Mike Lynch Cartoons: From the Dick Buchanan Files: Robert Day Gag Cartoons 1934

Robert Day (1900 - 1985) was a mainstay freelancer during the Golden Age of Gag Cartoons. His cartoons were everywhere. Prolific, and in every major national magazine, his career spanned over sixty years. Dick Buchanan has generously spent his time and effort in unearthing twenty of his many single panel cartoons. Most of these have been unseen since their original publication. Thanks for shining the spotlight on the great Mr. Day, and take it away, Dick!

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ROBERT DAY
(Gag Cartoons 1934 – 1964)

Robert Day was one of the most prolific freelance gag cartoonists of the mid-20th century. His cartoons appeared in most of the leading magazines of the day, including Life, Collier’s, The Saturday Evening Post, Look Magazine and, most memorably, The New Yorker. In a career that spanned 45 years, The New Yorker published 1,800 of his drawings, as well as 8 covers. It seemed as if one of his cartoons was in almost every issue.

Robert Day was a native of San Bernardino, California. When the 1919 flu epidemic postponed his high school graduation he enrolled at the Otis Art Institute. While on his way to school one day he dropped into the Los Angeles Times and got a job in the art department. He remained with the Times, while studying at Otis, from 1919 to 1927. He moved to New York City in 1930 and, while on the staff of The New York Herald Tribune, he became a freelance cartoonist. His first New Yorker drawing was published in 1931.

Day was also an illustrator, best remembered for his color illustrations for Fun Fare; A Treasury of Reader’s Digest Wit and Humor, published in 1949 in collaboration with Bob Hope. The book remained a Best Seller for 3 years. He also illustrated Arthur Godfrey's Stories I Like to Tell and Leo Rosten's Rome Wasn't Burned in a Day. A collection of his New Yorker cartoons, All Out for the Sack Race, was published by Random House in 1945.

1. ROBERT DAY. Life Magazine July, 1934.