Communications

WANN Microphone

Tools of communication have transformed American society time and again over the past two centuries. The Museum has preserved many instruments of these changes, from printing presses to personal digital assistants.

The collections include hundreds of artifacts from the printing trade and related fields, including papermaking equipment, wood and metal type collections, bookbinding tools, and typesetting machines. Benjamin Franklin is said to have used one of the printing presses in the collection in 1726.

More than 7,000 objects chart the evolution of electronic communications, including the original telegraph of Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham Bell's early telephones. Radios, televisions, tape recorders, and the tools of the computer age are part of the collections, along with wireless phones and a satellite tracking system.

Name: King Features Syndicate

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Blondie

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Blondie comic strip shows the title character cooking a big dinner for her family, which they all enjoy and praise.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Blondie comic strip shows the title character cooking a big dinner for her family, which they all enjoy and praise. Blondie is left disappointed when everybody disappears once it comes time to clean up.
Murat Bernard "Chic" Young (1901-1973) began working as a comic artist in 1921 on the strip The Affairs of Jane. The strip was published by the Newspaper Enterprise Association. A few years later Young was hired by King Features Syndicate to draw the strip Dumb Dora, which ran until 1935. Young had modest success with other strips, but his debut of Blondie in 1930 far overshadowed his other artistic products. He drew the strip until his death in 1973.
Blondie (1930- ) is portrayed as a sweet, if not featherbrained, young woman whose 1933 marriage to the affluent Dagwood Bumstead made national news. The strip followed the young couple after Bumstead’s parents disowned him because of their aversion to Blondie. The strip continued to gain in popularity after the introduction of Blondie and Dagwood’s two children, Alexander and Cookie.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-02-24
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22395
catalog number
22395
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Trudy

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Trudy comic strip shows the title character’s husband being obsessed by golf and always either playing, watching, or talking about it, which is shown to annoy his family.Jerry Marcus (1924-2005) freelanced most of his career.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Trudy comic strip shows the title character’s husband being obsessed by golf and always either playing, watching, or talking about it, which is shown to annoy his family.
Jerry Marcus (1924-2005) freelanced most of his career. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s he sold several of his cartoons to The New Yorker, Look magazine, the Ladies' Home Journal, and others. Trudy debuted in 1963, and Marcus drew it until his death in 2005.
Trudy (1963-2005) was a comic strip about a middle-class homemaker. She was said to have been inspired by creator Jerry Marcus's own mother, who raised four children by herself. Even though she was a homemaker, Trudy was also described as the head of the household, as she took care of juggling the needs of her husband, children, and a pet cat named Fatkat.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-07-10
graphic artist
Marcus, Jerry
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22464
catalog number
22464
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "Grandma".

Charles Kuhn (1892-1989), who studied under fellow cartoonist Frank King, is most known for his comic strip "Grandma". The strip features the antics of a 90-year old woman and her grandchildren, based on the artist's own mother.
Description
Charles Kuhn (1892-1989), who studied under fellow cartoonist Frank King, is most known for his comic strip "Grandma". The strip features the antics of a 90-year old woman and her grandchildren, based on the artist's own mother. In this strip, Grandma disguises a watermelon as a football so that the grandkids will stay away from it until its ready to eat.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
09/02/1966
graphic artist
Kuhn, Charles
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22592
catalog number
22592
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "Beetle Bailey".

"Beetle Bailey" was created and continues to be drawn by Mort Walker (b. 1923). The comic strip centers around characters on Camp Swampy, a fictitious United States Army military post.
Description
"Beetle Bailey" was created and continues to be drawn by Mort Walker (b. 1923). The comic strip centers around characters on Camp Swampy, a fictitious United States Army military post. The main character, Beetle Bailey, is consistently lazy, drawing negative attention towards him and causing antics on the post. In this strip, the General is briefing his men on battle plans. He soon learns that asking his men for criticisms was the wrong plan.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
07/03/1966
graphic artist
Walker, Mort
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22601
catalog number
22601
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Beetle Bailey

