Showing posts with label Secret History of Comics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Secret History of Comics. Show all posts

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Monday, September 28, 2015

Pea Soup ephemera (UPDATED)


Here's a couple of post cards I bought a few weeks ago in Arlington's Civitan flea market, with a nice gag cartoon about making pea soup. The pea soup empire grew well - it still exists!

And here's Pea Soup Andesen's website since I'm posting their cartoon.Their website says about the cartoon: "In the early thirties a cartoon appeared in the old "Judge" magazine. It was one of a series by the famous cartoonist Forbell, under the heading of "Little Known Occupations." The cartoon showed the little known occupation of splitting peas for pea soup, with two comic chefs standing at a chopping table, one holding a huge chisel, splitting peas singly as they came down a chute."


Tuesday, September 01, 2015

World War II cartoons from the Navy's medical historian's office


The Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery's historian's office holds a collection of newsletters and newspapers from various naval hospitals. U.S. Naval Hospital Aiea Heights had two issues and 2 fragments of an issue that are now online at the Medical Heritage Library. Here's the cartoons from them.

Robert Woodcock was one of the best of them and had two in the November 11, 1944 issue, and is featured in an article here.



Virgil Partch, aka VIP, was one of the best cartoonists and went on to a serious postwar career in cartooning. This is from December 15, 1945.


Al Santamauro (Nov. 11, 1943) and Bill Pietsch (Dec. 12, 1945) both seem to have disappeared from the cartooning world.


Monday, April 20, 2015

Look's Cartoonist Series - Charles Addams, Hilda Terry and Fred Neher


This doesn't have much to do with comics in the DC area except that I bought 3 old Look Magazine issues at Arlington's library sale this weekend because they had articles on cartoonists. The magazines themselves are going to Michigan State U's Comic Art Collection later this week, but here's scans of the articles (with a bonus Rollin Kirby editorial) and some of the ads by cartoonists will be online later this week. Does anyone know how many of these profiles Look did? Or have scans of other ones to share?

Charles Addams, Look's 5th Cartoonist Series, 12/15/1942


Fred Neher, Look's 8th Cartoonist Series, 2/23/1943

Hilda Terry, Look's 9th Cartoonist Series, 4/6/1943

Rollin Kirby's 5th editorial, 12/15/1942


Sunday, July 20, 2014

John Held, Jr. artwork on card game

I picked up this card game, Pit, in New Jersey last weekend. John Held Jr. did the artwork. It's copyrighted 1919, which I think may be for the game, not the artwork, but I also think the game may still be sold.
Add a footnote to the Secret History of Comics...

Monday, October 14, 2013

Mike's flea market finds, continued

101_6520 Family Circus buttons from Burger Chef

Because everyone needs a set of Family Circus buttons from Burger Chef.

101_6519 Family Guy buttons

I don't even like Family Guy, but I rescued them from the 6 for $1 bin.

101_6555 Zodiac Starforce webcomic, animator Raul Aguirre Jr, and Halloween comicfest buttons

These are all brand-new in 2013. Zodiac Starforce webcomic, animator Raul Aguirre Jr, and Halloween Comicfest 2013 buttons. Zodiac Starforce is done by local creators out of Big Planet Vienna.

And here's what I'm happiest to have found. My second Daumier print from the AAFSW book sale at the State Dept.

101_6518 Daumier's Actualities 186

"C'est pourtant comme ça qu'on se donne des tours de reins!....... "
From Le Charivari August 28, 1868. "This is just the way to catch a strain in the back." See http://www.daumier-register.org/werkview.php?key=3658

Friday, May 03, 2013

1976 Dental Health campaign

In 1976, the American Dental Association sponsored a National Children's Dental Health Week. This advertisement shows a cartoon done by animation shop Rick Reinert Productions and is from U.S. Navy Medicine (February 1976).

Monday, April 08, 2013

Cartoon matchbooks revisited

A while back, I noted some cartoon matchbooks that I had found. This weekend I picked up three more at a flea market:

Matchbooks Lawson Wood - The Old Skate

Lawson Wood - "The Old Skate" - more of Wood's work was featured here.

Matchbooks Pretty Sunset Ain't It
Matchbooks Garrity - Duded Up Aint' He

"Duded Up - Ain't He" by Garrity.                                                     "Pretty Sunset... Ain't It?"




Friday, February 15, 2013

Give me some old school PSAs

PSA's (aka Public Service Announcements) still exist, but are probably not as noticable to most in our media saturated environment.  As you might expect, cartoonists and cartoon characters are often a part of them. Of course, they also serve as an advertisement for the cartoon itself. Here's a current one that I walked past for a couple of months (excuse the cell phone quality):

Bambi Disney prevent forest fires poster

This Blondie panel from 1970 was in a newspaper in the National Museum of Health and Medicine:

Blondie

These comics of the Pink Panther, Blondie, Beetle Bailey, and Mutt & Jeff all come from Navy medical newspapers or newsletters.

