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.

Date: 1960s

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Marmaduke

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Marmaduke single-panel daily comic strip shows the Great Dane upset because Phil Winslow, his owner, has put ice in his daughter Barbara’s water, but not in his own water.Brad Anderson (1924- ) began his career as a comic artist selling s
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Marmaduke single-panel daily comic strip shows the Great Dane upset because Phil Winslow, his owner, has put ice in his daughter Barbara’s water, but not in his own water.
Brad Anderson (1924- ) began his career as a comic artist selling some of his cartoon art to an aviation magazine while still in high school. After college and four years' service in the U.S. Navy, Anderson began working in advertising and prepared freelance drawings for magazine cartoons in 1953. His creation Marmaduke was debuted in newspapers across the country in 1954. Today Anderson continues to draw Marmaduke with the help of his son.
Marmaduke (1954- ) is a newspaper daily panel and Sunday comic strip. The title character is a Great Dane belonging to the Winslow family, including husband and wife, Phil and Dottie, and two children, Barbara and Billy. The running theme involves the human characteristics of the title character, which contribute to the household's general unease and confusion.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1963-04-22
graphic artist
Anderson, Brad
maker
United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
ID Number
2010.0081.009
accession number
2010.0081
catalog number
2010.0081.009

Camera-ready comic panel, entitled Laugh It Off

Laugh It Off was a comic panel series created by New Yorker cartoonist Sydney "Syd" Hoff (1912-2004) and distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1957 to 1971. The panels often illustrated funny moments or situations people find themselves in on a daily basis.
Description
Laugh It Off was a comic panel series created by New Yorker cartoonist Sydney "Syd" Hoff (1912-2004) and distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1957 to 1971. The panels often illustrated funny moments or situations people find themselves in on a daily basis. In this panel, a boss addresses one of his workers that is putting on his jacket to leave: "I don't mind you leaving early to avoid the traffic rush, Folsom, but it itsn't even noon yet."
Location
Currently not on view
date made
8/10/1966
08/10/1966
graphic artist
Hoff, Syd
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22346
catalog number
22346
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "Blue Chips".

"Blue Chips", drawn by Morrie Brickman (1917-1994), is based on stock traders and their dealings with the economic uncertainties of the times. This was a precursor to Brickman's most famous cartoon, "The Small Society", which deals with money, politics, and national issues.
Description
"Blue Chips", drawn by Morrie Brickman (1917-1994), is based on stock traders and their dealings with the economic uncertainties of the times. This was a precursor to Brickman's most famous cartoon, "The Small Society", which deals with money, politics, and national issues. In this strip, Pigeon gets advice from his advisor, Bartlett.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
9/24/1966
graphic artist
Brickman, Morrie
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22357
catalog number
22357
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "All-Stars: Sandy".

Al Liederman (aka Leeds) drew cartoons over a forty-year period, including a stint as assistant artist on Marvel's "Captain America". During his early career and towards the end of his career, Liederman created sports-themed and editorial cartoons, including "Li'l Leaguer".
Description
Al Liederman (aka Leeds) drew cartoons over a forty-year period, including a stint as assistant artist on Marvel's "Captain America". During his early career and towards the end of his career, Liederman created sports-themed and editorial cartoons, including "Li'l Leaguer". In this strip, a baseball player figures out that the base coach is just swatting a bee, not giving a signal to the batter.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
09/03/1966
graphic artist
Liederman, Al
publisher
United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
ID Number
GA.22412
catalog number
22412
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Judge Parker

