Obadiah Oldbuck vs. Superman

[ft88]

The movie metaphor is less than perfect.

 

A silent movie has almost no other similar comparibles whereas a comic strip with words below them does. Advertisements, book and magazine illustrations, instructional pamphlets and on and on. What is the movie metaphor for any of these things?

 

Its not a bad metaphor but I wouldn't hang my hat on it.

 

Ed

[infinite_comics-migration]

common courtesy of knowing who you are conversing with was all i innocently asked

 

Innocently? You're either being intentionally obtuse, a hypocrite, or your memory is failing. Identity is irrelevant, the posts speak for themselves.

 

any one wanting to read some sort of insidious plot into that concept has social problems

 

Says the man whose first sentence of his first post on this thread was: "i will bite on this one and the insufficiently_thoughtful_person named gifflefink as well". Yeah, some social graces you've got there.

 

till then, i have to get back to working on my comics business - i have many 1000s of comics i recently picked up the past couple months to process for my next catalog - trying to treach on these boards is something for spare time

 

Calling someone who disagrees with you names and insulting them is what you call "teaching"? Ya know, even an old, old dog can learn a new trick from a young pup now and then.

 

See ya 'round.

Woof.

[BLBcomics-migration]

 

 

Calling someone who disagrees with you names and insulting them is what you call "teaching"? Ya know, even an old, old dog can learn a new trick from a young pup now and then.

 

See ya 'round.

Woof.

 

\Yo Infinite Woofs

 

I was being insulted by gifflefink and a couple others long before I entered the fray here a couple weeks ago. I merely hold up the mirror replying like for like. It was this insulting attacks on me which wa sbrought to my attention which brought me to this table for a while.

 

If you feel a need to protect this world class comic scholar, feel free and go right ahead. Insane, sure i am - all comics collectors are insane, especially the ones who are more hung up on form over content - my comics wisdom is gleaned from reading inside the books as well as a huge comics library about comics from all over the world accumulated for over 40 years.

 

My sources at MSU tell me no one has been there in recent memory working on an article to refute the concept of 1800s comic strips predating the advent of Yellow Kid.

 

Debating with me without having read thru the original artifacts strikes me as disingenuous at best, dispalying lack of comics wisdom.

 

There are many many more comics scholars opinions wrought by serious research than the likes of Eisner and Swinnerton, the former i knew for more than 30 years, and he knew me, and we conversed in a very positive light on many comics subjects over the years and will have a hallowed place in the acknowledgments of my upcoming comics business history book, and the latter is some one i have studied for even longer, but whose published thoughts on the subject are not that indepth.

 

the advent of the internet has greatly accelerated the study of a great many subjects - the ability to place jpg scans for all to study simultaneously all over the world brought the vast majority of people on my Plat list.

 

The splitting of fine hairs here i find boring - as in some cases the research into 1800s comics i did is approaching a decade old - and i have found a great many scholar articles on the subject of Topffer and his comic strips - and his comic books being printed in America - dating as far back as 1867

 

A detailed sampling of that research can be found in COMIC ART #3 2003 (published by Todd Hignite out of St Louis, has a Chris Ware study interview plus lots of other goodies). The myth of the Yellow Kid is traced to its origins.

 

Any serious comics scholar knows of Ernie Mcgee, who began collecitng in 1914, who amassed the world's only known complete run of all of YK's apperances, a man i first met in 1971 when i was 19 and he was 84, who died by 1976 when part of his house burned, destroying some of his comics treaures, who gave me the first few Yellow Kid tear sheets, who told me and proved to me at visits to his place in Upper Glouster New Jersey, right acorss the river from Philadelphia, that Yellow Kid was not the first newspaper comic strip, not anywhere, that the honor should be bestowed on Mark Fenderson with assist from Walt McDougall a full year before the YK reprint in the New York World from Truth magazine.

 

Ernie was livid the rest of his life since 1959 that Stephen Becker got it completely wrong in his book COMIC ART IN AMERICA, and we found out a while back that the reason it was gotten wrong was Becker had been deathly ill as the deadline approached an dhis wife misread his notes and actually wrote most of the book.

 

and those wrong passages got repeated in subsequent history books and quoted and the myth grew.

[BLBcomics-migration]

Here is a letter from Ernie Mcgee to a california collector Joe Campbell discussing aspects of Becker's COMIC ART IN AMERICA

 

EM #1 Ernie McGee to Joe Campbell,

circa 1963 [923 words]

 

Re-the book "Comic Art in America"

 

I am glad to hear you found a new stack of the book "Comic Art in America" in that Chicago book store. It is a very good book - and would have been better if Steve Becker would have taken more seriously my suggestion to reprint more of the old Sunday strips in the book and less of the recent strips. The recent junk any one today can get examples of all the recent strips in their newspapers - but - they can't get a chance to see any of the old strips - most of today's readers (also the modern crop of cartoonists) never saw any examples of the old strips (also many editors haven't either).

 

This is what I tried to convince Steve about the book to make it a smash hit with everyone, but Steve thought it would be best to use up most of the pages in the book - about modern strips - and a background history of the cartoonists who draw the modern strips - that everybody is acquainted with; "well" - this was were he was definitely wrong. The book has done very well and a good many copies have been sold - but - the book has not been anything near the success that the publishers hopes it would be.

 

"Comic Art in America" was originally planned to be a 700 page book - but the Cartoonists Society gave up the project and then Steve and Simon & Schuster took over the book and published it with only 384 pages.

 

Steve started to write "Comic Art in America" here in my home. We spent a lot of time together in my studio - going through thousands of my old comics that contained a variety of all the old Sunday and daily strips. Steve is a commercial writer of technical books - and when he started "Comic Art in America" he didn't know anything about comics. He was hired by the (National) Cartoonist Society, to gather the information and write the book -- "Well", after the end of the first day he spent with me going through my old comics - Steve was tired out - almost exhausted - and at the end of the day Steve says to me, "Boy! I have learned more about comics today than I ever thought I would know."

 

Also, it was myself who gave Steve all the background information on the early comic artists. I told Steve I was very much disgusted with all the previous books that had been published on the history of comic strips - because they had left out entirely most of the important and famous old pioneer comic artists such as Ed Carey, Mark Fenderson, Billy marriner, Frink, Ad Reed, JH Lemon, Gus Mager, Lowry, Walt McDougall, Rigby, JK Bryans and more than a dozen more famous old timers.

 

And Steve says: "OK, I assure you I will get them all in the book - show me some of their work and give me some background on these comic artists." This was the beginning - and I went to work digging out old comics from my collection - giving Steve background information about the old strips - and the old artists who drew them. Steve wrote down my words as I talked - and as Steve went through my collection, he made notes of the pages he wanted photographed or photostated - to illustrate the work of these "old timers." Later I myself had the photostats made and delivered them to Steve. Almost all the early old Sunday strips were photostaed from my collection - except the Dirks Katzies - although in the book I only got credit for a very few.

 

For instance, the McDougall page and the frontis piece "The Unfortunate Fate of a Well Intentioned Dog" by Fenderson and McDougall - I worked very hard on this one. I had six different photostats made before we got one good enough - then I spent a whole day retouching the negative before it was clear enough to print - but - Steve did not give me credit for this one either, and it was the one I would most liked to have been given credit as coming from my collection - as it was the second Sunday comic strip color page ever printed in any (news)paper.

