A bit of cartoon ephemera

Once upon a time, ink didn't come in ballpoint pens, and you often had to 'blot' or soak up the runny stuff before your writing smeared. Companies distributed blotters with advertising on, and sometimes they had cartoons. Here's 10 of JR Williams' strip 'Bull of the Woods' and one of 'Ripley's Believe It or Not' that I picked up last weekend.

Warren Bernard's cartoon advertising book Drawing Power

Drawing Power: A Compendium of Cartoon Advertising talk by Warren Bernard, August 24, 2011. I like this book a lot. Here's more photographs.

How about Happy Hooligan? Or Princeton plates?

Here's a Happy Hooligan planter (possibly) I picked up last weekend. It's small - it would fit in the palm of my hand.







And here's some plates that appear to be aimed at appealing to a Princeton University sophisticate.


"With his active interests, we'll probably send him to Princeton!" cartoon plate made by Paden City Pottery Company, and sold by College Hall, Tuckahoe, N.Y.


"She once dated a Princeton man! What's she doing up here?" cartoon plate made http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifby Paden City Pottery Company, and sold by College Hall, Tuckahoe, N.Y.


Label on reverse of Princeton cartoon plate - made by Paden City Pottery Company, and sold by College Hall, Tuckahoe, N.Y.

Finally, I didn't get anything but the photographs, but here's another of the Disney nutrition posters at DC bus stops - the third I think.

Lynn Brudon's World War 2 malaria posters

Here's all 12 of Lynn Brudon's World War 2 anti-malaria posters that I was able to find in the National Museum of Health and Medicine's photo collections.



Malaria prevention. Charts. "Why bother to send out invitation. Sloppy Joe cordially invites you. Unhappy mess call. Hiroskito in person. Honorable down beat. Most unworthy bunion. Prevent malaria shorten the war! Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945." [Posters. Illustration. Cartoon, Mosquitoes. Insect pests, Control. Sanitation. Preventive medicine, Propaganda.] Reeve 88456-1



Malaria prevention. Charts. "Presenting tonight and every night. 'The 4 Freedoms From Malaria.' Featuring the Soldiers Chorus. Better than Faust. Prevent Malaria! Shorten the war! All star cast. Repellent, atabrine, malaria, d.d.t.[Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane?], bed net. Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945." [Posters. Illustration. Insect pests, Control. Mosquitoes. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.][Propaganda.] REEVE 088546-2



Malaria prevention. Charts. "Don't be a damn fool. You wouldn't bed down with a boa or slug it out with a sling shot. Why hang out your old caboose for bayonet practice? Hiroskito. Prevent malaria! Shorten the war! Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945." [Posters. Illustration. Insect pests, Control. Mosquitoes. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.] [Propaganda.] REEVE 088546-3



Malaria prevention. Charts. "G.I bedtime story. Control malaria. Shorten the war. Bug heaven, here comes Hiroskito. Damn that d.d.t.[Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloroethane] Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945." [Posters. Illustration. Insect pests, Control. Mosquitoes. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.] [Propaganda. Cartoon by Lynn Brudon.] REEVE 088546-4



Malaria prevention. Charts. "Sloppy Joe 'You can't fool him - he's too ignorant.' Don't bathe outdoors after dark. Hiroskito. Honorable blood bank. Prevent malaria! Shorten the war! Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945." [Posters. Illustration. Insect pests, Control. Mosquitoes. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.][Propaganda.] REEVE 088546-5



Malaria prevention. Charts. "Hiroskito speaking. Japan expects every saboteur to do his duty. Are you listnin [listening]? Brave American soldier are not care damn for chills and fever. Never mind do strong Japanese. Let honorable buddy do all the work. Take your atabrine. Keep on your feet! A man on his back can't fight. Prevent malaria! Shorten the war! Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945." [Posters. Illustration. Insect pests, Control. Mosquitoes. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.][Propaganda.] REEVE 088546-6



Malaria prevention. Charts. "When the Japs stole the world's supply of quinine they were sure of a successful jungle war with malaria fighting on their side. But you can help the Mikado bite his nails! Take a tablet of atabrine every day... It's the ace in the hole the Japs forgot. Prevent malaria! Shorten the war! Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945." [Posters. Illustration. Insect pests, Control. Mosquitoes. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.] [Propaganda.] REEVE 088546-7