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Judge Parker comic strip shows Charles holding Casandra Canabar and Randy Parker hostage, telling them to report to the police that the emergency call had been a false alarm.Harold Anthony LeDoux (1926-2015) moved to New York City after W
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Judge Parker comic strip shows Charles holding Casandra Canabar and Randy Parker hostage, telling them to report to the police that the emergency call had been a false alarm.
Harold Anthony LeDoux (1926-2015) moved to New York City after World War II and began drawing for the Famous Funnies comic books. In 1953 he began assisting Dan Heilman on the comic strip Judge Parker. LeDoux took over the strip after Heilman's death in 1965 and retired in 2006.
Judge Parker (1952- ) was created by psychiatrist and writer Nick Dallis. Dallis invited Dan Heilman, who had previously assisted on Buz Sawyer and Mary Worth,to be the artist for Judge Parker. The title character was a widower with two children, who later married a younger woman. Originally written as an attractive crime-fighting character, Parker had by the 1960s become more conservative and sedate while the younger attorney, Sam Driver, became more central to the cast, along with his client and girlfriend, Abby, and her two children.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-08-21
graphic artist
LeDoux, Harold
publisher
Publishers Newspapers Syndicate, Inc.
ID Number
GA.22570
catalog number
22570
accession number
277502

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 strip, entitled "Debbie Deere".

"Debbie Deere", the first newspaper comic strip created and drawn by Frank Bolle (b. 1924), was published from 1966 to 1969 by McNaught Syndicate. Debbie is a newspaper advice columnist, who is continually involved in the drama of her fans.
Description
"Debbie Deere", the first newspaper comic strip created and drawn by Frank Bolle (b. 1924), was published from 1966 to 1969 by McNaught Syndicate. Debbie is a newspaper advice columnist, who is continually involved in the drama of her fans. Although the strip was short lived, it allowed Bolle to gain recognition as a comic strip artist; he went on to draw five other strips including "Winnie Winkle". In this strip, Mr. Boyd, Debbie's boss, criticizes her writing.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
07/15/1966
graphic artist
Bolle, Frank
publisher
McNaught Syndicate, Inc.
ID Number
GA.22556
catalog number
22556
accession number
277502

The Through Express

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
original artist
Currier & Ives
publisher
Travelers Companies, Inc.
ID Number
2012.3050.05.09
nonaccession number
2012.3050
catalog number
2012.3050.05.09

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled Muggs and Skeeter

Muggs and Skeeter, also published under the title Muggs McGinnis from 1927 until 1936, was created and drawn by Wallace "Wally" Bishop (1906-1982). The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1927 until 1974.
Description
Muggs and Skeeter, also published under the title Muggs McGinnis from 1927 until 1936, was created and drawn by Wallace "Wally" Bishop (1906-1982). The strip was distributed by King Features Syndicate from 1927 until 1974. The comic strip featured two boys, Muggs and Skeeter, and their adventures in boyhood (and teenage-boyhood). In this strip, Muggs and Skeeter are disappointed because they were not invited to Suzie's party.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
9/7/1966
08/22/1966
graphic artist
Bishop, Wally
publisher
King Features Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22440
catalog number
22440
accession number
277502

Blind Man's Bluff

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
1962
original artist
Palmer, Frances F.
publisher
Travelers Companies, Inc.
ID Number
2012.3050.05.14
nonaccession number
2012.3050
catalog number
2012.3050.05.14

Camera-ready comic page, entitled Life's Like That

Life’s Like That, created and drawn by Fred Neher (1903-2001), was distributed by Bell-McClure Syndicate and later the United Features Syndicate, from 1934 until 1977. The comic was a gag panel about everyday life.
Description
Life’s Like That, created and drawn by Fred Neher (1903-2001), was distributed by Bell-McClure Syndicate and later the United Features Syndicate, from 1934 until 1977. The comic was a gag panel about everyday life. This comic page features characters such as Golde, Some Punkins and Will-Yum.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
09/04/1966
graphic artist
Neher, Fred
publisher
Bell-McClure Syndicate
ID Number
GA.22423
catalog number
22423
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled "Donald Duck".

