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Before its run ended in 2000, Bringing Up Father had achieved notable success as an American comic strip. Some "obituary" writers called it the longest-running comic strip, which was not true -- The Katzenjammer Kids had commenced in 1897; Bringing Up Father began in 1913 -- but for a long time it was the jewel in the crown of King Features Syndicate.
Comics sites often have cited BUF as an "instant hit," but in fact it was not until April of 1918 that the strip was deemed popular enough to have life as a Sunday page too. (Ironically it supplanted Rosie's Beau, which eventually became the top-strip in the Sunday funnies.) McManus, as an inventive cartoonist, however, had notable celebrity since leaving St Louis and dominating the New York World's comic section for almost a decade before he switched publishers, from Joseph Pulitzer to William Randolph Hearst. In the last major moves in "syndication roulette," between 1911 and 1914 or so, the New York Herald lost a major star (Winsor McCay and Little Nemo) to Hearst; the New York American of Hearst lost Bud Fisher and his Mutt and Jeff as well as Rudolph Dirks of The Katzenjammer Kids to the World; and George McManus, creator of many popular strips, moved from the World to the American.
Whether it was a daily or a Sunday comic, Jiggs and Maggie, the stars of Bringing Up Father, inspired a plethora of licensing and merchandising items, as well as attracting readers. There were several Broadway musicals; popular songs; toys and figurines; reprint books; and animated cartoons.
The premise of the strip, of course, was the comic tension between Jiggs, an immigrant hod-carrier who won the Irish sweepstakes, and his shrewish wife Maggie, who became an overweening parvenu. Jiggs adopted spats and a top hat, but preferred life in the rough-house eatery of Dinty Moore with his old friends. For decades this premise, laced with slapstick and McManus's impressive Art Deco drawing style, maintained the popularity of Jiggs and Maggie.
The strip was so ubiquitous that a comic reference of McManus's invention -- that Jiggs craved the humble dish of corned beef and cabbage -- cemented its association with the Irish. Grocery stores still market corned beef and cabbage before every St Patrick's Day, thanks to the strip; and American tourists in Ireland frequently are frustrated that the Irish themselves seldom combine or serve the dish.
Jiggs and Maggie, once finding life as a Sunday page, was the invariable front page on all the dozens of newspapers in the Hearst chain, and in other newspapers too. This status held until around 1950, when Blondie became King Features' line-leader.
In future YPs we will document the "other" lives of Jiggs and Maggie -- maybe in several installments or an eventual book, so many were the versions and spin-offs and variations of McManus's strip. We can linger here a moment on the motion picture and stage (not musical) versions, however.
George McManus with various KFS executives (Comics Editor Sylvan Byck, second from left), ca. 1950. McManus was short, but not that short: he is seated at the desk....
In 1946-50 a series of theatrical movies brought Jiggs and Maggie to life, barely. The plots and action were threadbare; McManus himself made one cameo appearance, but the movies are notable because Jiggs was played by the old vaudeville actor Joe Yule... the father of Mickey Rooney. Renie Raino played Maggie, with Tim Ryan as Dinty Moore.
Even earlier, in 1928, MGM released a feature film, silent but in the dawn of the talkies, with the mid-level star Polly Moran as Maggie. J Farrell MacDonald played Jiggs; Jules Cowles was Dinty Moore.
I recently have come across an item that can answer the question that, I would guess, not one in a thousand comics fans can answer. What was the last name of Jiggs and Maggie? Or Was Jiggs his first names or last name? There were different hints through the years, and changing suggestions, but nothing definitive. It is not unusual for fans -- even creators! -- to be ambiguous or even clueless about such things. After all, whether Krazy Kat was male or female... depended on the gag or its exigencies of the day. And John Dirks claimed to me that he did not know which was Hans and who was Fritz. (It takes a detective to discern the answer from his father's years of work.)
A sketcth drawn by George McManus for Mary Joe Connolly, young daughter of King Feature Syndicate's President Joe Connolly.
But a play, officially licensed by King Features in 1936, answers that question. Logically titled Bringing Up Father, the Book (dialogue) was written by Bruce Brandon, who was a playwright with other credits for Samuel French, the licensor and publisher of this play. The bound script includes, for performance assistance, the play's premise; the cast of characters and their descriptions; notes from the creators including suggestions on how to stage the production; suggested publicity and press releases; and a list of costumes and props necessary for a stage presentation.
Official? And -- officially? -- the names of the characters. Perhaps definitive; approved if not dictated by George McManus.
Jiggs Mahoney. And Maggie Mahoney.
Here is a sample page from the Book. A synopsis for theatre troupes.
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