13-0032-004 Pink Panther NRMC Orlando 197907

13-0032-005 Pink Panther NRMC Orlando 197908

13-0032-003 Blondie NNMC News 197112

13-0032-001 Beetle Bailey NNMC News 197102

13-0032-002 Mutt and Jeff by Al Smith NNMC News 197111

Speaking of Mutt and Jeff, cartoonist Al Smith drew it for about 50 years. Here he is entertaining patients at a 1971 visit to Bethesda's National Naval Medical Center.

13-0031 Al Smith

Caricaturist Jack Rosen visited Naval Hospital Orlando in 1979.

13-0032-006 Caricaturist Jack Rosen NRMC Orlando 197911

Of course, sometimes an ad is just an ad. This US Postal Service Mover's Guide Official Change of Address Kit, January 2013, has a Disney advertisement, and is available right now from your local post office.

Disney USPS moving envelope

These are minor footnotes in a larger history of comics, but hopefully enterained you briefly.

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Our buddy Bernard examines Wertham's cold remains

Local comics historian Warren Bernard (friend of ComicsDC, SPX grand poobah) volunteers at the Library of Congress' prints and photos division, identifying editorial cartoons and topics for them, but he snuck over to the building next door to research and write an article on Fredric Wertham's anti-comics crusade for the Comics Journal #302. Warren's kindly convinced the journal to put his research material online.

Warren Bernard's Citations and Fredric Wertham Documents
BY Warren Bernard Feb 6, 2013   
http://www.tcj.com/warren-bernard-1954/

Friday, December 14, 2012

Santa Clinton?

Here's a special Christmas treat for ComicsDC readers.

Anybody have any idea what this cartoon is from, and who did it? (don't click through to see the original yet)

Capital Christmas - Richard Thompson

No? How about this one?

Capital Christmas - Kevin Rechin

This?

Capital Christmas - Nick Galifianakis

Or these?

Capital Christmas - Joe Azar

Capital Christmas - Ron Coddington

Capital Christmas - Peter Steiner

Capital Christmas - Sam Ward

Capital Christmas - Mike Lane

Capital Christmas - John Kascht

They were originally grouped like this:

Capital Christmas - bag 2

Scroll down for the answer:
























Give up? It's a shopping bag from Tyson's Corner mall from 1994. 

 Capital Christmas bag

According to Kirstin Downey Grimsley in the Washington Post (November 1, 1994), "This year Tysons Corner Center is unveiling something specially designed for the mall. Mall spokesmen are calling it 'A Capital Christmas,' and it will offer a whimsical greeting tied to the region's role as nation's capital."Apparently that included a shopping bag with "cartoon illustrations of President Bill Clinton portraying Santa Claus." The cartoons (in this order) are by local creators Richard Thompson, Kevin Rechin, Nick Galifianakis, Joe Azar, Ron Coddington, Peter Steiner, Sam Ward, Mike Lane and John Kascht - some of whom have since moved out of the area.

Thanks to Richard Thompson for the gift of the bag and to he and Nick for identifying some of the cartoonists. Easier-to-read greyscale illustrations can be seen here.
Capital Christmas - Joe Azar b&w

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

A flea market miscellany

Here's some of the oddball stuff I picked up last weekend:

Bull 195303 blotter

Bull of the Woods by J.R. Williams cartoon desk blotter / calendar from Vogt Roller Co, Chicago, IL in March 1953.

Bill Clinton Inauguration '93 superhero button

Bill Clinton superhero caricature on an Inauguration '93 button.

 Bart Simpson JHUHP button
 
A counterfeit Bart Simpson saying "I belong to The Johns Hopkins Health Plan. Why In The Hell Don't You!" on an advertising button.

Nutty Awards 4 postcard by Jack Davis

Nutty Awards #4 postcard by Jack Davis.  Topps produced 30 of these in 1965.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Snoopy in Navy Medicine

12-0186-015

Naval Hospital, Port Hueneme, 1973. Of All Things--Snoopy is a permanent resident in the Pediatric playroom. [Peanuts, comic strip].


published in Navy Medicine, September 1973.

BUMED Navy Medicine Historical Files Collection - Facilities - Port Hueneme #12-0186-015

Donald Duck in Navy medicine

I was filing some material at work today, and ran across this image of Donald Duck.
12-0185-003
There's two other uses of the same image in the book that can be seen on the Flickr site. The caption for this one is:
Disney's Donald Duck "Mob 8 Insignia" page 160 of The Story of U.S. Naval Mobile Hospital Number 8 by CAPT. William H.H. Turville, NY: Robert W. Kelly Publishing Corp, ca. 1946.
From BUMED's Navy Medicine Historical Files Collection - Facilities - Base Hospitals.  12-0185-003