 

"Oh well" - and here are a few of the others I photostated for Steve from my collection - and got no credit in the book:

 

"Panhandle Pete" and the Sea Serpent

"The Kinder Kids"

"Little Nemo"

"The Newlyweds"

"The Yellow Kid" and the Dog Catcher in Hogan's Alley

The "Hooligan Family"

The first Mutt and Jeff strip

"Hairbreadth Harry"

The Marriner page of "Wags,

the Dog that Adopted a Man"

etc etc

 

Also the eleven photographs of old pioneer comic artists on page 13

 

In fact, ALL the information on the old pioneer comic artists in the book "Comic Art in America" came from myself through material in my collection - and my knowing several of the olf timers personally. Also all the early strips reproduced in the book (except the Katzenjammer Kids) before 1925 came from my collection. I don't think I got enough recognition in the book - not even any mention of me being a cartoonist. "Oh well!" I was paid for my help on the book - so I suppose in that case, I have no right to complain. "Twas Ever Thus."

 

Ernie McGee

 

PS From 1925 on to the end of the book, I had no part in this period - he dug up thiis information with the help of modern young cartoonists.

 

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[BLBcomics-migration]

Ernie McGee on Walt McDougall & Comic Strip Origins

EM Letters Transcribe #13

 

Letter from Ernie McGee to Joe Campbell

 

Re---"Peck's Bad Boy" by Walt McDougall 9-18-1967

 

Joe,

You certainly were lucky to find that old "Peck's Bad Boy" Sunday Comic

Strip reprint book. This is the scarcest of all old comic strip books. I

had 2 of the "Peck's Bad Boy" books - the one you have and another one

"Peck's Bad Boy And His Country Cousins" both by Walt McDougall. I sold

them last summer for $50 each, $100 for the 2 books. I sold them to a

collector friend in California - who has been visiting me every summer for

3 years. He usually spends 2 or 3 days with me looking over my collection

- and always - manages to talk me out of some of my most prized comic

material - well - he worried me wanting to buy those 2 books every time he

came to see me so on his 3rd trip to see me he *begged* me to sell him the

2 books for $100 - I didn't want to let the books go - but he wanted them

so bad - and since I have all the same strips in original old 1906-1907

comic papers - I agreed to let him have them.

 

He also talked me out of 3 of my old "Yellow Kid" pages from the NEW YORK

WORLD at $25 each, $75 for the 3. He also talked me out of one of my

"Kinder Kids" comics for $50 - well - this is the prices he offered - and

seemed so depressed that I didn't want to let him have them. So I broke

down and agreed to sell them to him at his prices. The "Yellow Kids" I had

duplicates of but I did not have any duplicates of the "Kinder Kids" page -

this hurt me most of all to part with, oh well - I have a lot of old

material and I can live always, and I don't know what will happen to most

of it after I die.

 

"Yes" - old comics were rough on the characters and sometimes sadistic -

but not as rough and sadistic as the comic strips in the modern type comic

books - and they are funnier than MODERN newspaper strips.

 

"Yes" - These OLD comic strip books, reprints of Sunday color comic strips

are scarcer than old funny papers. The reason KIDS WORE THEM OUT looking

at them - when they can be found they sell for from $25 - up - any time you

can find one cheaper - it is a bargain!

 

Even 'tho' I had the Peck's Bad Boy books in old Sunday Funny Papers I

hated to let the books go. They are handy to find - and read - and printed

on Good Paper. McDougall is the biggest name in Old Comics. He is the

FATHER of the color comic section drawing the first comic strips in color

beginning May 18th 1893. This was 3 years before the Yellow Kid appeared.

The old NEW YORK WORLD was the first paper to publish a comic section - and

it began in fill colors - with Walt McDougall cartoons and comics. Mark

Fenderson was the *second* cartoonist to draw for the funny papers - he

often colaborated with Walt McDougall in the earliest funny papers.

 

You say the Peck's Bad Boy comics are corny - well, maybe so, but I believe

a Good Comic Strip has to be a little corny, to be really funny. McDougall

comics (and most old comics) may be called corny by some modern unfunny

editors who have no sense of humor - but - McDougall comics were all WELL

DRAWN and much funnier than modern comic strips that are supposed to be

funny - what comics could be MORE CORNY than Snuffy Smith or The Wizard of Id - or B.C. They are PURE CORN and NOT FUNNY.

 

E Mc--

 

***************************************

 

Re---WALT McDOUGALL, AND THE BEGINNING

OF SUNDAY NEWSPAPER COMIC SECTIONS

 

The very first newspaper comic sections also appeared in FULL COLOR. It

began in the NEW YORK WORLD on May 21st, 1893. I find after RE-CHECKING my earliest Funny Papers it was not May 18th as I previously stated. the

first page was a full color full page Single Panel by Walt McDougall - this

was a large comic panel with not much else of any importance in this issue

of 4 pages. The back color page was an art reproduction - the inside pages

were mostly text of supposedly funny stories and jokes.

 

McDougall did various other page panels during the year 1893 - but it was

Jan 28 1894 when the first sequence of comic pictures appeared in PANELS -

in the same format as our comic strips today. It was a full page cut up

into 9 panels, and PANTOMINE, NO WORDS.

Most people think that PANTOMINE or WORDLESS comics are a modern invention - but - the fact is the very first strip of panels - or sequence of

pictures in panels - was pantomine or wordless - only words was the title.

 

This page was drawn by Mark Fenderson.

 

The second page to appear in PANELS was an 8 panel strip - also without

words except for the title. This was a colaboration job by Walt McDougall

and Mark Fenderson. From then on many full page color pages of strips

appeared by Walt McDougall. Also MANY pages by Mark Fenderson. So - Walt

McDougall and Mark Fenderson were the First Cartoonists to draw for the

Sunday Newspaper Comic Section. I have all these original old funny papers

- in fact, I have a complete file of the NEW YORK WORLD Sunday Comics from

the beginning 1893 until the end of 1912 - and many nice issues NEARLT

complete until the WORLD went out of business. Many fine issues in the

teens and twenties.

 

The NEW YORK HERALD was the SECOND paper to add a comic section mid 1894.

 

The NEW YORK JOURNAL-AMERICAN did not add a Comic Section until Oct 1896.

 

The PHILADELPHIA INQUIRER was the 4th paper to add a Sunday Comic Section

1898.

 

The PHILADELPHIA PRESS in 1899.

 

The BOSTON GLOBE also added a Sunday Comic Section (not very good) in 1896.

 

From then on all the Big City newspapers - and many small town papers -

began adding a comic section. Small town papers got their comic sections

from Big City papers - already printed. The World Color Printing Co sold

READY PRINTED Sunday Comic Sections to small town newspapers - there were

other companies who also sold READY PRINTED comic sections.

 

Joe - this information is about the FIRST NEWSPAPER COMICS - it does not

include humerous magazines. Actually, the FIRST comic sequence strips in

America appeared in the old "PUCK", the old "LIFE" and the old "JUDGE"

magazines - BUT - as i said - these were not newspapers. But - they

actually started the comic trend. Newspapers saw how popular the comics

were in these magazines and GOT WISE - and copied the idea.

