Wednesday, August 07, 2024
Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Jefferson Machamer
1928
Thomas Jefferson Machamer was born on July 5, 1898, in Holdredge, Nebraska, according to his World War I and II draft cards. The 1900 United States census recorded the same month and year. His birth year was in error on a 1931 passenger list (1889), the Social Security Death Index (1900) and California Death Index (1901).
In 1900, Machamer was third son of Daniel and Lillie. The family resided in Holdrege, Nebraska. His father was a printer.
1910 census counted the Machmers, which included a daughter, in Fairbury, Nebraska at 203 West 4th Street.
According to the 1915 Kansas state census, the Machamer family of five lived in Belleville.
On September 7, 1918, Machamer signed his World War I draft card. He was a cartoonist at the Kansas City Star. Machamer’s description was medium height and build with gray eyes and dark hair.
The 1920 census said Machamer was an artist, a self-employed painter. He was one of four people staying at 125 East 34th Street in Manhattan, New York City.
From 1921 to 1922, Machamer was a regular contributor to the New York Tribune. The Metropolitan Newspaper Service hired Machamer to illustrate stories.
Machamer produced several comics series including covers, panels and strips. American Newspaper Comics (2012) said East Side, West Side, All Around the Town was a weekly panel, from December 25, 1921 to August 5, 1923, from the New York Tribune. King Features Syndicate’s Petting Patty ran from April 16, 1928 to October 5, 1930. Its topper, Past Performances, appeared in January 1929 to 1930. Adventures of Patty was a Sunday strip from September 30 to November 11, 1928. Newspaper Feature Service syndicated Winky’s Week-ends from July 26 to September 27, 1931. Machamer drew Gags and Gals beginning in 1932 to December 27, 1936 and February 14, 1937 to February 6, 1938. James Trembath contributed from January 3, to February 7, 1937. The toppers were Bubbling Bill, and Simple Sylvia. Nifties was produced in 1937 for the McNaught Syndicate. From the same syndicate was Hollywood Husband, from January 29 to October 27, 1940. Machamer was one of many artist who did Wheaties cereal cartoon panels from 1944 to 1946. Machamer did the daily panel, Today’s Laugh, from September 6, 1947 to 1960, for the Chicago Tribune-New York Daily News Syndicate.
Machamer illustrated many covers for Judge and College Humor magazines.
According to the New York Evening Journal, April 12, 1928, Machamer married Grayce Mack in 1922. In April 1928, she left him to marry eighteen-year-old Edward Tarrant of San Antonio, Texas. Machamer consented to the divorce but wanted their dog back. The New York Evening Journal, April 8, 1929, said the couple reunited and married in Port Chester, New York (April 4, 1929, New York State Marriage Index). Years later, they divorced again.
In the 1930 census, Machamer, his wife, sister-in-law and a servant were in Sands Point, Nassau County, New York on Barkers Point Road.
On January 26, 1931, Machamer, aboard the ship Governor Cobb, arrived at Key West, Florida. The purpose of the trip is not known.
Machamer was an avid and competitive golfer who participated in the Artists and Writers tournaments.
Machamer and Pauline Moore’s marriage was reported in the Harrisburg Sunday Courier (Pennsylvania), May 24, 1936.
Miss Pauline Moore Marries N. Y. ArtistMiss Pauline Love Moore, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. J. Moore, became the bride of Jefferson Machamer, New York artist, this week at the Methodist Church at Westminster, in the presence of the immediate families.The pair left after the ceremony for a trip through the West, and after October they will reside in New York. Mrs. Machamer is a graduate of the William Penn High School and has played in a number of New York theatrical productions. Recently she has been posing for magazine covers. Her husband contributes comic strips to magazines and newspapers.
In the second half of the 1930s Machamer wrote and appeared in several short films produced by Educational Pictures.
Machamer moved to California. He was listed in the 1938 Beverly Hills, California city directory at 143 1/2 South Beverly Drive.
The 1940 census counted him, his wife and two daughters (one born in Maryland, the other in California) in Los Angeles at 2203 Camden Avenue. Machamer had two years of college.
The Greensboro Daily News (North Carolina), November 9, 1941, reported Machamer’s wife, Pauline, and daughters’ visit. Pauline attended public schools in Greensboro where some of her relatives reside. Machamer joined them later. The Greensboro Record, August 13, 1942, reported the canteen set up by the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union.
... Posters for the canteens are being made and donated by Jefferson Machamer, well-known cartoonist, who is now living on the Huffine Mill road.
On February 16, 1942, Machamer signed his World War II draft card. His address was Route #5, Greensboro, Guilford, North Carolina. His description was five feet eleven-and-a-half inches, 175 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair.
