1916 Advertisement: Celebrated Cartoonists Keep In Good Humor by Smoking TUXEDO

This is a gorgeous jam ad of photos of cartoonists from the February 1916 issue of THE THEATRE Magazine. I believe, but am not quite sure, this may be the Evening Journal staff. The famous cartoonist roster includes a soon-to-be popular silent movie star who went from cartoonist to comedian. These giants of yesterday are:

Clare Briggs (1875 - 1930) created a dozens of strips, most famously "Mr. and Mrs."


Robert Carter (1875 - 1918) created a couple of early strips, drawing initially for Hearst's New York American paper. "Just Little Ones" and "Coffee and Sinkers" were two of his features. The Stripper's Guide has much more here.

The first cartooning job Hal Coffman (1883 - 1958) had was at the age of 15 for the San Francisco Post. He was paid $3 a week. He drew a series of then-well known depictions of the San Francisco earthquake. He continued cartooning, with better pay, and moved east. More here.

TAD Dorgan (1877 - 1929) was a cartoonist's cartoonist. He helped many cartoonists get their start, including Segar and Herriman and Walter Berndt, the Berndt Toast Gang's namesake. TAD had lost most of the fingers on his right hand in an accident and learned to draw with his left. A study in perseverance!


Bud Fisher (1885 - 1954), creator of "Mutt and Jeff," was the first cartoonist celebrity millionaire. He also owned his creation.


Rube Goldberg (1883 - 1970), a seminal name, was one of the guys who started the National Cartoonists Society. People who do not know who in the world Rube Goldberg was, know what a Goldberg kinda invention is.

Iowa-born Harry Hershfield (1885 - 1974) is best known for the Abie the Agent strip.

Walter Hoban (1890 - 1939) drew the popular "Jerry on the Job" strip, one of many office boy cartoons.

Maurice Ketten (AKA Prosper Fiorini, 1875 - 1965?) was originally born in Florence, Italy. Some samples of his strips here.

Winsor McCay (1869 - 1934), one of the giants. A prodigious illustrator who would in the next decade do thousands of drawings and break new ground in animation. The Norman Rockwell Museum has a page about him here. And there are, well, many, many more sites. Three's always some of his animation on YouTube.

One of my favorites, George McManus (1884 - 1954), creator of the long-running "Bringing Up Father." A gorgeous strip that's influenced Herge and Swarte.

Tom McNamara (1886 - 1964) is a guy who left cartooning to work in the then-young movie business. He authored some Our Gang shorts, and worked with Mary Pickford.

Charles M. Payne (1873 - 1964) drew "S'Matter Pop?" for 30 years.

Larry Semon (1889 - 1928) was a cartoonist in this photo -- but he left for Hollywood within a couple years , pursuing a career in the new Hollywood film industry. He became a then-popular, now-forgotten silent screen comedian.

Cliff Sterrett (1883 - 1964), a cartoonist who sometimes utilized Cubist and Expressionistic art techniques in his "Polly and Her Pals" strip, continues to be rediscovered. More here.

And there you have a roster of greats.

The TUXEDO ad copy giddily blusters:

"You know 'em all -- the great fun-makers of the daily press -- agile brained and nimble-witted -- creators of world-famed characters who put laughter into life! Such live, virile humans as they just naturally must have a live, virile pipe-smoke. And so they keep their good humor at the bubbling point by smoking -- TUXEDO, 'The Perfect Tobacco for Pipe and Cigarette.'"

Here's the whole ad (right-click to put it on its own page so you can see it nice and big):



-- Extensively updated from a 2006 blog entry. I provided a scan of this ad for a "Polly and Her Pals" book some years ago, but I cannot recall which collection it was. I knew I should have asked for a free copy!