Family & Social Life

Donations to the Museum have preserved irreplaceable evidence about generations of ordinary Americans. Objects from the Copp household of Stonington, Connecticut, include many items used by a single family from 1740 to 1850. Other donations have brought treasured family artifacts from jewelry to prom gowns. These gifts and many others are all part of the Museum's family and social life collections.

Children's books and Sunday school lessons, tea sets and family portraits also mark the connections between members of a family and between families and the larger society. Prints, advertisements, and artifacts offer nostalgic or idealized images of family life and society in times past. And the collections include a few modern conveniences that have had profound effects on American families and social life, such as televisions, video games, and personal computers.

This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the Gordo newspaper comic strip shows Gordo’s nephew ruining the gifts Gordo is bringing his date by trying to explain them scientifically.Gustavo "Gus" Arriola (1917-2008) was a Mexican American comic artist and animator.
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the Gordo newspaper comic strip shows Gordo’s nephew ruining the gifts Gordo is bringing his date by trying to explain them scientifically.
Gustavo "Gus" Arriola (1917-2008) was a Mexican American comic artist and animator. He was born in Arizona, and raised by his older sister in a Spanish-speaking home. His first jobs included preparing animation art for Screen Gems and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Arriola's strip, which debuted in 1941, promoted a better understanding of Mexican culture and environmental concerns. The strip was suspended during World War II until 1943, when Arriola began drawing again from his military station. He remained the sole artist and writer on the strip for its entire run.
Gordo (1941-1985) was a strip about a Mexican dirt farmer, drawn with stereotyped attributes. After complaints from his public about his style and message Arriola altered the character to offer a more realistic representation. The strip’s subject was presented as a continuous narrative with daily gags. In later years it included features about Aztec and Mexican history and culture, as well as political and environmental commentary.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1966-08-21
graphic artist
Arriola, Gus
publisher
United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
author
Lizer, Anna
ID Number
GA.22445
catalog number
22445
accession number
277502
Stereo view by H. A. Doerr of a group portrait of four figures standing in a doorway to a building. Two of the figures are women and the other two are adolescent children, a boy and a girl. Handwritten in pencil on verso: "Mex. Family" Stamped on verso: "H. A.
Description (Brief)
Stereo view by H. A. Doerr of a group portrait of four figures standing in a doorway to a building. Two of the figures are women and the other two are adolescent children, a boy and a girl. Handwritten in pencil on verso: "Mex. Family" Stamped on verso: "H. A. Doerr, / Photographer. / San Antonio, Tex." and "NIC. TENGG, / Books / Stationery / & Newspapers. / San Antonio, Texas." (partially worn away)
Location
Currently not on view
maker
Doerr, Henry A.
ID Number
2012.3033.0024
catalog number
2012.3033.0024
nonaccession number
2012.3033
"Gordo", created and drawn by Gustavo "Gus" Arriola (1917-2008), ran from 1941 to 1985, distributed by United Feature Syndicate.
Description
"Gordo", created and drawn by Gustavo "Gus" Arriola (1917-2008), ran from 1941 to 1985, distributed by United Feature Syndicate. The strip followed the life of Mexican bean farmer Perfecto Salazar "Gordo" Lopez, who lost his lease on his land and had to travel throughout Mexico as a tour guide. The artist used the tours as a vehicle to introduce Mexico and its people to the wider world. Arriola often used a comic penname for Sunday comic strips, often a phonetic pun of a recognizable word or phrase, i.e., "Anne Teak" (Antique). In this strip, a drunken New Year's celebration causes Juanito to pass out.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
8/27/1966
graphic artist
Arriola, Gus
publisher
United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
ID Number
GA.22559
catalog number
22559
accession number
277502

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