 

Chip Bellew was the first to draw comic strips in panel sequences in

American magazines.

 

And IN [continental] EUROPE there were comic strips in books and magazines BEFORE any was ever published in the USA. Caran D'Ache, a Frenchman, and Wilhelm Busch, A German, were the first to draw funny comic strips OF ANY IMPORTANCE, in magazines and books. they no doubt inspired the American Pioneers.

 

E. McGee

 

*************************

 

Wednesday night 9-27-67 Letter #174

 

Dear Joe

 

Your long interesting letter of 9-21, rec'd and as always enjoyed reading

same. Especially your comments on old comics. "Yes" there are SO MANY

funny old Katsy pages by Dirks that I would have to read over again.

Several hundred of the pages to determine the best FEW HUNDRED - but -

there is one OUTSTANDING PAGE by Knerr that is always fresh in my memory -

and - one of the Knerr "Katzies" that I think is among his funniest pages

was where HANS AND FRITZ poured gun powder down the speaking tube on board their ship. This was some BIG blast. The ship's Captain and the Katzie

Captain blown clear through the upper decks and still going up - plenty of

action in this page. I suppose it is because I like VIOLENT SWIFT ACTION

in comics - is why I think this page is so funny.

 

"Yes" - I like Walt McDougall's "Rubes" and "Cave Man" pages. I like his

"Hank the Hermit - And His Animal Friends". McDougall could really draw

GOOD Funny Animals - in fact he could draw ANYTHING good. I have some of

his WIZARD OF OZ Sunday pages. They are also good.

 

McDougall was a fine editorial cartoonist and a good writer. He wrote many

full page children's stories illustrated and syndicated to many newspapers.

He also wrote a book of over 500 pages about the OLD TIME CARTOONISTS.

 

Walt knew them all.

 

The book is about his own cartooning career -and he writes about all the

old timer cartoonists whom he worked with - and knew as his friends. He

also talks about editors and politicians that he had come into contact

with. He mostly did not like editors - and politicians - but - he had to

work with - or associate with them in his cartooning work.

 

I have the book that McDougall wrote. It is titled "THIS IS THE LIFE."

 

It was published in 1921. It is a wonderful book on The Life and

Adventures of a Cartoonist.

 

"Yes" - the Kate Greenway books are good and expensive when they can be

found. they range in the price catagory of old Sunday reprint comic books

such as Peck's Bad Boy and others. I have 220 of these old comic books -

including 4 different "Katzie" books by Dirks, one by Knerr, 6 different

Buster Brown books, 3 different Foxy Grandpa books.

 

Others of these old comic books in my collection include Happy Hooligan,

Alphonse and Gaston, Maud the Mule, Willie Westinghouse Edison Smith, Lady

Bountiful, Hawkshaw the Detective, "Little Nemo" and Captain Kydo Kids by

G.G. Drayton - all are good - and scarce prizes when they can be found -

which is not often. It has been over 12 years since I found any ofthese

old books - but I keep trying - as these are SOME that I don't have yet.

 

Your cat loving friend Mr Manogg sound slike an interesting fellow - by the

way I have another tom cat. I have had him for 2 years now. he is a Very

Smart Intelligent Well Behaved Cat, and his name is also - "Old Tom"

 

"Yes" - I would like to send me the name of the person who wrote to Mr

Manogg wanting OLD ORIGINAL CARTOON AND COMIC DRAWINGS. I have several originals that I will SELL or TRADE, including some by Walt McDougall - and other old timers - as you already know I have a Large Collection of originals.

 

Write Soon, Sincerely,

Your Friend, Ernie McGee

[BLBcomics-migration]

EM 14 Ernie McGee on the Origins of Comic Strips

Sent: 10/4/98 9:34 AM

 

 

>Letter from Ernie McGee to Joe Campbell #184 circa 1968

>

>The word "cartoon" once was applied to perforated patterns or tracings used

>to transfer a design to a mural painting. When there was a great exhibit

>in London in 1843, of "cartoons" for murals in The House of Lords, PUNCH

>magazine published its own satirical versions of them. Thus was the word

>"cartoons" applied to simplified outline drawings of a satirical nature.

>

>Generally speaking, editorial cartoons came first in America, next sports

>cartoons, then humorous or "strip" cartoons.

>

>Frank Bellew was a forerunner of the comic strip artists. He drew for the

>old LIFE magazine among other outlets for his work. He liked to draw dogs.

>The book "CHIP'S DOGS" shows some of his "continual action" drawings.

>

>An editorial cartoon by Walt McDougall in the New York WORLD of 1884 is

>credited with having influenced public opinion to change the outcome of a

>presidential election - (Cleveland's victory over Blaine).

>

>Swinnerton did "Little Bears & Tigers" for the San Francisco Examiner in

>1892. He was a prolific cartoonist doing a number of strips in early

>papers. His "Little Jimmy" was still appearing in the late '20's, "Canyon

>Kids" in GOOD HOUSEKEEPING magazine in the '30's, and other work.

>

>His early comics included "Mr. Jack", "Mt Ararat", "Laughing Sam", "The Wad

>Family", "the Widow Perkins", "No Wedding Bells for Him", "Jimmy", "Prof.

>Nix", "Dear Little Katie", "Anatole the Artist", "Bad mans", "Pink

>Whiskers", "Mrs. Bungle", "Mr. Grouty", "Mr. Batch".

>

>The first newspaper color page in America was printed by The New York

>RECORDER in 1893. But was a failure. The New York WORLD printed the first

>full color page of consequence. It was a "highly populated" page of

>traffic wreckage drawn by Walt McDougall who produced several strips also.

>"Summer Hotel" from the Chicago RECORD-HERALD of 1904 shows a "highly

>populated" page of the type done by McDougall. He also did "Hank the

>hermit", "The Flipps", "The Wonderful Land of OZ" among some examples of

>his work. "Peck's Bad Boy" is one well-known comic story McDougall

>illustrated.

>

>By 1896 Pulitzer's N.Y. WORLD was operating a color press which worked well

>except for having trouble with improper drying of the yellow ink. In

>experimenting with various dryers, they selected drawings by R.F. Outcault

>called "Shantytown" - because the central figure offered a white area to

>try out the yellow mixtures. This test figure colored yellow in a bacl &

>white drawing stood out like a light house, and became immediately popular

>as the "Yellow Kid". The term "yellow journalism" also came from this

>experiment. Outcault also did "Buster Brown" for the N.Y. Herald from 1902

>until about World War One. Buster was probably killed off by the greater

>appeal of the "Katzenjammer Kids".

>

>The "Katz Kids" were adapted from Wilhelm Busch's German comic book "ax &

>Moritz". "Katzenjammer" means "the howling of cats", German slang for

>"hangover". Rudolph Dirks, working for the N.Y. JOURNAL, draw the K. Kids

>with an expressive and artistic style and they were extremely popular from

>the start.

>

>A fight between the WORLD and the JOURNAL in 1912 led to the creation of

>another "Katzenjammer Kids" by Harold H. Knerr.