The Walt Disney character Donald Duck debuted in 1934 in a comic strip entitled "Wise Little Hen" which was published in the Silly Symphonies comic strip series.
Description
The Walt Disney character Donald Duck debuted in 1934 in a comic strip entitled "Wise Little Hen" which was published in the Silly Symphonies comic strip series. Donald debuted in his own "Donald Duck" black and white daily comic strip on Febuary 7, 1938 and in 1939 he had his own Sunday color comic strip. Al Taliaferro (1905-1969) drew the majority of the strips until the late 1960s, which were distributed by King Features Syndicate. In this strip, Donald attempts to karate chop a board to impress his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. However, he ends up with a big splinter in his hand.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
08/11/1966
graphic artist
Disney, Walt
publisher
Walt Disney Productions
graphic artist
Taliaferro, Al
author
Karp, Bob
ID Number
GA.22409
catalog number
22409
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled Little Lulu

Little Lulu, created in 1935 by Marjorie Henderson "Marge" Buell, started as a comic to replace Carl Anderson's Henry comic in The Saturday Evening Post. The daily comic strip was syndicated from 1950 until 1969, drawn by several different artists.
Description
Little Lulu, created in 1935 by Marjorie Henderson "Marge" Buell, started as a comic to replace Carl Anderson's Henry comic in The Saturday Evening Post. The daily comic strip was syndicated from 1950 until 1969, drawn by several different artists. The comic strip features the title character, a precocious and often bad-tempered little girl, Lulu, and her interactions with her family and others around her. In this strip, Tubby ate the dinner Lulu had made for her dog Mops.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
08/26/1966
graphic artist
Buell, Marge
ID Number
GA.22638
catalog number
22638
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Steve Canyon

This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the Steve Canyon comic strip shows another officer suggesting to Steve that the Chinese may be smuggling contraband explosives into both the United States and Russia in hopes that each of the two countries would think the other was responsibl
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the Steve Canyon comic strip shows another officer suggesting to Steve that the Chinese may be smuggling contraband explosives into both the United States and Russia in hopes that each of the two countries would think the other was responsible for atomic activities.
In 1932 Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (1907-1988) began working in New York as an artist on strips for the Associated Press's Features Service. His work on what would become his most popular strip, Terry and the Pirates, was first published in 1934. Even with the success of the strip, Caniff resigned from Features Service in 1946 to obtain the rights to his own work and debuted Steve Canyon. Caniff also founded the National Cartoonists Society that year, and received its first Cartoonist of the Year Award.
Steve Canyon (1947-1988) was a comic strip about a veteran who returns to the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. The story usually followed the exploits of Canyon and his friends, who were also veterans. Cold War issues and tributes to service members were regular themes of the strip.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966
graphic artist
Caniff, Milton
publisher
Publishers Newspapers Syndicate, Inc.
ID Number
GA.22449
catalog number
22449
accession number
277502

Lily Lake

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
original artist
Currier & Ives
publisher
Travelers Companies, Inc.
ID Number
2012.3050.05.05
nonaccession number
2012.3050
catalog number
2012.3050.05.05

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Lolly

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Lolly comic strip shows the title character, who has taken a job as a secretary, making an initial spelling mistake in a letter she has prepared for her boss.Per Ruse "Pete" Hansen (1920-1994) was born in Denmark and moved to the United S
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Lolly comic strip shows the title character, who has taken a job as a secretary, making an initial spelling mistake in a letter she has prepared for her boss.
Per Ruse "Pete" Hansen (1920-1994) was born in Denmark and moved to the United States as a child. He began his comic art career as an artist at Disney Animation Studios in 1938. In the early 1950s, after leaving Disney, he began working on Flapdoodles and later, between 1955 and 1983, Lolly, Hansen’s best known strip. In the 1980s, after returning to Disney, Hansen wrote for their foreign publication strips.
Lolly (1955-1983) was a newspaper comic strip about a young, single woman who supported herself, her grandmother, and her younger brother, Pepper. The strip stood out in the 1950s because it featured a young girl as the family’s breadwinner. The strip appeared as a comic book series in the 1950s and 1960s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-07-11
graphic artist
Hansen, Pete
publisher
Tribune Printing Company
ID Number
GA.22538
catalog number
22538
accession number
277502