Malaria prevention. Charts. "Some things are hard to understand. For instance, the Japanese train of thought and their big idea of world domination, all those cabinets they keep forming that fall apart, and the G.I who scoffs at necessary precautions to prevent malaria! Shorten the war! Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945." [Posters. Illustration. Insect pests, Control. Mosquitoes. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.] REEVE 088546-8



Malaria prevention. Charts. "Atabrine. Commando of the blood stream. He can only do his duty if you do yours. Ignorant rumors about atabrine are as groundless as Jap propaganda. Don't leave a gap in the line by refusing to cooperate! Prevent malaria! Shorten the war! Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945." [Posters. Illustration. Insect pests, Control. Mosquitoes. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.][Propaganda.] REEVE 088546-9



Malaria prevention. Charts. "Sure it makes a difference. Prevent malaria! Shorten the war! Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945." [Posters. Illustration. Mosquitoes. Insect pests, Control. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.][Propaganda.] REEVE 088546-10



Malaria prevention. Charts. "The champ. Keep fit! Take atabrine daily... malaria is no match for this heavyweight! Prevent malaria! Shorten the war! Lynn Brudon [artist]." [Posters. Illustration. Insect pests, Control. Mosquitoes. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.][Propaganda.] REEVE 088546-11



Malaria prevention. Charts. "Sloppy Joe. One man army in his own mind. Now retired. Prevent malaria! Shorten the war! Lynn Brudon [artist], 1945." [Posters. Illustration. Insect pests, Control. Mosquitoes. Sanitation. Preventive medicine.][Propaganda.] REEVE 088546-12

A little bit of Peanuts history

This ad for "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" is from the July 8th, 1969 Chicago Tribune - or 8 days before Apollo 11 took off and 12 days before it landed on the moon - thus explaining World War 1 ace Snoopy's spacesuit helmet.

OT: Al Capp notes - what do they all mean?

Don K has sent me some handwritten notes by Al Capp, but I can't help him figuring out what the topic is. Capp's strip was Li'l Abner, which as he aged, was ghosted by people like Frank Frazetta. Capp also moved across the political spectrum from high liberal to arch conservative.

Don writes, "I will be much interested in what you make of all this... maybe it will make more sense to you (or to somebody)."

If anyone has any idea what Capp's writing about, please post in the comments.

Henry Elderman? John M. Baer? UPDATED

Mike Lynch has 2 pages of scans of 'Famous Cartoonists' addresses from 1941 up at his blog. For DC, we find...

Henry Elderman at 5002 Newport Ave, Friendship Station, Washington, DC?

John M. Baer at A.F. of L. Bldg., Washington, DC?

Admittedly I wasn't here (or anywhere in 1941), but who are these guys? Is Baer a cartoonist for the American Federation of Labor Union? Where's the cartoonists for the dailies, like the Berrymans?

Update:

Ok, I've got a bit more time after turning in a City Paper article. Googling Baer finds his biographical file at the University of North Dakota - along with a biographical sketch that says he was a cartoonist before and after being a Member of Congress. After losing an election in 1920, "he resumed his previous activities as a cartoonist and journalist for Labor," says the ELWYN B. ROBINSON DEPARTMENT OF SPECIAL COLLECTIONS in the CHESTER FRITZ LIBRARY. And he's buried in Silver Spring. Here's a link to a larger version and more information on that sketch of him. This biographical note says he was born in 1886 and was the first cartoonist elected to Congress.

Henry Elderman's still a mystery at the moment though.

SHOC: cartoonist Larry Wright

Larry Wright, Detroit editorial cartoonist and creator of the strip Wright Angles, was recently profiled on The Comics Journal's site:

Millikin, Eric.  2010.
Talking lifestyles of the semi-retired editorial cartoonist with Larry Wright.
TCJ.com (January 13): http://www.tcj.com/?p=2969

 

By coincidence, I had unwrapped some old records at work and found this illustration for an Erma Bombeck column from the May 27, 1966 Detroit Free Press.

I can't imagine this has been seen anywhere since it first appeared.

