but also to American cartooning, his capturing of American social life, his substantial impact on politics, and, yes, his iconic design of the Santa we know today.

The taping was done at the clubhouse headquarters of the Society of Illustrators in New York City -- a perfect environment that could only have been surpassed by the Thomas Nast House museum in Morristown NJ.

Here is a production clip of the program, narrated by Brian Kilmeade, for scholars visiting Yesterday's Papers. Please consider responding by subscribing to Fox Nation (which now has a $1.99-a-month promotion) which will encourage them to produce similar programming.

Copy and paste this URL: 

https://app.box.com/s/0qfql8fiu733sg3cl03i70j1fhqhrcq9/file/1094753441781

Merry Christmas!   

 

   

Joseph Keppler, in PUCK Magazine, around 1890, made a prediction

125 Years Ago, PUCK Magazine Speculated on Canada Becoming Part of the United States...

by Rick Marschall

Canada, and the Colonies-then-USA, have been linked through the centuries as member lands of France, Spain, and Great Britain. Sometimes linked in territorial claims, sometimes squabbling over same; separated (except for Francophone lands) by the same language. Eh?

Recently as of this posting, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called on President-Elect Donald Trump to say hello and, by the way way, plead with the once and future president not to enact tariffs. Trump had voiced concern over trade imbalances, unfair subsidies, and especially lax border policies. Many United Statesians remember that the majority of 9-11 terrorists entered the country through Canada.

Withal, since the 1700s there has been remarkably little friction between the two countries. A few border disputes were settled by arbitration; great trade and great harmony exists and persists. As a casual analyst, I hope Canadians are happy with TV programs from the US; and down here, we have been laughing at Canadian comedians for a generation.

Also, the founder of this Web Magazine, the late and beloved John Adcock, was a native of Alberta -- another point of coincidence. Occasionally he would talk of Western provinces losing patience with the rest of Canada, and hearing whispers of Secession.

So it might not be untoward to recall in this post a classic cartoon from one of the times in history that Secession -- even a full-country merger with the United States -- was in the news.

Several times in Puck Magazine its founder and chief political cartoonist Joseph Keppler speculated (approvingly) on Canada becoming part of the United States. Other Puck cartoonists -- indeed, other cartoonists like Thomas Nast; and many politicians of the "Manifest Destiny" stripe -- cast hungry friendly eyes on the prospect. Canadians seldom shared the "dream"; the British Crown even less frequently.

In the early 1890s, Keppler drew an elaborate cartoon on the topic. At the center of the cartoon (as often a theme was carried) the magazine's mascot Puck proposes a toast. How a punchbowl wound up in the snowy wilderness is not explained, but Uncle Sam and his distaff, iconic companion Miss Columbia happily embrace as children -- each labeled to represent state of the US -- dance around the fire.

In the icy shadows, the figure representing Canada looks on with a combination of disdain and jealousy. Huddled around her are children bearing labels of the Canadian provinces. Out in the cold, they are ill-clad, ill-housed, ill-fed. Not a subtle point, Kep; but probably more charitable than Donald Trump's answer to Justin Trudeau's prediction that Canada's economy would be ruined by US tariffs: "Just become America's 51st state and become a Governor instead of Prime Minister."