Collier’s, December 11, 1943, said
Jefferson Machamer says too many people ask: “How do you ever get ideas for cartoons?” (Ideas like the one on page 50.) And he gives an answer. He says: “Well, an idea might bloom this way: Business demands me in Washington, D. C., for a few days and I ask my wife to help pack a bag.“ ‘A bag?’ she stonies. ‘You’d better put a couple of windows in our steamer trunk and let me makeup a bed in it and-’“ ‘Quiet!’ I yell, race for the drawing board and rough out a businessman starting for Washington with a combination trailer trunk. Which bears out advice Clare Briggs once gave me. ‘Listen to or watch anyone in the world for ten minutes, and they’ll say or do something funny enough to draw!’ ”Machamer turned to painting after he wrote (and starred in) eight two-reel comedies for 20th Century-Fox. “I painted 60 oil and pastel masterpieces in three months at Los Angeles,” he says, “and had a one-man show, but he didn’t buy anything. . .“Am now living on a wonderful old North Carolina plantation which we named Four Chimneys. It has four coal-burning fireplaces, three coal-burning stoves and a coal-burning furnace. I have to tend all and sometimes I just don’t know whom I agree with, Harold Ickes or John L. Lewis!”
The Greensboro Record, November 11, 1946, said Pauline was dismantling the farm and packing her husband’s art supplies for their return to Santa Monica.
In 1947, Macahamer started his art school. He advertised in the Los Angeles Times.
4/20/1947
The 1947 Santa Monica city directory listed Machamer at 409 Santa Monica Boulevard in room 202.
In 1950, Machamer, his wife, two daughters and son, were living in Santa Monica at 1315 23rd Street, apartment C. He was an art teacher at a government school.
Machamer did a cartoon for the Travelers Safety Service that appeared in the The Republican (Oakland, Maryland), August 12, 1954.
Machamer passed away on August 15, 1960, in Santa Monica. Obituaries appeared in the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times on August 17, 1960.
Further Reading and Viewing
The Hearst Sunday Newspaper Magazine Cover Indexes Part 2: The 1930s ‘Continuing Series’ Series
The Hearst Sunday Newspaper Magazine Cover Indexes Part 6: The Cover Series of Longer Stories (thru 1929)
Figure Quarterly, Volume 11, selected pages From Laugh and Draw with Machamer (1946)
Selected Judge Covers: April 9, 1927; August 6, 1927; October 1, 1927; November 5, 1927; December 10, 1927; January 14, 1928; February 11, 1928; March 10, 1928; April 14, 1928; August 4, 1928; November 10, 1928; February 16, 1929; April 6, 1929; May 4, 1929; June 1, 1929
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Frank Willard
Frank Henry Willard was born on September 21, 1893, in Anna, Illinois, according to his World War I and II draft cards, and Who’s Who in Chicago, Volume 4 (1926). His parents were Francis William Willard and Laura Kirkham.
The 1900 United States Census counted Willard and his parents in Anna, Illinois on Jefferson Street. Willard’s father was a dentist.
In the 1910 census, Willard, his parents, sister and maternal grandmother lived on High Street in Anna. Who’s Who said Willard graduated from Union Academy of Illinois in 1912, and the Academy of Fine Arts, Chicago, in 1913.
Oakland Tribune, 1/2/1916
Willard was profiled in The Quill, August 1938. He described his early life and career.
“Nothing much happened there. Got tossed out of the local high school for something or other and was promptly placed in a now defunct institution—Union Academy. After being a sophomore for several years, they decided that the only way of getting me through school was to give me the old heave-ho. Which they did to our mutual delight. After all, I do not think a college education would be a great help in making Moon. …… “My father had moved to Chicago back in 1909 [sic] for business and social reasons. And since my dough was running low, I thought it would be a good idea to do the same, as I was always very fond of eating.“I told him I was going to be a cartoonist but he didn’t believe me and neither did anyone else … Then the World War broke out in August, 1914. I noticed they had no cartoon on the front page of the Chicago Tribune, so I went home and drew one.“Mr. Beck, the managing editor bought it for $15.00 and ran it on the front page. So I got out a pencil and figured if you could make that sort of dough drawing, why work for a department store for eleven bucks a week, and hurried across the street and quit my job. Mrs. Woodrow Wilson died the next day so I made another cartoon about that. Then Mr. McCutcheon, the real cartoonist, came back and there wasn’t much need for my talent.“Mr. James Keeley over on the Herald talked to me for five minutes and said, ‘Boy, you haven’t enough brains to be a political cartoonist!’ I said how about a comic artist. Mr. Keeley said, ‘Well, maybe you’re dumb enough for that. So he gave me a job. Did a kid page called, ‘Tom, Dick and Harry’ and another called ‘Mrs. Pippins Husband,’ and a so-called humorous cartoon.“America got into the war. I got into the first draft. Was a pretty punk soldier, had a pretty good time. Out outfit built roads and did no fighting. And we thought they’d left us in France for a souvenir when they finally shipped us home in July, 1919. …
On June 5, 1917, Willard signed his World War I draft card. His address was 5312 Drexel Avenue in Chicago. Willard was a cartoonist at the Chicago Herald. He was described as stout build, medium height, with gray eyes and dark brown hair.