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Beetle Bailey comic strip shows Beetle asking what the Chaplain thinks about sneaking naps after being told “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”Addison Morton "Mort" Walker (1923- ) was first published at age eleven, and soon afterward was
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Beetle Bailey comic strip shows Beetle asking what the Chaplain thinks about sneaking naps after being told “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”
Addison Morton "Mort" Walker (1923- ) was first published at age eleven, and soon afterward was drawing a weekly cartoon for the Kansas City Journal. After U.S. Army service in World War II, Walker began drawing a cartoon named Spider for the Saturday Evening Post. King Features Syndicate later contracted with him for the related comic strip devoted to the character Beetle Bailey. Walker also wrote for Hi and Lois, considered to be a spin-off of Beetle Bailey. More recently Walker has drawn the strip with the help of his sons.
Beetle Bailey (1950- ), a private in the U.S. Army, is regularly looking for a way to avoid doing work. He is memorable because his eyes are always covered by a hat or helmet. The strip location originally took place on a college campus but after a year Walker reimagined the location of the strip as a U.S. Army base called "Camp Swampy," where the characters seem to be stationed in never-ending basic training.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-09-24
graphic artist
Walker, Mort
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22533
catalog number
22533
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Hubert

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Hubert comic strip shows the title character suspecting his wife of cheating at Checkers because she knocked over the Checkers table while she was sneezing.Richard C.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Hubert comic strip shows the title character suspecting his wife of cheating at Checkers because she knocked over the Checkers table while she was sneezing.
Richard C. "Dick" Wingert (1919-1993) studied art in Indianapolis beginning in 1937. His career began as an artist for the U.S. Army newspaper Stars and Stripes, where his single comic character, a simple soldier named Hubert, was debuted. The character's wife, children, and dog were included in the story of his later civilian life. Wingert drew the strip until 1992.
Hubert (1942-1994), a single-panel comic strip concerning an ordinary soldier, was produced for Stars and Stripes. After the war the title character became a civilian and went back to everyday life, with its repetitious, disagreeable, and unsatisfying components.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-09-07
graphic artist
Wingert, Dick
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22439
catalog number
22439
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for The Katzenjammer Kids

This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the The Katzenjammer Kids comic strip shows “der Captain” calling “der Inspector” a “cheapskate” after being accused of being lazy. During the verbal altercation, Hans and Fritz offer “der Inspector” a bag that he thinks is full of cash.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the The Katzenjammer Kids comic strip shows “der Captain” calling “der Inspector” a “cheapskate” after being accused of being lazy. During the verbal altercation, Hans and Fritz offer “der Inspector” a bag that he thinks is full of cash. To prove he isn’t stingy, “der Inspector” offers half to “der Captain,” then they discover that the bag contains a wild cat planted by the two boys as a prank.
Joseph "Joe" Musial (1905-1977) was a comic artist who began working in 1929 as an assistant to Billy DeBeck’s comic strip Barney Google. In 1932 Musial was hired by King Features Syndicate to serve as a substitute artist on strips such as Blondie, Bringing Up Father, and Thimble Theatre. In 1956 Musial was asked to draw The Katzenjammer Kids. He continued drawing the strip until 1976.
The Katzenjammer Kids (1897- ) premiered in American Humorist, a Sunday supplement to the New York Journal. The creator of the strip, German immigrant Rudolph Dirks (1877-1968), was inspired by a German children’s story from the 1860s called “Max and Moritz.” The storyline included mischievous twins, similar to the later comic strip protagonists Hans and Fritz. Both sets of twins have an aversion to authority. The strip often sees Hans and Fritz playing pranks on various adults, such as their mother, “der Captain” (who acts as a father figure), “der Inspector” (a school official), and their tutor, Miss Twiddle.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-05-22
graphic artist
Musial, Joe
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22552
catalog number
22552
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled Mr. Breger

Mr. Breger (also published as Private Breger and G.I. Joe during World War II) was created by Dave Breger (1908-1970), syndicated by King Features from 1946-1960s. Breger has been credited with creating the term "G.I.
Description
Mr. Breger (also published as Private Breger and G.I. Joe during World War II) was created by Dave Breger (1908-1970), syndicated by King Features from 1946-1960s. Breger has been credited with creating the term "G.I. Joe", replacing the term "Yank" to describe American soldiers. The comic is a gag-panel about life in the military. In this comic, The Bregers go to the attorney to discover what Mr. Breger's uncle willed to him.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
8/21/1966
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22334
catalog number
22334

