From the Dick Buchanan Files: Stan and Jan Berenstain's Gag Cartoon Panel "Sister"

The University of the Arts in Philadelphia suddenly closed on Friday, June 7th. 

 

"The school officially closed Friday, as hundreds of staff members were laid off and more than a thousand students were left without a place to earn a degree. The school's closure was announced just a week prior to its shuttering, which set off outcries and protests in the days that followed." - The Philly Voice

 The Daily Cartoonist has more links here.

Stan and Jan Berenstain met as art students there in the 1940s. Their career in cartooning, before their kids' books -- before The Berenstain Bears series -- was long and varied and, unfortunately, pretty much unknown. 

Last time, we looked at the gag cartoons that they created, and today we have their "Sister" series of cartoons. Like "Little Lulu" and "Hazel" before it, "Sister" was a regular magazine cartoon feature that appealed to a middle class audience. "Sister," however, did not go the newspaper syndication route or see life in comic books. Dick Buchanan has clipped twenty of this 1950s family gag feature and presents them now. Thanks and take it away, Dick!

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BERENSTAIN GAG PANEL: SISTER

(1950 – 1952)
 

Stan and Jan Berenstain’s gag cartoons were in great demand by the editors of Collier’s and The Saturday Evening Post and other national weekly magazines which were aimed at a family audience.  Their cartoons dealt with young families and children and they hit the spot with readers. 

In 1950 Collier’s cartoon editor Gurney Williams gave them the opportunity to publish a regular gag panel cartoon and their contribution was Sister.  Sister was a high-spirited young girl whose misadventures were always amusing and she became of popular Collier’s feature for several years.  

Here, for the first time in a long time, are some examples of this series . . . Take a look!

1. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  March 11, 1950.

 

2. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  April 22, 1950. 

 

3. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  June 10, 1950.

 

4. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  October 21, 1950.

 

5. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  October 28, 1950.

 

6. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  November 18, 1950.

 

7. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  December 9, 1950.

 

8. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  December 16, 1950.

 

9.  JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  December 23, 1950.

 

10. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  February 17, 1951.

 

11. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  May 26, 1951.

 

12. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  July 21, 1951.

 

13. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  November 24, 1951.

 

14. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  December 29, 1951.

 

15. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  February  2, 1952.

 

16. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  March 1, 1952.

 

17. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  April 5, 1952.

 

18. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  April 19, 1952.

 

19. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  August 2, 1952.

 

20. JAN and STAN BERENSTAIN.  Collier’s  August 9, 1952.

 

- Edited from a May 5, 2021 blog entry.