From the Dick Buchanan Files: Favorite 50s Gag Cartoons 1950 - 1959

My friend Dick Buchanan has pulled some of his all-time favorite magazine gag cartoons for you today.  What can I say? He has very good taste. These are all from the post war "golden age" of single panel cartoons. As Dick notes, by the 1960s, a lot of magazines went out of business or cut back in general on their art.

Oh, take a moment to peek at some of his other terrific contributions by clicking a link below. There are a lot of gag cartoons to see!

Thanks and take it away, Dick ....

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FAVORITE FIFTIES GAG CARTOONS



1950 – 1959



Here are some cartoons from the 1950’s,from a few of the cartoonists who were regulars in the major magazines of that era. Some magazines began to fold in the fifties, most notably Liberty and Collier’s--it was the beginning of the end for many other magazines that failed to survive the 1960’s.



Return with us now to the 1950’s . . .



1. JOHN BAILEY. The Saturday Evening Post October 17, 1953.

 

2. CHON DAY. The Saturday Evening Post April 27, 1957.

3. PERRY BARLOW. Look Magazine December 13, 1953.

 

4. DON KOERNER. True Magazine June 1951.

5. GEORGE DAVIS. The Saturday Evening Post March 19, 1955.

6. JOHN ALBANO. The Saturday Evening Post April 27, 1957.

7. HANK KETCHAM. True Magazine June 1951.

8. RAY HELLE. The Saturday Evening Post February 11, 1950.

9. A.S. (Andy) HABBICK. Cavalier February 1958.

10. JOHN GALLAGHER. Collier’s March 4, 1955.

11. GAHAN WILSON. Collier’s August 3, 1956.

12. JOHN DEMPSEY. Look Magazine February 17, 1959.

13. HARRY LYONS. The Saturday Evening Post December 15, 1956.
 

14. NED HILTON. Collier’s December 2, 1950.

15. VIRGIL PARTCH. Collier’s February 11, 1950.  

More gag cartoons from the Dick Buchanan collection:



From the Dich Buchanan Files: Wordless, No-Caption Sight Gag Cartoons 1938 - 1970

Gag Cartoon Clichés Part 1
Gag Cartoon Clichés Part 2
Gag Cartoon Clichés Part 3
Gag Cartoon Clichés Part 4

Gag Cartoon Clichés Part 5

From the Dick Buchanan Files: William Steig Gag Cartoons 1946 - 1965

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Favorite Gag Cartoons 1947 - 1958

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Hank Ketcham Gag Cartoons 1944 – 1952

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Hank Ketcham Roughs

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Holiday and Winter Cartoons 1948 - 1960

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon Files: More Cops and Robbers Gag Cartoons 1947 - 1968

Dick Buchanan's Favorite Gag Cartoons 1946 - 1964

From the Dick Buchanan Files: More 1960s Cartoons from PUNCH

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Virgil Parch Part One; VIP in the 1940s

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Virgil Parch Part Two; VIP in the 1950s

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Even More Color Cartoons 1940 - 1956

From the Dick Buchanan Files: "Captions? Who Needs 'Em?" Wordless Gag Cartoons 1947 – 1970

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Orlando Busino Gag Cartoons 1956 - 1966

From the Dick Buchanan Files: CARTOONYFELLERS’ DIGEST, "a 1955 rag for cartoonists by cartoonists"

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Magazine Cartoons from Life and Judge 1931 - 38

From the Dick Buchanan Files: June 1953 Cartoonist's Market Newsletter

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: More Mid-Century Gag Cartoons 1946 - 1964

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: Color Gag Cartoons 1946 - 1956

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon Files: Cops and Robbers Gag Cartoons 1945 - 1968

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon Files: Gahan Wilson: Early Gag Cartoons 1954 - 1964

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: Inkyfellers' Gagzette

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: The Years of Al Ross - 1947 – 1968

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon Files: New Yorker Cartoonists Abroad 1966-1968

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: 1945 - 1962

From the Dick Buchanan Files: "How I Create Humor" from 1950s - 60s Gag Cartoon Insider Journal "The Information Guide"