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Popeye

This pen-and-ink drawing was prepared for the comic strip Thimble Theatre, Starring Popeye. Popeye is shown talking about his move to his new house, which has everything he could ever need.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing was prepared for the comic strip Thimble Theatre, Starring Popeye. Popeye is shown talking about his move to his new house, which has everything he could ever need. The last panel reveals the house to be next to a spinach factory.
Forrest Cowles "Bud" Sagendorf (1915-1994) started his cartoonist career in 1931 as an assistant to E. C. Segar for the comic strips Thimble Theatre and Sappo. After Segar’s death in 1938, Sagendorf was asked to continue drawing any material that featured the character Popeye, who had been a part of the Thimble Theatre cast since 1929. Over the next few decades, Sagendorf wrote and drew Popeye for Dell Comic Books, and eventually took over the entire Thimble Theatre strip in 1959. In the mid-1980s Sagendorf’s eyesight began to fail and he left the daily strip, but continued to draw the Sunday strip until his death in 1994.
Popeye (1929-1994, dailies, continuing Sundays) was originally a component of E. C. Segar’s Thimble Theatre comic strip. The character Popeye was first introduced when Castor Oyl and Ham Gravy were traveling overseas, and happened upon the sailor while they were lost. The character Popeye became popular and eventually a regular cast member. Later, in the 1970s, the strip was renamed for him. One of the biggest turning points in the strip was Ham Gravy's replacement by Popeye as a love interest for Castor Oyl’s sister, Olive. Gradually, other characters such as Wimpy and Swee’Pea were made more central to the cast. The Popeye character was adapted to films in the 1930s. Newspapers have been publishing reprints of Sagendorf’s dailies since 1994, but the Sunday Popeye strip is still drawn regularly.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1965-01-10
graphic artist
Sagendorf, Bud
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22425
catalog number
22425
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Prince Valiant

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Prince Valiant comic strip discusses an oncoming army ready to invade Britain, and shows Prince Valiant going out to warn his countrymen.Harold Rudolf "Hal" Foster (1892-1982) was a Canadian-born comic artist.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Prince Valiant comic strip discusses an oncoming army ready to invade Britain, and shows Prince Valiant going out to warn his countrymen.
Harold Rudolf "Hal" Foster (1892-1982) was a Canadian-born comic artist. In 1928, after studying art in Chicago, he created the Tarzan comic strip, based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. Foster then created Prince Valiant and was hired by William Randolph Hearst. He continued drawing the strip until he chose John Cullen Murphy to succeed him by 1971. Murphy began officially writing the strip in 1975 as well.
Prince Valiant (1937- ) tells the story of the 5th-century character named Val who is haunted by a prophecy of exploits and unhappiness. After an early storyline dealing with the death of his mother, Val meets King Arthur and Lancelot, and then becomes a knight. Prince Valiant eventually marries Queen Aleta of the Misty Isles but shortly after their wedding Aleta is kidnapped and subsequent strips see Val traveling around the world to find her. In 1946 the tale includes the reunion of the couple in the New World at Niagara Falls. Prince Valiant appeared in comic book form in 1941. The story was the subject of a feature film in 1954.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-09-11
graphic artist
Foster, Harold R.
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22407
catalog number
22407
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Secret Agent X-9

This pen-and-ink drawing, prepared for the Secret Agent X-9 comic strip, shows a UFO about to enter Earth’s atmosphere. "Tracking Control" staff fear that it will be plainly visible to many people.Robert "Bob" Lubbers (1922- ) began his career as a freelance cartoonist.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing, prepared for the Secret Agent X-9 comic strip, shows a UFO about to enter Earth’s atmosphere. "Tracking Control" staff fear that it will be plainly visible to many people.
Robert "Bob" Lubbers (1922- ) began his career as a freelance cartoonist. In the 1950s and 1960s he contributed to strips such as Tarzan, Li’l Abner, Long Sam, and Big Ben Bolt. In 1960 he began work on Secret Agent X-9 under the pseudonym Bob Lewis. He left the strip seven years later and retired in 1989.
Secret Agent X-9 (1934-1996) was a detective strip, which began during a time when the public was frustrated with Prohibition-era crime and later government intrusion. Artist Alex Raymond and novelist Dashiell Hammett created and launched the strip. The character X-9 was a secret agent, but appeared as a typical private investigator.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-09-12
graphic artist
Lewis, Bob
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22619
catalog number
22619
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Etta Kett