Who’s Who said Willard was with the Chicago Herald from 1914 to 1918. American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Mr. & Mrs. Pippin ran from April 1, 1917 to April 28, 1918. Willard drew at least one Charlie Chaplin’s Comic Capers on June 27, 1915; did a week’s worth of strips, November 16 to 23, 1919, for Frank King’s Bobby Make-Believe; assisted Billy DeBeck, in 1920, on Barney Google (according to Alberto Becattini).
Willard enlisted on October 3, 1917 and started at Headquarters Company, 343rd Infantry, 86th Division. He was transferred to Company A, 311th Engineers, 86th Division, May 1918. Willard served with the Allied Expeditionary Forces from September 21, 1918 to July 2, 1919.
According to the 1920 census, Herald cartoonist Willard lived with his parents in Chicago at the same address.
Willard’s move to King Features Syndicate was reported in the Fourth Estate, August 7, 1920.
Frank Willard, western cartoonist, has joined King Features Syndicate. He has created a new comic strip entitled “Outta-Luck” which will be generally syndicated throughout the United States and Canada.The title of Willard’s new comic was suggested to him in France during the war when he was with the 343d Infantry. It was the common expression of doughboys covering a multitude of various unfortunate things that happened them from missing mess to missing mail. Returning to America Willard found an infinite number of humorous situations in civil life where somebody was correspondingly “Outta Luck.” So he sat down and pictured them.He is a graduate of the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, and for five years his comic drawings appearing in the Chicago Herald and other western papers have been exceedingly popular.
The same information was in the Editor & Publisher, September 25, 1920.
Who’s Who said he worked at King Features Syndicate from 1920 to 1923.
Willard’s cartoons appeared in Green Book Magazine, February 1920.
Who’s Who said Willard married Priscilla Alden Mangold, of Anna, Illinois, on June 11, 1921. They had two children, Priscilla Alden and Frank Henry.
In The Quill, Willard said
“Then I got a job with King Features Syndicate. Did a very appropriately named strip called ‘The Outta Luck Club,’ which was just that. At the same time doing the Penny Ante series and about everything but carry water for the elephants.“Perley Boone, a pal of mine, told me that Mr. Patterson was looking for a new comic for the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate and to see Mr. Arthur Crawford, who told me to see Mr. Patterson. After talking to me a few minutes, Mr. Patterson said I should do a roughneck strip. There never had been a roughneck, low life sort of strip and he thought it might be a good idea. And, incidentally, he’s given me plenty of ideas since. [A violent version of the story was told in The Art of the Funnies: An Aesthetic History (1994).]
The comic strip Moon Mullins was born. American Newspaper Comics said the series began on June 19, 1923. Willard was assisted by Ferd Johnson beginning in August. By 1933 Johnson was drawing the strip and, by 1943, also writing it. Toppers included Kayo and Kitty Higgins. The series ended in June 1991.
The Sarasota Herald, February 21, 1930, reported Willard’s purchase of a home. The 1930 census (enumerated in April) said Willard and his family were residents of Sarasota, Florida at 2600 Indian Beach Drive. Also in the household were two servants. Willard was a self-employed cartoonist.
News of Willard’s divorce was reported in the Sarasota Herald (Florida), October 15, 1932.
Who’s Who in Chicago and Vicinity (1936) said Willard married Marie O’Connell, of Springfield, Missouri. Editor & Publisher, January 14, 1933, noted the marriage.
Frank H. Willard of Sarasota, Fla., and Chicago, widely known as the creator of the comic strip “Moon Mullins,” and Miss Marie O’Connell, of Springfield, Mo., were married at Tampa, Fla., January 7.
The Chicago Daily Tribune, January 17, 1933, published a photograph of the bride.
Who’s Who in American Art, Volume 1, 1936–1937, listed Willard’s office at 431 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, and home at 1900 Oakmont Avenue, Tampa, Florida.
The 1940 census said the couple lived in Beverly Hills, California at 723 North Roxford Drive. They had a chauffeur and maid. In 1939, Willard earned over $5,000.
