Camera-ready comic art drawing for Mutt & Jeff

Camera-ready comic art drawing for Mutt & Jeff

Usage conditions apply
Downloads
Description (Brief)
This pen-and-ink drawing produced for the Mutt & Jeff comic strip shows Mutt asking why there was a fish in his drink.
Al Smith (1902-1986) as a young adult worked in the syndication department for the New York World. After 1932 Mutt & Jeff creator Bud Fisher handed over the strip to Smith, who did not begin signing the strip with his own name until Fisher’s death in 1954. Smith drew the strip until 1980. During his career Smith also wrote other strips, but none as memorable as Mutt & Jeff.
Mutt & Jeff (1907-1983) was originally titled A(ugustus). Mutt, for a character who had previously appeared in creator Bud Fisher’s sports cartoons. In 1908 the character Mutt met Jeff in a behavioral health facility and their pairing proved to be a comedic hit. The characters Mutt and Jeff were written as lovable and simpleminded with a shared gambling problem, regularly shown at the horse races. Mutt & Jeff began to be included in the comic books in the 1930s.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
drawing
Object Type
Drawings
date made
1966-07-04
graphic artist
Fisher, Bud
Smith, Al
publisher
Bell-McClure Syndicate
Physical Description
paper (overall material)
ink (overall color)
Measurements
overall: 15.4 cm x 45.4 cm; 6 1/16 in x 17 7/8 in
ID Number
GA.22461
accession number
277502
catalog number
22461
Credit Line
Newspaper Comics Council, Inc., New York, NY
subject
Humor
Popular Culture
See more items in
Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
Popular Entertainment
Cultures & Communities
Comic Art
Communications
Art
Data Source
National Museum of American History
Nominate this object for photography.   

Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.

If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.

Note: Comment submission is temporarily unavailable while we make improvements to the site. We apologize for the interruption. If you have a question relating to the museum's collections, please first check our Collections FAQ. If you require a personal response, please use our Contact page.