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Etta Kett comic strip shows a teenage girl talking to her father about her interest in sports, which coincided with her interest in star athletes.Paul Dowling Robinson (1898-1974) began his work as a cartoonist in New York in 1919.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Etta Kett comic strip shows a teenage girl talking to her father about her interest in sports, which coincided with her interest in star athletes.
Paul Dowling Robinson (1898-1974) began his work as a cartoonist in New York in 1919. He worked on the Samson and Delia strip in 1924 and then in 1925 debuted Etta Kett, about the life of contemporary teenagers, which became a daily and a Sunday comic strip. Robinson also drew a strip called The Love-Byrds, which started out as a topper (or secondardy strip) for the Sunday page of Etta Kett. He drew both strips until his death in 1974.
Etta Kett (1925-1974) began as a comic panel series about manners and etiquette. It was later redeveloped as a comic strip about a middle-class teenage girl named Etta and her high school adventures with friends and boyfriends. The main character, Etta, continued to be described as innocent and well-mannered in the face of conspicuous societal changes.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-09-22
graphic artist
Robinson, Paul
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22380
catalog number
22380
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Rip Kirby

This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the Rip Kirby comic strip shows Marion and Rip discussing Rip’s used car business troubles and Marion’s offer to help.John Prentice (1920-1999) spent six years in the U.S.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the Rip Kirby comic strip shows Marion and Rip discussing Rip’s used car business troubles and Marion’s offer to help.
John Prentice (1920-1999) spent six years in the U.S. Navy during World War II before attending art school in Pittsburgh and soon afterward working in advertising and comic books. In 1956 he was asked to take over the Rip Kirby comic strip after the death of its creator, Alex Raymond. Prentice drew the strip, with writer Fred Dickenson, and later, on his own, until his own death in 1999.
Rip Kirby (1946-1999) was a postwar ex-marine who turned to a private detective's career. Most Rip Kirby stories saw the title character using humor and imagination to solve crimes instead of physical force. Kirby was often seen with his frail assistant, Desmond, or his longtime girlfriend, Honey Dorian.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-09-10
author
Dickenson, Fred
graphic artist
Prentice, John
issuing authority
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22617
catalog number
22617
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Buz Sawyer

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Buz Sawyer comic strip shows U.S. Air Force jets flying close to Tam’s plane, as Buz tries to signal that he and Tam are not the enemy.Royston Campbell "Roy" Crane (1901-1977) studied art in Chicago.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Buz Sawyer comic strip shows U.S. Air Force jets flying close to Tam’s plane, as Buz tries to signal that he and Tam are not the enemy.
Royston Campbell "Roy" Crane (1901-1977) studied art in Chicago. He started a short-lived strip called Wash Tubbs in 1924, and Captain Easy in 1929, as an outlet for ideas from his own travels through Central America. Later, in 1943, Crane launched Buz Sawyer which, unlike Captain Easy, allowed him ownership of all the rights to his strip. Crane drew the strip with the help of assistants until the 1960s, when he retired because of health issues.
Buz Sawyer (1943-1989) told the story of World War II U.S. Navy fighter pilot John Singer “Buz” Sawyer. With the real-life end of the war, Buz's life changed with his marriage and the birth of his son. By the early 1950s Buz is shown as returning to the U.S. Navy and later fighting in the Vietnam War. The strip was continued into the late 1980s but the Sunday version of the strip was discontinued in 1974.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-06-24
graphic artist
Crane, Roy
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22438
catalog number
22438
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled Barney Google and Snuffy Smith

