The Fabuleous Fifties

In the last couple of months I have shown some of the impressive works of Gill Fox. Today I came across one ad he did for Johnstone and Cushing in 1951 I had kept back and I am showcasing it now.

From Jan 20 1951:


The reason I kept it back was, because it presents a new problem in determining the artists of these ads. As I have said many times before, I can't tell where Gill Fox ends and where Dik Browne starts in these early fifties ads. Even though this cough drop ad is signed, it adds another wrinkle to the problem. A couple of weeks after this ad, there is another one in exactly the same style. This one is signed too. But this time it isn't Fox's name that's on the tittle panel, it's Bill Williams!

Feb 16, 1952:


They look the same to me! Was Bill Wiliams another artist at Johnstone and Cushing working in the same styl;e. If so, I'd rather not know. Bill Williams is best known among collectors for his work in the early sixties with the Little Lulu comic book writer and artist John Stanley on two short lived titles called Dunc & Loo and Kookie. Their styles mixed very well. Stanley drew his scripts rather than typing them and he added a whole level of energy to Williams' otherwise dull work. I know Williams mostly from his long running boy scout series in the Boy Scout Monthly Boy's Life, that was produced by Johnstone and Cushing and also featured Dik Brown's much more interesting Tracey Twins.

An early signed Pee Wee from Dec 1953:


November 1958: