A Plinth Of Sundays

Sunday Surprise Day. If I was ever able to work with of even from the Billy Ireland Museum at Ohio State University, I would take advantage of their huge collection of The New York Herald Tribune to write the definitive series of posts (or even a book) about their syndicate and their unusual appraoch to fillers. They are seen as a failed syndicate, because many of the strips they launched did not reach the broader audience. But If I had lived in New York between 1945 and 1955 their comics page would have been the first thing I looked for every morning. Not only did they have an outstanding roster of talent in various strips, they also bought a huge selection of one tier filler strips for their Sunday paper. Some made it into a regular strip, such as Irv Spector's Coogy and Gill Fox's Jeanie. Jeanie even went daily for a while. Some reached fame among connaisseurs and collectors, such as Harvey Kurtzman's Silver Linings. But there were many, many more. Here are a few I came across, when finally sold my Sundays on Ebay this year.