>

>F.B. Opper made his debut in the N.Y. JOURNAL in 1899. He is best

>remembered for "Happy Hooligan", "Maud the Mule", "Gloomy Gus" and

>"Alphonse & Gaston," who made exaggerated politeness ridiculous. Opper did

>other comics, however, such as "Howson Lott", "Ship Ahoy", "Adolph From

>Hamburg", "King Jake", "Our Antedeluvian Ancestors". Opper used patches of

>solid black very effectively.

>

>What are called "intellectual comics" are such as Winsor McCay's "Little

>Nemo in Slumberland" - today's "Pogo" by Waly Kelly - and the more recent

>"Krazy Kat" by Herriman. Herriman did early strips such as "Jolly Jackies"

>and "Lariat Pete", etc

>

>Cornell Greening, who worked fo magazines & newspapers did comic strips,

>one of which was "Prince Errant" considered a forerunner of Harold Foster's

>"Prince Valiant."

>

>Greening also did "Percy the Robot, Brains He Has Nix", thought to be an

>early form of science fiction. In line with the "science fiction" idea, I

>might add that Bradford"s "Dr. Domehead's Science Class" may be an example

>also.

>

>Ed Carey was another cartoon strip 'work horse' and did much excellent

>work. He did a version of "Charlie Chaplin" for the San Francisco

>Chronicle. My only examples of this are by Elzie Segar for the Chicago

>Herald. Segar later did the strip called "Thimble Theater" with the famous

>"Popeye", Olive Oyl, Wimpy, etc.

>

>Modern comic artists, seeing three full-length Sunday sequences squeezed

>into one page, 24 or more tiny panels that one needs to look at with a

>magnifying glass, mumble bitterly at the sight of a 50 year old Chicago

>TRIBUNE comic page with its ample space and fredom.

>

>The well-known easel painter Lyonel Feininger, once did a strip called

>"Kinder-Kids" in the N.Y. TRIBUNE of 1906, which shows his masterful

>handling of abstraction. Considering the thought of abstraction, Cliff

>Sterrett's "Polly and Her Pals" was another masterpiece of this style of

>drawing. Sterrett regretably retired in 1958.

>

>"Slim Jim" is another of the famous old comics, originated by Frink, drawn

>also by C.W. Kahles and Armstrong.

>

>Kahles was another hard-working artist of early funnies doing a number of

>strips: "Billy Bounce", "The Teasers", "Clarence the Cop", "Mr. Buttin",

>"The Kelly Kids", "Butch the Bully", "The Funnyside Gang", "Billy Bragg",

>"Clumsy Claude", "Hairbreadth Harry" and others. Time id lacking to list

>show all.

>

>The famous Bud Fisher began as a sports cartoonist with the S.F. Chronicle

>& began the Mutt strip as a harried horse player. By 1913 Fisher

>contracted with Wheeler Syndicate for $1000 per week plus 80% of syndicated

>sales. A few years later he was making $4600 per week from the syndicate

>alone. He died in 1954.

>

>Harry Hirshfield began in 1910 a strip for the N.Y. Journal called "Abbie

>Kabibble the Agent" - kidding the Jewish business *man* in a not unkindly

>manner. Hirshfield today is a well-known wit and entertainer.

>

>George McManus was a colorful character who resembled his cartoon "Jiggs."

>He worked for the N.Y. World starting about 1904. An immensely popular

>man, the only cartoonist who was honored at a Congressional dinner in

>Washington. This took place on the 25th Anniversary of "Maggie & Jiggs."

>He created many other comic strips, among them "Panhandle Pete", "Let

>George Do It", "Rosie's Beau", "The Newlyweds", etc. George McManus died

>in 1954, a great loss to all.

>

>After 1915, major syndicates became Big Business - daily comics

>indispensible to almost all newspapers - and a proliferation of strips

>originated between 1915 and 1925: Harold Teen, Little Orphan Annie,

>Gasoline Alley, Moon Mullins, The Nebbs, Toots & Casper, many others.

>

>Rube Goldberg was born with a love for the smell of newsprint. As a boy he

>helped his brother deliver newspapers & magazines. He began with the San

>Francisco Chronicle in 1905, but soon left for New York. By 1907 he was

>working for the N.Y. JOURNAL. He created the famous "Mike & Ike", "Boob

>McNutt" and others, but is mostly remembered for his useless inventions, so

>that his name is given to any kind of machine that makes no sense of labors

>much to accomplish little.

>

>It is impossible to go into all the strips that have been well-known,

>however, a few of the better known ones should be mentioned. By 1935,

>Sidney Smith had signed a contract with the Chicago TRIBUNE for $150,000 a

>year. On his way home that day, he was killed in an auto accident. He did

>early comics other than the famous "Doc Yak" and "The Gumps".

>

>Billy DeBeck made his "Barney Google" a by-word in American homes. Many of

>his slang expressions that he introduced are still in use by the public.

>

>With your continued patience(?) i shall go through briefly my collection

>and call attention to some of the more prominent artists and the more

>colorful and interesting strips which I have not already mentioned, and

>bring attention to those who worked in the early days and also on up into

>the 20s and 30s.

 

 

EM 14 McGee Comic Strip Origin

[BLBcomics-migration]

On Jimmy Swinnerton and more Origins of the Newspaper comic strip

 

Ernie McGee to Joe Campbell Friday night 3-24-67

 

Dear Joe,

I received your last 2 letters - one today - and the other letter with the Swinnerton article in it - this is a nice article - and of course I would like to keep it - but if you want me to - I will return it - perhaps it would be possible for me to write to the LA paper for a copy of the article - if you want your copy back. I will write the paper and try to get another copy - old Swinnerton is really getting a lot of articles written about him of late - but all of the articles feature comment about his desert landscape painting.

 

I wish some one would write a lengthy article featuring his old newspaper comic strips with several reproductions of characters of his old strips - this should be done - as according to all facts, Swinnerton did draw the FIRST newspaper comics - daily panels and strips way back in 1892 - but it was Walt McDougall who drew the first cartoon page in colors ever to appear in a newspaper and McDougall colaborated (sic) with Mark Fenderson on the second Sunday color page - in a regular 8 panel format (pantomine) The same format panels as today's - or all funnies format.

 

McDougall's color page first appeared in May 1893 - and RF Outcault's "Yellow Kid" appeqared first in May 1895 - but - the "Yellow Kid" was the first comic strip to appear consecutively, with the same characters every week in the color funny paper, while McDougall and Fenderson's comic pages were miscelaneous - They never used the same characters consecutive.

 

However- Swinnerton's Little Bears and Tigers of 1892 were consecutive repitition, of the same characters - but these were black and white prints - long before the color funny paper appeared. So - after all - Swinnerton did draw the first comic characters that repeated the same characters consecutively - but - the "Yellow Kid" by RF Outcault was the first SUCCESSFUL comic that made a big hit with newspaper readers, it was really the comic that Started the "Funny Paper" Business Booming. The success of the "Yellow Kid" got all the big city newspapers excited and on the ball, they realized that the public wanted this sort fo comic stuff, and the result was that, ay once big city newspapers in New York, Boston, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and other citys (sic) started their own funny papers - and later, syndicates came into operation - and the comics spread like Wild Fire and were here to stay.

