These Are Your Grandfather’s Comics: My Link to the Platinum Age

These Are Your Grandfather’s Comics

My Link to the Platinum Age

by

Stu McIntire

In the summer of 1981 I was visiting my grandparents. My grandfather was an antique collector at heart. I shared with him how I’d recently purchased The Latest Adventures of Foxy Grandpa (1905) at an antique store in New Market, Maryland.

I was more than a little surprised at his excited reaction. It turns out that as a young boy growing up in the in the Midwest, he was an enormous fan of Foxy Grandpa as well as other early U.S. newspaper comic strips, including The Yellow Kid and Happy Hooligan. In fact, he meticulously maintained a scrapbook of The Yellow Kid.

The Yellow Kid full newspaper page

Now it was my turn to get excited. “Do you still have it?” I asked. Sadly, the answer was no. His mother had burned it. She had no way to foresee a future interest much less the collectability of these newspaper “funnies” or their progeny. It wasn’t an act of malicious intent. It was just…inevitable. It’s what was done with such relics. Alas. But my grandfather would soon gift me with a (non-Yellow Kid) goodie from his youth. More on this later.

Over the years I’ve purchased or have been gifted other Foxy Grandpa collectibles. You see, it turns out Foxy was quite popular “back in the day”. A handful of (very) short Foxy Grandpa films were produced…more books…toys…sheet music…you name it. These are the Foxy Grandpa items I own:

post card (1906) 

post card (1906) 

 Up to Date card game (Selchow & Righter) (1903)

Hubley (repro) cast iron bank 

comic book (1905)

The Adventures of Lovely Lilly

The happy result of this bonding moment with my grandfather was that he gifted me a…handkerchief. Yes, a handkerchief. Not just any old scrap of fabric, this one has a backstory. You see, this handkerchief has faint pictures imprinted on it. My grandfather apologized that the pictures were not clearer. He explained that they are meant to be well-defined. When it was brand new the material showed no pictures. One was meant to take a hot iron and press the fabric until the images “magically” appeared. The pictures on this were not faded. They were just never fully exposed because the iron my grandfather used was not yet sufficiently hot to do the job it was meant to do.

It would be some time before I identified the artwork and writing on my handkerchief. I even tried enlisting the aid of Maggie Thompson (Comics Buyers Guide) at a comic convention in Philadelphia in the early 90s. I had no luck but I never gave up. Finally I made an inroad (the Internet can be a wonderful thing). Last year I found a match to the handkerchief on Pinterest (shown below). Text accompanying the photos identified the character as Lilly, from The Adventures of Lovely Lilly.

handkerchief (front view) 

handkerchief (back view)

NOW I was making some headway. Further research revealed that The Adventures of Lovely Lilly was a short-lived newspaper strip that ran in the Sunday New York Herald at the dawn of the 20th century. Written by Carolyn Wells and illustrated by G.F. (George Frederick) Kaber, Lovely Lilly featured an intrepid young lady who faced down fearsome beasts and dispatched them with alacrity. The text featured on the handkerchief reads as follows:

Lovely Lilly met a tiger walking in the wood.
Angrily he snapped and snarled as any tiger would.
By his throat she firmly grabbed him til he held his breath.
With her chubby hands she squeezed him til he choked to death.

Wow. Lilly was certainly no pushover!

A photo of Carolyn Wells and a few examples of Kaber’s non-Lilly art follow:

photo of Carolyn Wells

artwork by G.F. Kaber 

G.F. Kaber signature

artwork by G.F. Kaber 

Here are a few more samples of Lilly’s adventures:



Lovely Lilly in her travels met a buffalo.
Fierce and furious, the creature rushed at Lilly – so!
Naughty! Naughty! Lilly cried with disapproving frown.
Then she stuffed him in her box and shut the cover down.



Lovely Lilly idly watched an elephant draw nigh.
When he glared at her, she looked him squarely in the eye.
When he trumpeted loud and thought he’s rouse her fear,
Lilly only laughed at him, and soundly boxed his ears.



Lovely Lilly out a walking saw a crocodile.
Lovely Lilly said “Good morning” with a pleasant snile.
Nearer came the beast and nearer. Wide he stretched his maw.
Lovely Lilly with a quiet wrench broke the creature’s paw.

While hardly the stuff of sweet childhood dreams, Lilly was not unique when it comes to examples of grisly detail in children’s literature (the Brothers Grimm being one obvious prior example). Without question these were different times and the comic art preceding the First World War and later, the Great Depression were received by a reading public of a different sensibility.

I can only imagine my grandfather as a pre-teen youngster, eagerly devouring the stories of Lilly, Foxy, Yellow Kid, and Happy Hooligan. Perhaps too, the likes of The Katzenjammer Kids, Alphonse and Gaston, Buster Brown, Little Nemo in Slumberland, Mutt & Jeff, or Toonerville Trolley. What an exciting time to be a kid!

A Long and Winding Road, or, Ike Liked Cartoons

A Long and Winding Road

 by Stu McIntire
(updated 4/14/2017, see point #8)

A dedicated collector is a scavenger (of sorts) and a patient soul, which is where this story begins.

In the early 1980s my wife and I took a trip to Antique Row on Howard Avenue in Kensington, Maryland.  We weren’t scouting for anything in particular, just out for a fun afternoon.

                  

We wandered in and out of the shops not finding anything until we walked into one which had a pedestal table just inside the front door, on which rested a basket.  The basket held several dozen black and white photographs.  Most were unremarkable but one included President Dwight D. Eisenhower and seven other men I did not recognize.  Eisenhower was looking at a book and it was open to a page with a cartoon on it.  Intrigued, I sifted through the basket, found one similar picture and settled on the two photos, which I purchased.  Price?  One dollar each.