Telephone Answering Machine

While telephone answering machines date to the early twentieth century, commercial units did not begin to enter the U.S. market until the 1960s. AT&T executives feared that users might cut back on telephone use if recording devices were widely adopted.
Description (Brief)
While telephone answering machines date to the early twentieth century, commercial units did not begin to enter the U.S. market until the 1960s. AT&T executives feared that users might cut back on telephone use if recording devices were widely adopted. The company sought to block the introduction of answering machines even while their engineers made significant technical advances in magnetic recording technology.
This model 100 “Record-O-Phone” by Robosonics was one of the early, commercially available answering machines. Introduced in 1963, these machines cost several hundred dollars each and were aimed at business customers. The unit used a reel of plastic recording tape to record incoming messages. The unit’s cradle-arms were placed beneath the handset of a desk telephone and lifted the handset off the base in response to an incoming call. Since the unit is not electrically connected to the telephone, the user avoided sanction by the telephone company.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1964
maker
Robosonics Inc.
ID Number
2000.0101.01
catalog number
2000.0101.01
accession number
2000.0101

Winter Morning in the Country

Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1969
1962
original artist
Palmer, Frances F.
publisher
Travelers Companies, Inc.
ID Number
2012.3050.05.13
nonaccession number
2012.3050
catalog number
2012.3050.05.13

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled Louie

Louie was created and drawn by British cartoonist Harry Hanan (d. 1982) from 1947 until 1976, distributed by The Post-Hall Syndicate and The Chicago Tribune Syndicate. The strip features a soft-spoken, often silent husband and his misadventures with his wife and others.
Description
Louie was created and drawn by British cartoonist Harry Hanan (d. 1982) from 1947 until 1976, distributed by The Post-Hall Syndicate and The Chicago Tribune Syndicate. The strip features a soft-spoken, often silent husband and his misadventures with his wife and others. In this strip, Louie drops a book at the library and is yelled at by the librarian.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
8/8/1966
08/08/1966
graphic artist
Hanan, Harry
publisher
News Syndicate Co., Inc.
ID Number
GA.22534
catalog number
22534
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic strip, entitled Apartment 3-G

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Apartment 3-G comic strip shows the characters discussing how much they miss Peter. A new neighbor, named Newton Figg, is just arriving to move into 3-B, across the hall.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Apartment 3-G comic strip shows the characters discussing how much they miss Peter. A new neighbor, named Newton Figg, is just arriving to move into 3-B, across the hall. Figg raises some eyebrows because he’s arriving with two oversized, stuffed animals named Wilbur and Wendell.
Alex Kotzky(1923-1996), while an art student in New York in 1940, became an assistant at DC Comics. In the 1950s he worked for publishers Quality Comics and Ziff-Davis. During this time he also ghost-drew for comic strips such as Steve Canyon and Big Ben Bolt. In 1961 he and writer-psychiatrist Nick Dallis began producing Apartment 3-G.
Apartment 3-G (1961- ) portrayed the lives of three young women who live together: art teacher Lu Ann Powers, nurse Tommie Thompson, and Margo Magee (who over time held different jobs). The soap opera-style comic includes the interactions of the three young women and their friendly, fatherly neighbor Professor Aristotle Papagoras.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-08-07
graphic artist
Kotzky, Alex
publisher
Publishers Newspapers Syndicate, Inc.
ID Number
GA.22528
catalog number
22528
accession number
277502

Camera-ready comic panel, entitled "Carnival".