 

Ernie McGee

EM4 Swinnerton

[BLBcomics-migration]

On Mark Fenderson, the man who created the first comic strips in The New York World

 

Letter From Ernie McGee to Joe campbell circa 1963

 

Re "Punch and Judy" Sunday comic strips 1903-04

 

Joe - I know you will be delighted with this issue of an old "Punch and Judy" series by Mark Fenderson (good old "Mark", a great comic artist of the 1890s and early 1900s).

 

Mark Fenderson, and not Walt McDougall drew the first Sunday comic page in panel form. The same panel format as today. The page was in 9 panels, in full colors, Jan 1894. Walt McDougall drew the 2nd Sunday comic page in colrs, Feb 1894. It was Walt McDougall who drew the first cartoon page in colors. It was a single panel page, May 1893.

 

There were - 10 - old "Punch and Judy" characters:

 

Punch Judy

The Policeman The Alligator

The Hangman The Skeleton

The Devil The Negro

The Baby The Ghost

 

It was been so long since I had thoroughly checked all my old Sunday comic sections of the early 1900s that I had temporarily forgotten this old series. But once I ran across it, the memory came back to me in a flash - of this amusing and unusual, delightful old Sunday series. I only found a few of this series. The Dates were in Dec, 1903 and Jan 1904. Most of them were on the back - or inside pages - I guess is why in making fast rechecks I overlooked them.

 

But i found this issue I sent you on a front page - in which caught my eye - and I started re-checking the inside pages of ALL my old 1903 to 1910 comic sections - of course looking for a miscelaneous (sic) variety of old strips for the collection of Joe Campbell - and that's how I happened to find most of the old comic series that I sent to your last two orders and after finding this old "Punch & Judy" issue on a front page page, I got another pleasant surprise - as there was a duplicate of the very same issue stuck inside - I remember now that years ago I used to have a habit of sticking one paper inside the other when I occasionally ran across a duplicate.

 

Ernie Mcgee

[BLBcomics-migration]

More on Jimmy Swinnerton

 

EM #10

Letter from Ernie McGee to Joe L. Campbell Sunday 3-21-66

 

RE - SWINNERTON PS

 

Joe, I hope you will get a chance to meet Swinnerton on this trip. I know it would be wonderful to meet and talk to this Great Old Timer comic artist. - according to all records Swinnerton actually drew the *first* consecutive comic strip, the title was The Little Californias Bears. It first appeared in 1893 - the strip later developed in to the "Little Tigers and Bears." I myself am almost tempted to make a special trip to Los Angeles just to meet this Great Old Time Comic Artist and modern painter of desert land scapes.

 

Swinnerton is getting old - 93 years old now - I am told - So - he can't be with us much longer - another great miracle about Swinnerton was that doctors in New York in *1906* gave Swinnerton only six months to live. Swinnerton had a bad case of tuberculocious - they say the desert air and sunshine cured him. They say Swinnerton is always glad to meet people in the art and cartoon profession - and will talk freely to all people he meets. So Joe - I amsure it will be greatly worthwhile - to go all out in trying tomeet him on this visit. It may be your last chance to meet this great man in the art game and master "Old Time" Comic Artist.

 

Here is his address again: James Swinnerton

337 NO. AREDN

LOS ANGELES, 4,

CALIFORNIA

[BLBcomics-migration]

8/20/63

 

Joe,

 

RE - Segar and Chas Chaplin

 

My especial love for the Segar, Charlie Chaplin comic strip is that it was Segar’s first comic strip work, and Segar was drawing this strip while he was operating SEGARS SCHOOL OF CARTOONING, in Chicago. I believe I have told you before that I was a student of Segar’s School - in fact, I graduated from Segar’s School not only with a diploma, but also with a special written recommendation from Segar as to the quality of my work. He especially recommended my work as being full of good, fast comic action. Oh well, I suppose everybody is entitled to his own opinion.

 

P.S.

Of course Segar had drawn editorial and spot cartoons BEFORE he did any comic strip work.

 

 

RE - World Color Printing Co. Syndicate Comics

 

My experience has been that old World Color Printing Co. comics are one of the scarcest old comics and hardest to find - period 1900 to 1914. I do not have many in my collection of that period.

 

They began 1900. The only duplicates that I have ever had were the 5 issues that I sent you - plus, one more that you did not order, the Index [embarrassing lack of self control] Oct. 2, 1909. Yes, these were all that I have ever had that were duplicates that I could release from my collection, and no doubt all that I will ever have available of the early old World Color Printing Co. comics.

 

I like these old comics very much. They are very colorful, an odd and unusual type of color printing. There is something fascinating about the color work. The colors were put in with odd and unusual Benday patterns. These patterns must have been created and used solely by the World Color Printing Co. I especially love the old Geo. Herriman comics. Herriman worked for them 5 years. I wish I had all issues of Old World Color Printing Co. comics.

 

PS

This syndicate - as you know - also produced “Slim Jim.”

 

PS

Joe,

I note in one of your letters you say that you fear that your style of comics drawing is too old fashioned. NO, IT POSITIVELY ISN’T TOO OLD FASHIONED. Please don’t let that thought bother you. You have a good comic style that is being used today. For instance, the most successful funny strips that are being published in these modern times are drawn in the old comics style. For instance, the work of

Bill Holman

Jimmy Matlo

Chic Young

Swan-Son(?)

Ferd Johnson

Al Capp

Walt Kelly and MANY others are working in the old funny style, and most of the new strips that are appearing today are drawn in the old time funny style. At least they try to imitate the styles of the old time masters - of course of which their work can’t compare. Anyway, at present there is a trend back to the old funny type comics.

 

E. McGee

[BLBcomics-migration]

McGee on world War One paper drives making pre 1918 newspaper strips rarer

 

Transcribed Letter #49

 

Philadelphia, PA

8/23/63

 

Dear Joe,

 

Your letter of comments on the last batch of old funnies rec’d and as usual I enjoyed your comments and agree with you even to the Chicken “Mr. Boss,” Rutledge’s Boss of the Barnyard - I never did care for this one, even as a kid. I read this series and did not like it. It is one of the VERY FEW “Old Timers” that I don’t care for, but some people must have liked it as it ran for more than 5 years. Country people probably liked it ok, but I doubt if it made much of a hit with city readers.

 

Yes, Joe, as you say, old comics are really scarce as very few people saved them. I imagine it was difficult for most people to keep them very long - even if they wanted to - as no doubt the children wore them out or tore them up looking at them. And the LITTLE GIRL CHILDREN used to delight in taking a pair of scissors and cutting pictures out of the funny paper. When they got through with it it looked like a sieve, and when I was a child I can remember seeing many children’s rooms wallpapered with funny papers. Yes along about that time there was a trend to wallpaper children’s rooms with the funny papers, but as you say the most of them was thrown out from week-to-week for the trash collector.

