Comic Strips by Ludwig Bemelmans

Ludwig Bemelmans is now known for his MADELINE series of kids' books. That's a good thing. They are good books. But he wrote and illustrated many books and had gallery shows and wrote and drew articles.

(Above: Bemelmans' studio in 1922, drawn by himself.)

Here are a few visuals I nicked from the terrific bio BEMELMANS: THE LIFE AND ART OF MADELINE'S CREATOR. It was written by his grandson, John Bemelmans Marchiano, with much insight and many, many drawings and paintings by his grandfather. It's copyright Mr. Marciano and published by Viking Press in 1999.

Born in Austria, his home was at his father's hotel in Gmunden. All was quiet until he was six years old. His father suddenly ran off with another woman. Ludwig and his pregnant mother left for Regensberg, Germany. His mother "held me close and wept almost the entire journey from Gmunden to Regensberg."

Ludwig grew up in Germany. He did not fit in. He only spoke French at first. After failing the same grade over and over, he was sent to boarding school. He was not a good student, but the Rothenberg boarding school tended to pass all of their paying students. The family then tried to get him to learn the hotel business from his uncle. Ludwig went, and "showed little promise." He was sent to several of the uncle's hotels, but each time it was the same. Ludwig Bemelmans was not able to do the job. The family gave him an ultimatum: either go into a correctional institution to go to America.

Christmas Eve 1914 he arrived in NYC. He eventually found a home at the Ritz-Carlton. After a two years in the US Army during the Great War, he worked his way up to assistant manager.

Here's John Bemelmans Marchiano:

"During his years at the Ritz, Bemelmans' desire to draw intensified, and the hotel provided many excellent models—kitchen workers and waiters, as well as clientele. Bemelmans dreamed of becoming a cartoonist, a career that he thought would allow him to draw and also earn a good living.

An esteemed guest, who lived at the hotel, was a famous cartoonist. He was known for his generosity in tipping and for never looking at a bill. The entire staff from the maîtres d'hôtel to the chambermaids considered him a "gentleman par excellence." Spurred on by a waiter with whom I worked as a bus boy, I decided to become a cartoonist. By 1926, after years of work and countless disappointments, it seemed as if I had achieved my goal. I sat up in the cupola of the old World building with a group of funnymen: Webster, Milt Gross, Ernie Bushmiller, and Haenigsen. Walter Berndt, who drew "Smitty" in the Daily News, helped me a great deal. There was constant laughter in that cupola.

Unfortunately, there were so many complaints about my strip, which was called "Count Bric a Brac," that after six months, during which no syndicate had picked it up, I was fired. It was a bitter time, for I had to go back to the Ritz; and the old cashiers and the maîtres d'hôtel said, "Ah, Monsieur Bemelmans, who felt himself too good for this dirty trade, is back again. Tiens, tiens [Well, well]."

The comic strips, COUNT BRIC-A-BRAC, which ran a full page in magazine section of the New York World in 1926, and SILLY WILLY, which also ran for a year in Young America magazine, were not successes. He did do advertising work and sold gag cartoons to, among others, the Saturday Evening Post. MADELINE would come along a little later. 

If you are at all interested in Bemelmans' life and art, I recommend this book highly. 

-- Edited from a blog entry of January 27, 2016.

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Syd Hoff 1936 - 1958

Syd Hoff is one cartoonist who may always be in print thanks to his late-in-life transformation from magazine cartoonist to children's book author. I like his people. He drew them the same in magazines, like The New Yorker, as well as in his children's book illustrations: stout and doughy, with walrus mustaches for the men -- and everyone occasionally had prominent eyelashes.

Here is a marvelous retrospective of nearly 20 years of Syd Hoff's gag cartoon output, from 1936 to 1958 (the year he wrote Danny and the Dinosaur, his best-selling kids' book). Thanks to Dick Buchanan for curating this online gallery of Mr. Hoff's work. Thanks and take it away, Dick

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SYD HOFF GAG CARTOONS

1936 – 1958


    Syd Hoff was one of the New Yorker’s premiere cartoonists. He was also gifted writer and that rare cartoonist who was recognized as a humorist.