The pictures remained untouched for a couple of years until I decided to learn more about them.  I sent one to Maggie Thompson at The Comics Buyers Guide, offering to share it with the CBG readers.  I also asked if she could tell me anything about it.  A short while later it was published with the following comments:

(Published in The Comics Buyers' Guide #587; February 15, 1985):

"This historic photograph of four National Cartoonists Society presidents meeting with President Dwight D. Eisenhower more than 30 years ago was sent to CBG by Stuart McIntire. Stuart asked us to identify the participants; we did, getting confirmation from Mort Walker, Milton Caniff, and Ron Goulart. Eisenhower was presented with a collection of original cartoons, caricatures, and drawings of himself  by members of  the NCS (many of these were collected into a book called President Eisenhower's Cartoon Book), and made an honorary member of the NCS. (Stuart mentions that, using extreme magnification on the original photo, he was able to make out the name "Carl Grubert" on the page to which the book is open; Grubert drew a humorous family strip called The Berrys.) From left to right are: Milton Caniff (Terry and the Pirates; Steve Canyon), an unidentified man (Caniff said he thinks he was a Treasury Department official); Goulart says it could be Charles Biro), Alex Raymond (Flash Gordon; Rip Kirby), another unidentified man (another Treasury Department official, Caniff guessed), Eisenhower ("probably Eisenhower," said Goulart, living up to his reputation as a wit), Walt Kelly (Pogo), Rube Goldberg (Boob McNutt), and Treasury Secretary George Humphrey. Walt Kelly was then President of the NCS; Caniff, Raymond, and Goldberg were past Presidents. Caniff added that Humphrey arranged the meeting "as a sort of reward for drawings the cartoonists had made in support of the E-Bond sales after the war."

[The Editors of CBG publicly express their deep personal gratitude to Mort, Milt, and Ron - three of the busiest people we know - for taking time to help us on identification.]

Now I had a mission.  Find and purchase a copy of President Eisenhower's Cartoon Book.  For years this was a mental note in the back of my mind but I did frequently scan the shelves at used book stores, always without luck.  Fast forward to September of 2012 and a trip to the Baltimore Comic Con.

Towards the end of a day on the dealer floor I stumbled across a booth with a multitude of items that caught my eye.  This dealer had a lot of merchandise that was comic-related and much of it was old.  I went through boxes of very attractive swag.  I knew not what I wanted but I’d know it when I saw it.  When I came to the box that held a copy of the President Eisenhower's Cartoon Book it was like the scene in Christmas Vacation when Clark Griswold found the perfect Christmas tree.

with dustjacket

without dustjacket

                                     

My main goal at the Con was collecting autographs in a couple of my Sandman hardcover collections (check) and perhaps to see a few friends (check).  I never imagined I’d score a long-sought piece for my collection but I struck a deal for this and one other piece (Badtime Stories by Bernie Wrightson).

Flash forward again.  Curiosity has the better of me.  What else can I learn about the background story of this book?  How about:

    1.     An Internet search turned up other photos taken at the same time as the pictures I bought on Antique Row:

             

   2.     In 1954, President Eisenhower was made an honorary member of the National Cartoonists Society. He and Treasury Secretary George M. Humphrey were awarded the Silver T-Square, given by the NCS to persons who have demonstrated outstanding dedication or service to the Society or the profession.  The occasion was celebrated at a formal breakfast in Washington, attended by the President and several NCS members.

Stamped on the back of the above photo:

Photo shows: Milton Caniff, creator of famous comic strip, STEVE CANYON at microphone with President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Walt Kelly, creator of POGO seated at table during a United States Savings Bond Program breakfast in Washington honoring the National Cartoonists Society for patriotic service on the Savings Bond Program.

Also stamped on the back:

   3.     Note the name Toni Mendez.  Toni Mendez, a huge influencing force behind the creation of the National Cartoonists Society, was Caniff’s agent (as well as several other prominent cartoonists).  She was also once a member of the famed high-kicking Rockettes dance troupe!

4.       4. Here is a picture of the volume of original cartoons presented to Eisenhower as well as a few samples of the work contained therein (by Alex Raymond, Milton Caniff, Rube Goldberg, and Walt Kelly):

                       

    5.     Eisenhower himself was a known ‘doodler’ and here is but one example:

    6.     Fans well-versed in comic book history may recall that it was earlier in the very same year these cartoonists broke bread with the President that Milton Caniff and Walt Kelly testified before the infamous United States Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency.

    

    7.     One of the ninety-five artists represented in President Eisenhower's Cartoon Book was Bill Crawford, once an artist who worked at the Washington Daily News and Washington Post.
 
8.      I bought this one on eBay in April 2017. Next to Ike is Rube Goldberg. Next to Rube, behind Ike is Walt Kelly. On the left hand page to which the album is opened is a drawing by Jay (Modest Maidens) Alan. The drawing on the right is by Jerry Robinson. The caption under Robinson's drawing says "Thank you Mr. President --- for the wonderful laughter! Especially if the joke is BY us --- but even if it's ON us! J.R. N.C.S." 

       The caption reads: (WX4) WASHINGTON, Jan. 4 -- CARTOONS OF, AND FOR, IKE -- President Eisenhower is pleased by this gift from White House callers today, a bound volume of cartoons of himself drawn by members of the National Cartoonists Society. Standing at right are Rube Goldberg, honorary chairman of the Society, and Secretary of the Treasury George Humphrey, right. The drawings on the opened pages are not identified. (AP Wire photo) (EE31038 stf-hlg) 1954

So there you have it.  This story was thirty years or so in the making, but slow and steady wins the race!