 

Then what few did survive in attics were cleaned out and sent to the waste paper mill during the big “WASTE PAPER DRIVE” during World War No. 1 1917-1918. I can remember that there were posters all around and big ads in newspapers for people to be patriotic and contribute all the old paper material they could find to the “Waste Paper Drives” to help the war effort. The advertisements stated that there was a terrible shortage of paper, so everyone THOUGHT he was helping win the war by digging up all the paper material he could find in his cellar and attic and sending it to the waste paper mill. I know an old fellow who worked in one of these waste paper mills during World War No. 1 and he said many tons of GOOD BOOKS, and magazines, newspapers he said he had seen whole stacks of funny paper collections come in to the waste paper mills. What a shame to destroy so much valuable old paper material when it was actually so little help as far as winning the war. The war was won by GI’s wading and laying on their stomachs in the mud and in muddy trenches half-filled with water. I know because I was there myself with the 81st Division.

 

Yes, Joe, the waste paper mills got most of the old funny papers that had survived up to 1917-1918.

 

It used to be that some of the big city libraries had bound volumes that the public could view -original old printed copies of the funny papers bound in with newspapers -- but now you can’t even see any original copies in the libraries. People were wearing out the volumes so they MICROFILMED THE PAPERS and they keep the original papers stored away and the public can no longer use the original papers in the volumes. Now when you go to these libraries you have to turn a crank in a machine and roll the microfilm like a roll of movie film page by page to read microfilmed copies of the old paper -- a tedious nuisance. And the funny paper, in many issues is so blotted as to be a dull mass of smears - as you know red photographs black - so now people can’t see any original printed issues of the old funnies in color, unless he is lucky enough to have a collection of his own.

 

Yes, I noted - AH Sid’s QUE - spelling words. This is clever and unusual. The only AH Sid issue containing this QUE words feature, I thought you would like it - and was sure you would notice it - as none of the very little details in comics escape your notice.

 

Yes, Conde is the artist who drew Joel Chandler Harris’ comic page of Uncle Remus - Brer Rabbit - Fox, etc. These old Sunday comic pages I read when I was a kid. I now have only one issue. Been trying for years to find more, but no luck.

 

Yes, there was a stage play of “Little Nemo.” It ran for 2 seasons. It was a hit and was a financial success.

 

As I said in my last letter, I was most interested in your find of old Chicago Herald comic section - 1915-1916-1917 of which I must confess - I do not have any in my collection and would like very much to buy or trade for at least 2 copies (and of course would take more if you could spare them.) Anyway, ONE would be better than NONE, in case you hate to part with them. If you can spare any just send them on to me and let me know what you want for them, CASH or TRADE.

 

Joe, I enjoyed the cartoon you drew of the bungling scientist who blew his head off - a real Super Man - devoted to his scientific work. And you “WIN” the “FAT MAN” CARTOON CONTEST. This is a good and funny “Fat Man” cartoon. I don’t think I could best you on “Fat Men” because if I used a 150 ft. yard roll of poster paper, you would probably use 300 yards of poster paper - so - I give up and concede you as the winner.

 

Well, Joe, this is all the time I have for writing today. I will write more later and in the meantime, “lemme” hear from you.

 

Sincerely,

Your Friend

 

Ernie McGee

[Silver Surfer]

Bob keep the history on this coming, very interesting stuff.

[BLBcomics-migration]

To read mor earchived letter of the first world class comic strip historian i know of, go to

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PlatinumAgeComics/

 

On the left side, click on FILES

 

scroll down to the ERNIE McGEE letters

 

there is a bunch of other stuff archived there as well

 

Learn the origins of why so many of us realize that Outcault actually did not do that what he is given so much credit

 

then, if you are really into it, read thru the 16,000 archived research posts

 

i believe you have to join yahoogroups to get into this stuff, and you might even have to join the Plat list as well - i forget, it has been a long time since i began this list.

 

Co-Moderator Leonardo De Sa (Portugal) is real quick on the uptake to sign on those who respond as being a human interested in comics research

[BLBcomics-migration]

Hi Bob. Whilst I think we are in broad agreement about a lot of the early comics I have two questions about areas where we appear to have different opinions.

 

1) How prevalent amongst ‘comics scholars’ is the acceptance of sequential single page illustrations as comics and do they have to appear on every page?

 

RB: do you m ean single panel? they are accepted as comics, but not necessarily as sequential comics - but something like Dennis the Menace daily single panel would due to recurring characters

 

 

When is something like this a comic and when does it become an illustrated story? For example Stuff and Nonsense is rather like a lot of what we call ‘Ladybird Books’ here in the UK. Some of these have a large illustration on each page with a paragraph or two of text at the bottom. The art and text move the story on from page to page. Some Lady bird books have a single page illustration then a page of text then another illustration and so on. Are these still comics?

 

RB: Denis Gifford, the most famous of all UK comics historians made STUFF AND NONSENSE the first comic book liste din his THE AMERICAN COMIC BOOK 1884-1938 tome which came out maybe 15-20 years ago.

 

I sometimes view comics the way some USA judge said about porn: I know it when i see it -

 

And if there is several pages of text between each illustration but the illustrations still sequentially move on the story is this still a comic? Where is the division between a comic and an illustrated story?

 

That is a hard question with no easy answer. Usually i wwould say not - we use a code in the Victorian and price indexes first devised by my friend world class comics history and long time editor at Sergio Bonelli comics publisher in Milan, Alfredo Castelli (Italy) to try to deferentiate what is a "real" comic book, what contains some sequentials, whether it is newspaper reprint or original material, what is merely a book containing illustrations by some famous comic strip artist, etc

 

 

2) A lot of the publications you list in the Victorian Section of Overstreet contain comics. When does a publication that contains comics become a comic book?

 

Again, refer to the code we use in the Price Index section to help you along with what we think - we try very hard to show the collector how to tell a first print, what it should contain to be complete, and how it fits in the pantheon of layers of what it is

 

 

If 60% is comics I think most people would say it’s a comic book. CGD says 50% to qualify for inclusion in the CGD database. If it’s 40% is it still a comic book?

 

RB: I was part of those GCD discussions back in the mid 1990s - our criteria there was devised to try to bring some order out of potential chaos as to what to index first. There was some talk of trying to index Sunday sections from all over th world as well, but so far no one has tackled any aspect of that area of comics collecting.

 

How much sequential comic content does something like Wild Oats have?

 

 

RB: it varies. each issue is 16 pages - some issues are half comics, others contain very little - the first strips begin with the 3rd issue or so, and are Busch reprints - and quickly Wild Oats begins running stuff from all kind sof creators.

 

Opper begins sequential comic strips in there as early as 1875 - oh, how i would LOVE to get a WILD OATS comic strip reprint book published - limiting it to 200 pages would be difficult to figur eout what to leave out of such a tome

 

 

The Punch’s I have a certainly less than 25% content. When does a publication go from being a comic book to a publication that just contains some comics?

 

RB: Again, we have puzzled thur this very difficult question with the code. Here is the preamble I wrote for the Victorian Price Index OPG #36 2006:

 

COLLECTOR'S NOTE: Some of books listed in this section were published well over a century before organized comics fandom began archiving and helping to preserve these fragile popular culture artifacts. Consequently, copies of most all of these comics almost never surface in Fine+ or better shape. Most are in the Poor to VG range. If you want to collect these only in high grade, your collection will be extremely small. Each year we are filling in the price blanks on more items. The past few years we have been more concerned with simply establishing what is known to exist. The prices given for Fair, Good and Fine categories are for strictly graded editions. If you need help grading your item, we refer you to the grading section in this book or contact the authors of this essay. Items marked rare we are trying to figure out how many copies might still be in existence. We welcome help.