    Hoff made his first sale to the New Yorker in 1931, a spot drawing that was quickly followed the first of many gag cartoons.  Editor Harold Ross instantly loved Hoff’s humorous depictions of the every day lives of the Jewish immigrants who populated the tenements of the Bronx. His style, simple shapes and wonderful bold brush strokes, made Hoff’s cartoons a fixture in The New Yorker for 4 ½ decades. 571 of his cartoons appeared in the New Yorker and countless more appeared in Esquire, Collier’s, The Saturday Evening Post, Look and other leading magazines.

    Like other leading New Yorker cartoonists of his era, Hoff was in demand by Madison Avenue. Over the years he illustrated advertisements for numerous products from Jell-O to Jeeps. His cartoons sold Eveready batteries, Ralston cereals, S.O.S. cleansing pads and many other products.

    Today Syd Hoff is best known as the author and illustrator of many books for children. He was one of the first New Yorker cartoonists to venture into children’s literature field. His first book, Danny and the Dinosaur, was published in 1958.  Enormously popular, it has been published in a dozen different languages and has sold well over 10 million copies.

    Danny and the Dinosaur was followed by many memorable books--Julius, Sammy the Seal, Baseball Mouse and The Horse in Harry’s Room among others. His wonderful books comprise a lasting contribution to the field of children’s literature.

    A curious note: Although Collier’s credited his work correctly as Sydney Hoff in the 1930’s, in the 1940’s and beyond they persisted in crediting his drawings to Sidney Hoff. Presumably, there was no confusion in the bookkeeping department.
  
The Cartoon Clip is happy to share a few of Syd Hoff’s great gag cartoons.

1.  Collier’s November 11, 1936.

2.  Collier’s January 8, 1938.

3.  Collier’s   January 7, 1939.

4.  The Saturday Evening Post   June 2, 1945.

5.  Collier’s   February 16, 1946.

6.  Collier’s   November 29, 1947.

7.  American Legion Magazine   August 1947.

8.  True Magazine  July 1947.
 

9.  Collier’s July 17, 1948.

10.  Collier’s   September 18, 1948.

11.  True Magazine   July 1949.

12.  Collier’s   October 21, 1950.

13. Collier’s October 13, 1951.
 

14.  Collier’s   April 26, 1952.  

15.  Ballyhoo   Fall, 1953.

"It looks so simple when you see it on TV."

16.  Look Magazine February 18, 1958.   

Kickstarter: Less Than Two Weeks to Go

Maine! Lobsters! Cartoons!

Thanks for your support for the LOBSTER THERAPY cartoon book. Less than two weeks to go for our Kickstarter. Take a look. Autographed books, sketches, original cartoons, more!

LOBSTER THERAPY Kickstarter Countdown: 15 Days

We have a week and a day left in our Kickstarter campaign for the LOBSTER THERAPY book of Maine cartoons.

As of now, you can get a new copy from Amazon for the cover price $16.95. No Amazon discount. But for $8 more, you can get it thru our Kickstarter -- SIGNED! And your $ will be helping cartoonists directly. It will help us get to BookExpo and do the conventions this summer.
Please consider clicking on the link. Thanks.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed! Some great cartoons from the book are here for your enjoyment by David Jacobson, Jay Klossner, the great Bill Woodman and the one and only Jeff Pert.


David Jacobson:

Jeff Pert:

Bill Woodman:

John Klossner:

 Mike Lynch:

From the Dick Buchanan Files: Gag Cartoons of the 1930s

Dick Buchanan has delved into his personal collection of magazine cartoons to come up with an exclusive look at the great cartoonists of the 1930s. There are many familiar names here: Dr. Seuss, 
Charles Addams, Marge, Jack Cole, Chon Day and others. What's of interest here is that there are certain cartoonists who were best known for other work, and here they are drawing gag cartoons. It comes as a surprise to see them, selling single panel cartoons to the old Life magazine or Judge. Cartoonists like Jack Cole who may be best known for his Plastic Man comic book or the Playboy cartoons he would create 20 years later. Or Dr. Seuss, who is best known for his children's books.