This pen-and-ink drawing for the Barney Google and Snuffy Smith comic strip shows Aunt Loweezy telling Snuffy to punish Jughaid for using her prize-winning quilt and petticoat to make a tent and a kite.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing for the Barney Google and Snuffy Smith comic strip shows Aunt Loweezy telling Snuffy to punish Jughaid for using her prize-winning quilt and petticoat to make a tent and a kite. Snuffy can’t seem to understand why that’s a problem until he finds out what Jughaid did with his whittling knife.
Fred Lasswell (1916-2001) started his career in the 1920s as a sports cartoonist for the Tampa Daily Times. During the course of his work there he began assisting Billy DeBeck with Barney Google. After DeBeck’s death in 1942, Lasswell took over the strip entirely. During his service in World War II Lasswell also created a strip called Sgt. Hashmark. Lasswell continued to draw Barney Google and Snuffy Smith until his death in 2001.
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith (1919- ) started out as a sports strip titled Take Barney Google, F'rinstance. The title character was portrayed as a very short man who was regularly seen at sporting events. The addition of a race horse named Spark Plug, in 1922, caught the nation's attention and prompted creator DeBeck to make the horse a regular cast member. Hillbilly Snuffy Smith, also very short in stature, joined the cast in 1934 and soon was added to the title of the strip. Since the 1950s, Snuffy Smith has been the central character of the strip.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-06-12
graphic artist
Lasswell, Fred
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22603
catalog number
22603
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Bringing Up Father

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Bringing up Father comic strip shows Mother mentioning that she worries about Father and his absentmindedness. When she and Nora are at the matinee, Father takes a message for Mother.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Bringing up Father comic strip shows Mother mentioning that she worries about Father and his absentmindedness. When she and Nora are at the matinee, Father takes a message for Mother. He doesn’t recall all the details about the message, and when Mother becomes angry about that he reveals that she was the one who had forgotten to meet someone for lunch earlier that day.
Frank Fletcher (1919- ) began his career in the advertising field. He also served as art director for the Pictorial Review and the Saturday Home Magazine, and provided artwork for popular comic books. Fletcher also became the artist for the Bringing Up Father comic strip after the death in 1954 of its creator, George McManus. Fletcher continued drawing the strip in the Sunday edition until 1984.
Bringing Up Father (1913-2000) featured an Irish immigrant named Jiggs; his wife, Maggie; and their two children Nora and Ethelbert (known as Sonny). The story usually revolved around Jiggs’s attempts to cope with his newfound wealth after receiving winnings from the Irish Sweepstakes. Much of the time Jiggs longed for his working-class friends, habits, and general lifestyle. Meanwhile Maggie, a social climber, had embraced her nouveau riche status and demanded that Jiggs do the same.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-09-25
author
Fletcher, Frank
graphic artist
Kavanaugh, Bill
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22587
catalog number
22587
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip for Archie

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Archie comic strip shows Veronica hosting a party and suggesting to Archie that he and Jughead can later sleep on the couch, which turns into a bed.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Archie comic strip shows Veronica hosting a party and suggesting to Archie that he and Jughead can later sleep on the couch, which turns into a bed. Archie suggests to Jug that pressing the button for the foldout couch will also provide him food.
Robert William "Bob" Montana (1920-1975), in his youth, drew caricatures of customers in his father’s restaurant in New Hampshire. Later he became a freelance illustrator and at age twenty-one, in the 1940s, Montana created and started drawing Archie for the comic book series Pep Comics, and soon after the Archie comic strip. Montana drew the daily and Sunday Archie strips as well as Archie comic books until his death in 1975.
Archie (1947- ) is said to have been based on the 1930s and 1940s Andy Hardy movies, such as A Family Affair and Love Finds Andy Hardy. Even though the comic subject was originally included as filler in the publication called Pep Comics, which included mostly superhero stories, after about a year Archie appeared on the comic book cover. Archie was syndicated in newspapers across the country beginning in 1947. The subject was also included in radio and television spin-offs.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-07-18
graphic artist
Montana, Bob
publisher
Archie Comic Publications, Inc.
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22441
catalog number
22441
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Ponytail