MJ's Fiddlestix comic

MJ, one of the cartoonists who gave me a logo drawing, wrote in over the holiday with some information on his comic strip, Fiddlestix. With his permission, we'll show some strips and give some history. The earliest examples he sent were twenty years old. "I've been doing it for over twenty years, the first 3 were with a deal from Bill, then after he retired, they were hounding me to change this, change that. I couldn't take it no more. So I took my ball and went home. Wonder often what might of been though..."



These date from when he and King Features Syndicate were working it up. Of these he said, "They are the two main characters, had a few others but Grizzle, and Irving are always in the strips unless it is a FIDDLESTIX / Pinhead strip. Another main character that I rarely use because of Zippy from Bill Griffith. Pinhead was created not even knowing that there was another out there. At least I eventually learned and the strip now looks so much better."



These are two daily strips.




"These were in a digest published by Big Time Attic in 2007 which was distributed internationally. The last 3 panel FIDDLESTIX dailies appeared in SPOON Magazine (U.S.A.) during 2007. The dailies were pulled from publication in 2008 for the 20th anniversary and moved to a sunday only multi-panel format which are syndicated internationally through Newsblaze Publications, Folsom, California. The first color multi-panel format was featured through Scoop/Diamond International Galleries, Gemstone Publishing in March 2008. They appeared in comics distributed in Great Britian, U.K. throughout 2008. They currently appear in Newropeans Magazine (Paris, France), Newsblaze Publications (U.S.A.), and The National Free Press (Canada, Kingston, Ontario),. I am currently working on a FIDDLESTIX comic for distribution internationally in 2010. And of course I am an Editorial Cartoonist for The National Free Press in Canada. The editorial one-shots are also distributed through Newsblaze Publications internationally."

More SHOCs - Batmania and Japanese anime in 1966

I went through a couple more fragments of 1966 Detroit Free Press newspapers today.

One of the big stories was apparently the Batman tv show - this illustrated an article on Batmania:


Things don't appear to have changed much in 40 years, do they? It's by Thurston, who also did one of the Odd 'Change comics in yesterday's post.


I'm guessing that DC wasn't paid for this use...


And this wire photo of a Japanese anime character surprised me. I had to go Wikipedia to find out this was Obake no Qtarō (or Oba-Q as in the caption here). From February 28, 1966.

SHOC: Odd 'Change comic panel

In 1966, the Detroit Free Press published some classic comics (Little Orphan Annie, Gasoline Alley, Gil Thorp, Terry and the Pirates, Nancy, Grin and Bear It, On Stage, Brother Juniper, Peanuts, Brenda Starr, Mutt & Jeff, Dick Tracy, BC, Mr. Mum, Peanuts, Judge Parker) and some not-so-classic ones (The Neighborhood, Smidgens, Fan Fare, The Ryatts, Ferdinand), but they also published a comics panel that appears to have been done by their staff artists.

Odd 'Change is a very small panel that appeared in the middle of the stock tables. Here's three examples:

May 6, 1966

March 25, 1966

March 3, 1966

I haven't been able to find any information on this panel, with an admittedly quick search of OSU and MSU's databases. It's not in Allan Holtz's excellent resource The Stripper's Guide either, although this post points out that the Free Press did do its own comic strips. The original clippings are being sent to MSU's Comic Art Collection. Join us again for another entry in... The Secret History of Comics!

ComicsAZ part 1

Last week, ComicsDC visited Arizona, and I'll put on my ComicsAZ guise for a few posts this week.

The above photograph refers to Krazy Kat's home in Coconino County of course. We didn't spot the Kat even though we drove through the county several times.

This cartoon by Bil Keane hangs in my cousin's house. He came in for something when she was running a print shop and did this drawing for her two children. She says she currently has a retired Disney animator for a neighbor - I'll try to get more details.

Veteran's day

In a few minutes (local time), we'll hit 11/11/11 or, the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month when World War 1 ended. This was known as Armistice Day until a second world war led to the change to Veteran's Day in the US. Following the lead of Charles Schulz, who often mentioned Bill Mauldin in Peanuts, we present a sketch the great soldier cartoonist did in a copy of his book The Brass Ring, many years after his World War 2 service.