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: 1950s Color Magazine Gag Cartoons

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: Funny Vintage Magazine Gag Cartoons 1946 - 1963

Dick Buchanan's Cartoon File: Wordless Gag Cartoons 1944-1964

1953 George Booth Drawings for American Legion Magazine

Dick Buchanan: Winter/Christmas/Holiday Gag Cartoons 1940s-60s

Dick Buchanan: Some PUNCH Magazine Cartoons 1948-1963

Dick Buchanan: Gag Cartoon Clip File 1946-64

Dick Buchanan: Gag Cartoon Clip File 1947-62

Dick Buchanan: Some Favorite Magazine Gag Cartoons 1940-60s

Dick Buchanan: Gag Cartoon Clip File 1931-64

 

-- This has been an edited version of an entry from March 15, 2018. 

Laugh Parade

 

Here are some gag cartoons from LAUGH PARADE, a 1945 hardcover book, copyright that same year by King Features Syndicate, Inc. Ward Greene edited the collection and it was published in New York by Grosset and Dunlap. 

 

From the Introduction, titled "About This Book:"

"There are fixed standards in this world for intelligence, moral and prowess in the pole vault; there are authorities on every subject under the sun from plumbing to art. But there is no sure answer, except the individual's, to the question, 'What is funny?' In this matter every man must be his own barometer." 

Here are some groaners, some sexist, some silly, some politically incorrect cartoons of their time. 

Mischa Richter:

Jaro Fabry:

Graham Hunter:

Gardner Rea:

George Wolfe:

Virgil Partch:

George Wolfe:

George Price:

Ali:

Gardner Rea:

George Reckas:

Gardner Rea:

Mischa Richter:

Ali:

Gardner Rea:

Jaro Fabry:

Leo Salkin:

George Shellhouse:

Garrett Price:

-- Originally blogged 4/10/23.

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Wheaties Gag Cartoonist Campaign 1944 - 1949

Here's something that's been unseen for a while: a massive, cartoonist-centric five-year ad campaign for the breakfast cereal Wheaties that was unique to one of the leading magazines of the day. My thanks to Dick Buchanan, who wrote the intro, as well as clipped the cartoons and scanned them. There are some real early gems here by the big names!

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WHEATIES
GAG CARTOONIST
CAMPAIGN
1944 – 1949


During the 1940’s General Mills launched an advertising campaign for Wheaties (“The Breakfast of Champions”) which featured cartoons drawn by the some of the leading gag cartoons the time. The cartoons featured here were clipped from the pages of Liberty magazine.


Debuting 1924, Liberty was one of the nation’s foremost weekly magazines. It featured fiction by the best writers of the era such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dashiell Hammett, Robert Benchley and Agatha Christie. It also published contributions by influential world figures ranging from Mahatma Gandhi to Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Its cartoon roster was also top flight, including many early cartoons by Virgil Partch and Hank Ketcham. Liberty became a monthly in 1948 and ceased publishing in 1950, a precursor of things to come for major magazines.


Here are a few examples of the cartoons that were a part of this extraordinary advertising campaign.

1. VIRGIL PARTCH. Liberty September 2, 1944.

2. VIRGIL PARTCH. Liberty February 10, 1945.

3. ROLAND COE. Liberty December 21, 1946.

4. DAVE GERARD. Liberty January 12, 1946.

5. REAMER KELLER. Liberty May 4, 1946.

6. JEFFERSON MACHAMER. Liberty May 18, 1946.

7. DAVE GERARD. Liberty July 6, 1946.

8. GEORGE LICHTY. Liberty May 25, 1946.

9. JEFFERSON MACHAMER. Liberty July 13, 1946.

10. VIRGIL PARTCH. Liberty August 10, 1946.

11. REAMER KELLER. Liberty March 1, 1947.

12. ROLAND COE. Liberty June, 1949.

13. IRWIN CAPLAN. Liberty April, 1949.

14. DON TOBIN. Liberty September, 1949.

15. IRWIN CAPLAN. Liberty March, 1949.
 

- Originally published October 18, 2018.