For ease ascertaining the contents of each item of this listing and the Platinum index list, we offer the following list of categories found immediately following most of the titles:

E - REPRINT OF EUROPEAN COMICS MATERIAL

G - GRAPHIC NOVEL (LONGER FORMAT COMIC TELLING A SINGLE STORY)

H - "HOW TO DRAW CARTOONS" BOOKS

I - ILLUSTRATED BOOKS NOTABLE FOR THE ARTIST, BUT NOT A COMIC.

M - REPRINT OF MAGAZINE / PERIODICAL COMICS MATERIAL

N - REPRINT OF NEWSPAPER COMICS MATERIAL

O - ORIGINAL COMIC MATERIAL NOT REPRINTED FROM ANOTHER SOURCE

P - PROMOTIONAL COMIC, EITHER GIVEN AWAY FOR FREE, OR A PREMIUM GIVEN IN

CONJUNCTION WITH THE PURCHASE OF A PRODUCT.

S - SINGLE PANEL / NON-SEQUENTIAL CARTOONS (ENTIRELY OR

PREDOMINANTLY)

Measurements are in inches. The first dimension given is Height and the second is Width. Some original British editions are included in the section, so as to better explain and differentiate their American counterparts. This section created, revised, and expanded by Robert Beerbohm with acknowledgment to Bill Blackbeard, Chris Brown, Alfredo Castelli, Darrell Coons, Leonardo De Sá, Scott Deschaine, Joe Evans, Ron Friggle, Terry Keegan, Tom Gordon, Michel Kempeneers, Andy Konkykru, Don Kurtz, Richard Olson, Robert Quesinberry, Steve Rowe, Randy Scott, John Snyder, Art Spiegelman, Steve Thompson, Richard Samuel West, Doug Wheeler and Richard Wright. Kudos to Gabriel Laderman.

 

 

Interested in your views.

 

Thanks Earl.

 

 

HI Earl

 

Hopefully i have addressed adequately what you bring up in this post. Feel free to expannd upon that which is still unclear. I already tried to make the Victorian and Plat price indexes as user friendly as possible, previously anticipating some of the very queries you made above

 

best

 

Robert Beerbohm

[BLBcomics-migration]

The movie metaphor is less than perfect.

 

A silent movie has almost no other similar comparibles whereas a comic strip with words below them does. Advertisements, book and magazine illustrations, instructional pamphlets and on and on. What is the movie metaphor for any of these things?

 

Its not a bad metaphor but I wouldn't hang my hat on it.

 

Ed

 

I agree, it is less than prefect, but what is in this world? It is what we came up with some years ago as one of the ways of introducing early comics material to the USA comics collecting community whom we knew portions thereof would fight the concepts hair pulling screaming all the way to the alter of total comics bliss

 

Most comic books are not 9.8 CGC either, but i will still read VG or less, and try to get thru life

 

the movie metaphors for those other categories i leave for some one with more spare time on their hands - i apoligize profusely

[BLBcomics-migration]

Ernie McGee On Collecting & Creativity

 

Philadelphia, PA

9/10/62

 

Dear Joe,

 

I suppose you have received the last batch of old funny papers that I sent you Sept. 8th and are enjoying reading them by now. I thought they were all good. In fact, I could not resist the temptation to re-read all the strips over again before I mailed them to you. So, I re-read them all again. (I don’t remember how many times I have previously re-read them since they have been in my collection.) each time I re-read an old funny paper, I seem to get as much and perhaps sometimes more enjoyment than the time before. I always seem to find some touch of humor or fancy that I overlooked in previous readings. Whenever I start re-reading old funny papers, I find it hard to quit reading them and get back to work. When I am very busy I have to keep old funny papers out of my sight because the temptation is too much to just knock off work and relax a few hours reading my old funnys. Some day when I RETIRE perhaps I will have time to re-read all the old funny papers in my huge collection. Anyway, I hope so, and I am looking forward to that pleasure if I live long enough. When I read old funnys I like to imagine myself in the same place as the old cartoonist who drew the strip. I like to imagine being in his studio - sitting at his drawing board. I try to analyze his thoughts as he creates his idea and puts the picture characters on his drawing paper - and in a funny situation in his pictures. I can imagine seeing him smile as he works and saying to himself:

 

<Here is a doodle of cartoonist working at his drawing board with a spittoon behind him and a wastebasket full of “all bum ideas discarded, only good ideas saved to draw up.”>

 

The cartoonist word balloon says, “Boy! THIS idea is going to knock the readers off their seats and lay them in the aisles, roaring with laughter.”

 

Underneath this doodle, Ernie McGee writes:

“Kartune of an old komic artiss drawering up a komical kartune funny paper strip”

 

<The letter continues...>

 

And too, of course, I can imagine him working hard, sweating and fretting sometimes as he figures out how to draw a funny situation that requires a lot of action involving a lot of characters and get it all in the small panels - but - after a few gallons of perspiration, he solves his problems and draws up a strip just the way he wanted the finished product to be, just the way he envisioned it when he doped out the idea for the strip.

 

Yes, the “old timer’s” really worked hard, but they loved their work and took much pride in it. They would have much rather been a cartoonist than president of the United States. I know because I was personally acquainted with many of the “old timer” comic artists - but the people who were really not too happy about this cartoon business was the cartoonist’s wife, because the cartoonist’s first love was his drawing board. He spent most of his time at the drawing board and little time entertaining his wife. Most wives were jealous of the old man’s comic strip, because the comic strip got just about all the old man’s attention - and even in the middle of the night, the cartoonists dream about comic strips. They often wake up in the middle of night with a funny idea for a cartoon or comic strip - crawl out of bed beside the wife and turn on the lights and write down his idea in detail and sometimes he feels more like drawing than sleeping and gets up in the middle of the night and starts drawing a comic strip. I am speaking of the real comic artist who loves his work, so you can readily understand why the life of a cartoonist’s wife is not always a happy life. If it wasn’t for the big money successful cartoonists make, perhaps their wives would give them the gate.

 

Yes, Joe, as I said in the beginning of the letter, I like to imagine myself in the place of the old cartoonist of a strip that I read. I like to try to analyze his thoughts as he drew the strip and I like to study the strip closely to see where he could have did certain parts of it differently that would have made it funnier - and in most strips I can see where the cartoonist missed out on something - sometimes several things that would have made the strip “funnier.” Even the “old masters” sometimes let funny little things slip by them that would have added to the humor of the strip if they had thought of them while drawing the strip.

 

Joe, this trick of studying the strips closely and looking for blunders - as well as looking for places in the strip where a good gag or situation, opportunity, slipped by the cartoonist -- in other words look for places in the strip where something could have been done differently that would have added humor to the strip - this is good creative exercise and stimulates and improves the cartoonist’s creative ability. In other words, it educates him in originating ideas that are really funny. Try it. Soon originating funny ideas will be easy and seem no task at all. Well, maybe not too much of a task.

