Franklin Folger (1919-1977) was born, lived and worked in Cincinnati, Ohio. Except for five year stint in the US Army beginning in 1942, he was a mainstay, devoting his time to the Cincinnati Art Academy, where he initially went to school after graduating Withrow High School. He studied commercial art, painting and cartooning. Cartooning won out. His comic panel THE GIRLS originally appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer, and then was syndicated nationally by the Sun-Times—Daily News Syndicate (later, Field Syndicate).
THE GIRLS were well-to-do, active middle aged women of an upper middle class background. It's solidly in the tradition of Helen Hokinson's women. These are ladies who lunch, ladies who form committees, ladies who put on amateur theatricals and so on.
According to the Branches and Rain blog, there were seven collection of THE GIRLS published by Doubleday in the 1960s. Here are a handful of cartoons from what I believe is the first collection.
My sincere thanks to Randy Michaels who found this book, with its first 16 pages ripped out, at a recycle center in Rangeley, Maine last month. He figured I would like it and he figured right! Thanks, Randy! I am guessing it's copyright Field Enterprises or Mr. Folger.
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3 comments:
I remember some of these!! My Nanny was a member of a Women's Club that played bridge and hosted luncheons all the time. She had these somewhere at her house but I instantly recognized the drawings/characters. (Loved the info booth one and the traffic court comment)
Thanks for the memories! So often I remember this cartoon from my childhood days when I lived in Cincinnati. Now that I'm a senior I often want to reminisce with my girlfriends but they have no clue who The Girls were. So thanks for bringing memories to life. Is there any of the their other cartoons available for free or to purchase in book form or online?
Hi Mike! Thanks for Posting this info on Franklin Folger. My Grandmother, Mildred Miller, was a writer for the Cincinnati Enquirer and Franklin's business manager. His original cartoons may have ceased in 1977 after a heart attack, but I can tell you in the first person that he lived another 30 years until November 3, 2007.
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