This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the Ponytail comic strip shows the title character asking Stickshift, her mechanically inclined friend, to help start the new lawn mower, after being brushed off by her boyfriend, Donald.Lee Holley (1933- ) sold his first cartoon at age fifte
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the Ponytail comic strip shows the title character asking Stickshift, her mechanically inclined friend, to help start the new lawn mower, after being brushed off by her boyfriend, Donald.
Lee Holley (1933- ) sold his first cartoon at age fifteen, and just a few years later went to work for Warner Bros. Animation Studios as an artist. In 1957 he began ghostwriting the Dennis the Menace Sunday strip. In 1960 he launch his own strip Ponytail, which ran until 1989. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Holley also contributed artwork to Warner Bros. comic books.
Ponytail (1960-1989), like earlier strips Emmy Lou and Penny, was a strip about the adventures and social mishaps of a teenage girl. Though Ponytail premiered after other comics with similar themes, it was an instant hit. It was also briefly adapted as a comic book.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-07-31
graphic artist
Holley, Lee
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22554
catalog number
22554
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Hi and Lois

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Hi and Lois comic strip shows Lois leaving baby Trixie with Hi while she runs some errands.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Hi and Lois comic strip shows Lois leaving baby Trixie with Hi while she runs some errands. Hi quickly falls asleep as Trixie proceeds to wreck the house.
Richard Arthur Allan "Dik" Browne (1917-1989) worked with the New York Journal American and Newsweek, and while he was serving in World War II launched his first comic strip, Jinny Jeep. In the 1950s Browne collaborated with Mort Walker on Hi and Lois. In 1973 Browne debuted another strip called Hägar the Horrible about an uncouth 9th-century Viking. Both of Browne’s strips are still running, and both are drawn by his sons.
Hi and Lois (1954- ) features a married couple and their suburban family, including four children. The couple first appeared in the Beetle Bailey comic strip. Lois is Beetle’s sister. Lois is shown taking a job as a real estate agent in 1980, as a nod to changing times.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-05-08
graphic artist
Browne, Dik
Walker, Mort
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22451
catalog number
22451
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Flash Gordon

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Flash Gordon Sunday edition comic strip, shows Flash earning his freedom by fighting to the death with the evil character Hafn.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Flash Gordon Sunday edition comic strip, shows Flash earning his freedom by fighting to the death with the evil character Hafn. However, when Flash realizes he's won the battle, he refuses to actually kill the villain.
Mac Raboy (1914-1967) was a comic artist who began his career as an artist for the Works Progress Administration during the Great Depression. He started drawing for comic books in the 1940s and earned acclaim for his illustrations for Captain Marvel, Jr. and the Green Lama. In 1948 Raboy was hired by King Features to continue illustrating the Sunday strip for Flash Gordon, which he did until his death.
Flash Gordon (1940-1993, dailies, 1934-2003, Sundays) told the tale of a well-educated young man turned space adventurer. Created by Alex Raymond, the strip competed with the popular Buck Rogers. Flash and his friends, including the slightly unhinged Dr. Zarkov, shared in adventures and came to grips with chaos on the planet Mongo. Over the course of their journeys Flash and his friends traveled to an assortment of other worlds. The comic strip inspired spin-offs in film, television, and radio.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-05-01
graphic artist
Raboy, Mac
issuing authority
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22465
catalog number
22465
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Henry

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Henry comic strip shows the title character becoming excited when he thinks a window painting reads free ice cream.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Henry comic strip shows the title character becoming excited when he thinks a window painting reads free ice cream. But after telling his friends and bringing them back to enjoy the ice cream, he realizes the painter hadn’t finished painting the sign.
Carl Thomas Anderson (1865-1948) was a carpenter before he was an artist. He received formal art training in Philadelphia and in 1890 was offered a job with The New York World, where he launched a strip for the Sunday comics called Little Filipino and the Chick. William Randolph Hearst then hired Anderson to work for the New York Journal. Anderson transitioned into freelancing and carpentry during the Great Depression. In 1932 Anderson's work on Henry was accepted by the Saturday Evening Post. The strip was an immediate success, and Anderson continued drawing the strip until his death in 1948.
Henry (1932-1995, dailies, 1935-2005, Sundays) had its beginnings as a successful Depression-era comic strip, especially because of its recognizable lead character. Henry's childlike characteristics including his large, bald head, round belly, and stocky limbs were strengthened by his limited script. Henry was seen in a Fleischer Studios' short film, where Henry actually spoke, and in color comic books between 1946 and 1961. Henry is still shown in classic reruns across the country.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-09-25
graphic artist
Anderson, Carl
Liney, John
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22371
catalog number
22371
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Big Ben Bolt