Dick Turner (1909-1999) created "Carnival" and "Mr. Merryweather" simultaneously in 1940. "Carnival", which ran until 1980, is largely based on small town life and of his Indiana upbringing. In this panel, a man and woman are in a car sinking into a swamp.
Description
Dick Turner (1909-1999) created "Carnival" and "Mr. Merryweather" simultaneously in 1940. "Carnival", which ran until 1980, is largely based on small town life and of his Indiana upbringing. In this panel, a man and woman are in a car sinking into a swamp. The caption reads, "I haven't heard a juicy bit of gossip like that for months!"
Location
Currently not on view
date made
06/01/1966
publisher
NEA, Inc.
graphic artist
Turner, Dick
ID Number
GA.22373
catalog number
22373
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 art drawing for Tales of the Green Beret

This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the comic strip Tales of the Green Beret shows Sgt. Benton looking for Chris Tower, who has been kidnapped in Saigon.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the comic strip Tales of the Green Beret shows Sgt. Benton looking for Chris Tower, who has been kidnapped in Saigon. In order to find Tower, Benton tries to obtain information from a Vietnamese boy.
Joseph "Joe" Kubert (1926-2012) assisted at the Archie and Harry “A” Chesler shops in his early career. He later worked primarily for DC Comics, but continued work with other publishing companies. He also served as an editor, and in the 1960s worked on the Tales of the Green Beret. Kubert established The Kubert School for cartooning in 1976. He worked in comic books as well as newspaper strips throughout the 1980s, and in the 1990s began assisting his sons on their own comic strips.
Tales of the Green Beret (1965-1969) was adapted into a comic strip from the 1965 novel The Green Berets by Robin Moore. Moore’s story was published at a time when public opinion about the Vietnam War was still positive and real-life Green Berets were being celebrated in the media. The strip’s writing was credited to Robin Moore himself, although it was ghostwritten by Jerry Capp. After two years as the artist, Joe Kubert decided to leave the strip, which was eventually adapted for comic book format, but by that time public opinion about the war no longer supported the continuation of the story.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-08-28
graphic artist
Moore, Robin
Kubert, Joe
publisher
Tribune Printing Company
ID Number
GA.22469
catalog number
22469
accession number
277502

Ship Model, Santa Maria

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed a small fleet of three small ships west from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean, hoping to find a shorter route to the riches of Asia.
Description
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed a small fleet of three small ships west from Spain across the Atlantic Ocean, hoping to find a shorter route to the riches of Asia. Before his voyages, Chinese and Indian luxuries for European markets were transported over the long and hazardous overland route through Arabia.
The three-masted vessel Santa Maria was the largest of Columbus’s expeditionary vessels and his flagship. Measuring around 70 feet in length, it carried a crew of 40 men. The Santa Maria and Columbus’s other fleet members the Niña and the Pinta were older ships used for coastal trading rather than vessels designed for ocean crossings. Nine weeks after the little fleet left Spain, land was sighted in the Caribbean on 12 October 1492, but exactly which island Columbus’s crew first spotted remains disputed.
The fleet went on to explore the north coasts of the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola (now Haiti). On Christmas Day 1492, the Santa Maria ran aground on a reef off Hispaniola and was declared a total loss. The ship’s timbers were salvaged and used to build a small fort on shore. Fortunately for Columbus, he was able to return to Spain on the Niña.
Instead of Asia, Columbus had landed in the Caribbean islands on his first voyage. Although they were already inhabited, he claimed them for Spain. Columbus made three more voyages to the western hemisphere between 1493 and 1504.
Waves of conquerors and colonists—both free and enslaved—followed. What was a triumph for Spain became a catastrophe for native peoples. New livestock, plants, diseases, and beliefs unsettled centuries-old communities and ecosystems, changing and destroying the lives of millions.
This model was built at the Museo Maritimo de Barcelona, Spain, under the supervision of museum director Jose Maria Martinez-Hidalgo y Teran, who published a book on the Santa Maria in 1964.
Date made
1965
ID Number
TR.325800
catalog number
325800
accession number
260040

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