Thanks, Dick, for putting this together. Some amazing stuff here! Take it away:

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GAG CARTOONS OF THE 1930’s 





1930 - 1939 





The 1930’s were tumultuous times, beginning with Prohibition, Repeal, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the Dust Bowl and the beginning of World War II. But it was also an important time in the development of the gag cartoon as we know it today. 



From the 1800’s until the late 1920’s most cartoons contained a title above the cartoon and captions noting the identity of the speakers. Captions were divided into two lines -- one for the setup, with the second line delivering the humor. Most cartoons in those days were masterfully executed illustrated jokes. 



Although there were a few single caption cartoons in the early days, it was their appearance The New Yorker in 1925 changed everything. They took the lead in creating the format of the “modern” cartoon. By the end of the 1930’s the single panel cartoon had evolved into gag cartoon as we know it today. 



The 1930’s also saw the debut of the many great cartoonists who were to dominate cartoon world for many decades. Several have been included in this collection. Some had hit their stride style-wise while others were yet to develop their familiar styles. 

This was the age when cartoonists worked with brush, ink and ink wash over graphite under writing on thick ¼” illustration board. 

Here from the dusty shelves of the Clip File Library are some examples of cartoons as they were long, long ago. 










This spectacular Life cover by Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) was one of his best. In addition, it contains the germ of an idea that well may have inspired my childhood favorite book, Horton Hatches the Egg. Life May 1934. 






1. GARDNER REA. Judge October 11, 1930.

"At that, sir, you hadn't oughta trumped her ace."

 



2. BILL HOLMAN. King of the screwball cartoonists, Holman’s Smokey Stover would debut in 1935. The New Yorker’s George Booth inserts a dog in many of his great cartoons. Holman also used this device with a mischievous cat appearing in many of his cartoons. This cat, later known as Spooky, earned his own comic strip. Life September 11, 1931.

 "Good Lord! That d--n cat again!"





3. GLUYAS WILLIAMS. One of the foremost cartoonists and illustrators, Williams' work was a fixture in the early New Yorker. He illustrated many of Robert Benchley’s hilarious books. Life September 11,1931.





4. ERNIE BUSHMILLER. Although his comic strip Fritzi Ritz had been running since 1922 (Larry Whittington  was the creator; Bushmiller took it over three years later), occasionally his work appeared in Judge. Nancy first appeared as Fritzi’s niece in 1933. The strip was retitled Nancy in 1938. Judge June 1932. 





5. GEORGE LICHTY. Lichty was best known for the long running panel cartoon Grin and Bear It. Life August 1933.

"Thash funny -- I got 'et in reverse an' we're goin' sideways!"

6. WHITNEY DARROW, Jr. Darrow’s familiar style was in it’s formative stage. Judge June 1934.





7. CHON DAY. Judge June 1934. 

 



8. RICHARD DECKER. Superb drawing by Decker, as always. Life March 1935. 





8. NED HILTON. Another New Yorker favorite for decades, Hilton often had several drawings in each issue. Life March 1935. 





"Abercrombie and Fitch are wondering about their little bill."

9. MARGE. Marjorie Henderson Buell creator Little Lulu began as a gag cartoonist. Life March 1935. 





10. MARGE. Little Lulu replaced Henry as the featured panel on the last pages of the magazine, the spot would later be occupied by Ted Key’s Hazel. The Saturday Evening Post February 5, 1938. 





11. GEORGE SHELLHASE. Life August 1935. 





12. DOROTHY McKAY. Life August 1935 



 

13. CHARLES ADDAMS. Addams rarely strayed from the pages of The New Yorker, but drawings appeared occasionally in True and Collier’s in the 1930’s and ‘40’s. Collier’s January 15,1938. 





15. JACK COLE. Cole struggled as a freelance cartoonist but struck gold when he created the memorable comic book hero Plastic Man. Judge, July 1938. 





 16. LEONARD DOVE. Collier’s January 15, 1938. 





17. SYD HOFF. Judge, 1938.





18. OTTO SOGLOW. Collier’s January 8, 1938. 





19. WILLIAM STEIG. Steig was a favorite of Cartoon Editor Gurney Williams and often appeared both Collier’s and later Look. Collier’s January 7, 1939.