The Fabuleous Fifties

Celebrating A Perfect Day

Saturday Leftover Day.

Last Thursday was my 53rd birthday. To celebrate it, I have been collecting as many newspaper strip and panel features from that date (a Sunday) as possible. It was more work than I thought. First of all, I didn't get as many color samples as I would have liked. I have two or three complete sections for that date in my study, but I didn't get around to digging them out and scanning them. As soon as I do, I will replace the black and white samples here. I also know there must be more strips out there. Some small ones, in obsure papers. But I am also missing some obvious bigger ones. I couldn't find the Sagendorg Popeye strip for this date, for example. Anything that turns up, will be added at a later date. Whenever I had a three tier version that was in worse shape than the two tier one, I added both. Maybe someday, this will turn into a complete full color three tier selection of all strips for Sunday March 15, 1959.

Consider this a start.

B.C.


Beetle Bailey


Hi and Lois


Miss Peach


Peanuts


Tillie the Toiler. Famous longrunning strip started by Russ Westover and continued by later Mort Walker associate Bob Gustavson. John W Kennedy notes that this was in fact the last episode of this strip.


Tom Trick. I love these game panels, of which there were several over the years.


Cappy Dick


Uncle Remus


They Do It Every Time


There Ougtha Be A Law


The Nebbishes. A very weird and quirky strip by the later famous play and film writer. One of these days I should do a run of these.


The Comic Zoo


Stees Sees. One of many themed gag panels.


Our Boarding House


On the Record. A perennial gag panel, which seems to have more succes than it deserves.


Cartoon by Harry Mace from the Sunday section This Week.


Louie, possibly the best silent strip ever. Not the weirdest, but the most consequently funniest.


Life's Like That. Another not so funny gag panel series.


Jack's Diary. Jack Mendelsohn tour the force cartoon series.


Grin and Bear It. Not my cup of tea, but funnier than most of these panels.


Fanfare. An oddball sports series does a Sunday version as well.


Cartoon by Claude from another Sunday section.


Channel Chuckles. In my eye the best thing Bill Keane ever did.


Cartoons by Boltinoff from American Weekly, another syndicated section.


Carnival. Another ho-hum cartoon series.


Around Home. A recent article on this feature in Hogan's Alley was very interesting, but sort of skipped over the the later years.


Scamp, never as funny as it seemed, but certainly charming.


Rivets


Pogo. I love Pogo as much for it's gags and storylines as the terrific art, but the silent Sundays may be the the best. I am honored there was one on my birthday.


Mickey Mouse. Another strip that was so common for so many years that there never has been a collection. I wish someobe would give these later years the same attention the thirsties and forties get.


Donald Duck


Cicero Cat. Mutt and Jeff's cat became a force of it's own.


Ceasar





Smokey Stover. More screwball madness.




























Lolly


Dennis the Menace. I love Hank Ketcham's work and so I have resisted looking at the Sunday page, which was neither written nor drawn by him. Maybe I should have another look and do a piece o them, though.








Moon Mullins


Mostly Malarky




The Teenie Weenies. Before Walter Scott drew The Little People, he did a cartoon panel in the thirties about a group of small people doing all sorts of stuff together. How this relates to the Teenie Weenies I don't know, but tne again - I never bothered to aactually read one.







Little Orphan Annie


Smilin' Jack. Another one of those Chicago style adventure strips.






Gasoline Alley. A strip that outlived it's welcome for over a decade before being reborn to absolute brilliance.







Colgate Ad



Closer Than We Think. This is the weirdest strip ever. It came over all serieus, with actual advisors and such, but I always imagine the artist silently giggling when he drew it. If have seen over three years of these 'predictions' and not one of them ever actually came true.



Dondi. In color it is even more impressive.


Winnie Winkle. Did you know the thirties incarnation pf this strip actually formed the basis of one of Holland's most succesful strips, taking Winnie's nephew Perry as a starting point? And there was a shortlived French version as well, all due to the war and the fact that orignal material was harder to come by.



Jed Cooper. Never a big hit, but solidly drawn.


Old Glory was a lot like Jed Cooper and it was drawn by Rick Fletcher instead of Dick Fletcher. I am never sure which one of the two went on to work with on Dick Tracy, but you can look it up.




Terry and the Pirates. Too much the same for over thirty years to become the classic it may actually deserve to be.






On Stage. I know it's been reprinted and reprinted well, but these were made to be seen in color.
























Kevin the Bold. The two and three tier are totally different.