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Big Ben Bolt comic strip shows Ben interested in saving the ship’s crew being held hostage by Captain Kessel.John Cullen Murphy (1919-2004) drew sports cartoons in his early career.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Big Ben Bolt comic strip shows Ben interested in saving the ship’s crew being held hostage by Captain Kessel.
John Cullen Murphy (1919-2004) drew sports cartoons in his early career. After World War II he freelanced and in 1949 writer Elliot Caplin, from King Features, proposed that they collaborate on a new boxing strip called Big Ben Bolt, which Murphy illustrated until the end of its run in 1978. In the meantime, beginning in 1970, Murphy also began working with Hal Foster on the Prince Valiant strip and took it over completely with Foster’s retirement. He continued the strip, with the help of his son, until his own retirement in early 2004.
Big Ben Bolt (1950-1978) was the protagonist for a comic strip about the title character's boxing and journalism career. Unlike the storyline in Ham Fisher’s Joe Palooka writer Elliot Caplin decided to stray from the boxing character formula, of a simple-minded athlete, and described Ben as a college graduate who only chose boxing because he genuinely enjoyed it. At one point, Ben was sidelined by an injury and began working in journalism. Many of the strip’s storylines featured Ben covering boxing matches instead of physically participating in them.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-03-01
graphic artist
Murphy, John Cullen
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22408
catalog number
22408
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Mr. Abernathy

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Mr. Abernathy comic strip features Mr. Abernathy's secretary, Flossie, asking for the afternoon off. Mr.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Mr. Abernathy comic strip features Mr. Abernathy's secretary, Flossie, asking for the afternoon off. Mr. Abernathy denies her request but when she reveals she was hoping to shop for a new bathing suit, Abernathy quickly changes his mind and escorts her on her shopping trip.
Alexander Ralston “Bud” Jones Jr. (1927-2014) was an American comic artist made famous for the Mr. Abernathy newspaper strip. Jones and his partner, writer Frank Ridgeway, debuted the strip in 1957. During the time Ridgeway wrote for Mr. Abernathy he also wrote for both the Famous Studios and the Hanna-Barbera Studios. Jones resigned from the strip in the 1980s, while Ridgeway continued the strip as both the artist and writer until his death in 1994.
Mr. Abernathy (1957-1994) was a short, balding multimillionaire with a butler named Dudley and a sweet, but forgetful secretary named Flossie. Though Mr. Abernathy had a successful business and an enormous fortune, he was often seen engaging in careless behavior, such as chasing young women.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-05-29
graphic artist
Jones, Ralston
publisher
King Features Syndicate
author
Ridgeway, Frank
ID Number
GA.22611
catalog number
22611
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Brick Bradford

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Brick Bradford comic strip shows Hoppy beginning to drown at the base of a waterfall because his power pack has failed. The title character saves him, and they quickly realize that the rescue airship is nearby but cannot see them.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Brick Bradford comic strip shows Hoppy beginning to drown at the base of a waterfall because his power pack has failed. The title character saves him, and they quickly realize that the rescue airship is nearby but cannot see them. Brick leaves to get its attention.
Paul Leroy Norris (1914-2007) began working as an illustrator and cartoonist in the late 1930s when he was hired by the Dayton Daily News. During the next decade Norris started developing comic books. In the 1940s he launched the short-lived undersea adventure comic Aquaman. After World War II Norris continued drawing for comic books and comic strips. He began working on the Brick Bradford dailies in 1952, and when creator Clarence Gray died in 1957 Norris took over the Sunday strip as well, and produced both until his retirement in 1987.
Brick Bradford (1933-1987) tells the fantastic tales of a space-age adventurer who encounters alien creatures from other worlds. Cocreator William Ritt heavily influenced the strip’s subjects with his interests in classical mythology and modern science.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-07-10
graphic artist
Norris, Paul
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22577
catalog number
22577
accession number
277502

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