 

Joe, I want to thank you very much for copying the Schoenhut Catalogue “Max and Moritz” Rhyme Jingles and cartoon pictures. Your cartoon drawings are fine of the Max and Mortiz and other Schoenhut Toys. I also love your cartoon of the “Tooth Pick Valley Flyer.” This is a good piece of fantastic drawing of a never was or can be railway train. I am glad to have the drawing to add to my scrap book of original cartoon drawings by friends. The large drawings you sent me some time ago I have in one of my large portfolios of original drawings done by cartoonist fiends.

 

Joe, I haven’t had time as yet to round up any toys or information of the Schoenhut Factory, but you can be sure that I will make an all out effort to round up any toys or information on ‘Schoenhut Factory.’ If any of the toys still exist in Philadelphia - I will probably find them. I will close here, Joe. Drop me a letter on the latest batch of old funny papers I sent you when you can spare the time.

 

Sincerely,

 

Ernie McGee

P.S.

Your Schoenhut Catalogue is a very valuable collector’s item.

 

P.S.

Joe -

I sent you a selected list that has quite a lot of variety in the lot mailed to you Sept. 8. All the old papers except 3 had strips that I had not previously sent examples of - and these 3 were good and important numbers that I thought you would want. For example, The Katzy Kids typing the captain’s bath house to a freight train 1904 - I think this is a great page. Also in this same paper is “The Handy Man From Timbuctoo.” I believe I have only sent you one of this series before.

 

Also the 1907 paper where old Si Slocum gives his mule Maud to Happy Hooligan - this issue also has “King Jake” by Opper and “JM Muggsby” by HA Maggill. I believe I had only sent you one of Muggsby and two of “King Jake” previously.

 

And the 1913 NY World Funnyside was a good issue. The “Spare Ribs and Gravy” strip explained the treasure chest sequence. Spare Ribs and Gravy had quite a tough time on this cannibal island. They never did get to spend any of the treasure. It was a funny sequence.

 

P.S.

There are other old papers I could have sent that have strips that I haven’t previously sent. I still have about 10 or 12 more early examples before 1920 that I haven’t sent, but as you said, I though you would like the 3 repeats I sent.

 

P.S.

Also have several good old series period 1922 to 1934 that I haven’t sent. It will probably take around 20 or 25 different papers to cover all the period 1922 to 1934.

 

P.S.

I dug up a “Circus Solly” and sent in the Sept. 8 lot. The only one I have to spare of Circus Solly. I hope you like it. This black and white joke page was a 1903 reprint.

 

E. McGee

9/10/62

[BLBcomics-migration]

Ernie Mcgee on acquiring some Old Bound Volumes from Montreal Doctor

 

1/28/63

RE - OLD COMIC SECTION

I note your comment about the book binder who bound the volumes of old comic sections for the old doctor who collected them in Montreal, Canada -- The book binder must have been drunk or awfully dumb not to bind the Sunday dates in proper order. No doubt the old doctor was very much displeased with the book binder’s job. The doctor probably left the comics with the binds and gave him an order to bind them in book form, and the binder just bound the stack of comics as he picked them from off the bundle. Where the doctor made a mistake - he should have stacked the comics in order and told the binder to bind them consecutive. The doctor probably figured the binder would place them in proper order, but he didn’t. There were 8 bound volumes in the old doctor’s collection that I bought, and they were all bound the same way that your “Little Nemo” books were bound. None of the 8 volumes were bound consecutive. But I bought the comics on sight without hesitation because they were all scarce and valuable old comic sections and in good condition - because an opportunity like this was to get a collection of the old timer’s - does not occur often - perhaps once or twice in a lifetime, and perhaps never again.

 

As I have told you before, I only had two lucky breaks in getting a large collection of old comics. The main one was when I bought out all the old newspapers from the Mercantile Library. I had to also buy all the old newspapers in order to get the comic sections. They would only sell the whole collection of comics and newspapers as a lot. This collection cost me a small fortune. This collection and the Montreal collection - as I have told you before - is why I have duplicates available. You see, I previously had a large collection of loose comic sections that I had been collecting for years. So when I got this big collection of bound volumes, especially the entire Mercantile Library Collection, if gave me a lot of duplicates that were in my PREVIOUS old collection of loose comics. Those were probably the only luck breaks that I will ever get.

 

There are still a lot more old comics that I am short on, such as “The Brownie Clown,” “Simon Simple,” “Binnacle Jim,” “Poor Old Robinson Cruso,” “The Dinkelspiels,” also the tales of “Brer Rabbit” illustrated by JA Conde. I would like to have many more of them, but guess my chances are slim of ever finding any more - for as you say, it is a miracle that any old comic sections exist at this late date.

E. McGee

[BLBcomics-migration]

Ernie McGee on New York Herald bound volumes 1894-1912

 

<date unknown>

 

RE - THE DAILY NEWSPAPER VOLUMES CONTAINING “NEMO” COMICS

 

Joe, since talking to you over the phone, I checked these volumes and decided it would be extremely foolish of me to break up this run of daily and Sunday newspapers. The volumes begin in 1894 and run consecutive daily and Sunday to the end of 1909 -- all New York Herald papers. This was part of the Mercantile Library papers that I bought when the library went out of business. As I have told you before, I had to buy the volumes of daily papers. Also to get the other volumes that contained only comics and Sunday magazines -- also loose comics, etc.

 

Yes, it would be very foolish for ME <triple underlined> to break up this consecutive run of newspapers and comics as in the newspapers I find contain a lot of interesting news - a record of the 1890’s and early 1900’s. These would be a valuable set of papers for a library and if I took out any comics it would spoil the volumes. In the newspapers is a complete day to day file of the Spanish-American War. There is news of presidential campaigns, presidents’ deaths, presidential elections, the news and pictures of the Wright Bros. first aeroplane fight, the controversy between “Perry” and “Cook” as to who discovered the North Pole. Yes, I have decided it would be a crime to break up this run of daily and Sunday papers or mutilate any of the volumes by taking the comics out. So, I will keep these volumes intact at least for a few more years, as I have plenty of storage space in my large brick house in Gloucester, NJ. It is 4 stories, plus a large cellar with floor and plaster walls in the cellar. In fact, I could store TWICE as much material as I have in my Gloucester City, NJ home.

 

So I have DEFINITELY DECIDED to keep intact this fine run of daily and Sunday N.Y. Herald papers. The best idea would be to donate them to the Gloucester City library when I get too old to read them.

[showcase4]

http://www.toonopedia.com/oldbuck.htm

 

 

and over and over again ( except on this post ), it is Obadiah Oldbuck the "comic book". Gee....maybe it's a comic book

[Psiknight]

http://www.toonopedia.com/oldbuck.htm

 

 

and over and over again ( except on this post ), it is Obadiah Oldbuck the "comic book". Gee....maybe it's a comic book

 

To quote that site:

 

"Oldbuck may not have qualified as a comic book by every possible definition of the word. It used captions instead of word balloons. It didn't have continuing characters. More important, the pictures carried relatively little of the narrative load — a bare bones version of the story can be understood from the short captions alone, tho the pictures did add a great deal to the humor."