On April 27, 1942, Willard signed his World War II draft card. His address was 907 North Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills, California. His description was five feet eight inches, 170 pounds, with hazel eyes and brown hair.
In the 1950 census Willard and his wife were Los Angeles residents at the El Royal Apartments, 450 North Rosemore.
Editor & Publisher, July 10, 1954, said July 5th was “Moon Mullins day” in Anna, Illinois.
The Los Angeles Times, January 11, 1958, reported Willard’s heart attack.
Frank H. Willard, 64, creator of the comic strip Moon Mullins, is critically ill at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital.Willard suffered a heart attack in 1954, another in 1956 and had a stroke Dec. 27 at his Beverly Hills home. His wife, Marie, has been constantly at his side at the hospital since his admission there Tuesday night. ...
Willard passed away on January 11, 1958, in Los Angeles. His death was reported in numerous publications including the Los Angeles Times, January 13 and January 16, 1958; Evening Star (Washington DC), January 13, 1958; Sarasota Herald-Tribune, January 13, 1958; Editor & Publisher, January 18, 1958; Time, January 20, 1958, and the California Herald, February 1958. Willard was laid to rest at Anna Cemetery.
Willard’s daughter passed away on January 14, 1970. (There was a Priscilla Willard who was a comic book artist in the 1940s. It’s not clear if she was Willard’s daughter.) His first wife passed away on August 5, 1983. His son passed away on March 13, 1988. His second wife passed away on December 28, 1994.
Further Reading
Harv’s Hindsights, Frank Willard and A Touch of Moonshine
Heritage Auctions, original art
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, December 25, 1989, Dizzy Dean Meets Moon Mullins
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Comments:
Do you mean to say that Moon Mullins was produced in its entirety for almost all of his run by Johnson, and not Willard? Is Willard another of those missing-in-action cartoonists, like Pat Sullivan and Bud Fisher? I am disillusioned! I have always been fond of Moon Mullins, and have pictured a "roughneck" Frank Willard chomping a cigar as he toiled over the drawing board. Instead, he may have been sipping a pink martini over at the Country Club.
# posted by 
: 6/12/2024 10:20 PM
And Willard also did the Sunday version of "Eddie's Friends' in 1922.
Post a Comment
# posted by : 6/13/2024 1:48 PM
Friday, May 31, 2024
Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Wayne Boring
Larchmont Times 8/10/1950
Wayne Douglas Boring was born on June 5, 1905, in Verdi, Minnesota, according to his World War II draft card. His middle name was recorded on Virginia marriage and divorce certificates, and in The Who’s Who of American Comic Books, Volume 1 (1973). His parents were John Harmon Boring and Lena Hansen who married on October 18, 1893 in Verdi. One of Boring’s pen names was Jack Harmon. Another was Val Rogers which may have been based on his older brother, Roger Valan Boring.
The 1910 United States Census said Boring was the youngest of four brothers. Their father was a retail general store merchant. The Borings were residents of Verdi. They were listed in the 1915 South Dakota state census. In the 1920 census, Boring, his parents and two brothers lived in Watertown, South Dakota, at 520 Maple Street.
In Amazing Heroes #41*, February 15, 1984, Richard Pachter said
Boring attended the Minneapolis Institute of Art after high school and studied anatomy at the Chicago Art Institute with J. Allen St. John, the illustrator of the original Tarzan stories.
Boring’s veteran’s file, at Ancestry.com, said he enlisted in the Marine Corps on July 19, 1924. His assignments were found in muster rolls at Fold3.com. Boring traveled to Parris Island, South Carolina. From July to September 1924, he was at the training station. In September and part of October, Private Boring was attached to the rifle range. Sometime in October and through December, he was court-martialed.
From January to May 1925, Boring was assigned to the field music detachment. In July and part of August, Boring was attached to the rifle range. Later in August, he was with the Naval Ordnance Plant in South Charleston, West Virginia. From September 1925 to February 1926, Corporal Boring was at the Naval Ammunition Depot in St. Julien’s Creek, Portsmouth, Virginia. For the rest of the year, he was at the Naval Ordnance Plant or Naval Ammunition Depot.
On November 3, 1926, Boring married Helen Saunders Lapetina in Norfolk, Virginia. The 1927 Norfolk city directory listed them at the Parkwood Court Apartments.
During the first four months of 1927, Boring was stationed at the Naval Ordnance Plant. In May his new assignment was the Eighty-Third Company, Third Battalion, Sixth Regiment Provisional Regiment, Third Brigade. In June Boring sailed across the Pacific and was part of Casual Company Number One, Marine Detachment, American Legation in Peking [Beijing], China. In November Boring was attached to the Fifth Company Engineers, Third Brigade, U.S. Marines in Tientsin [Tianjin], China. In December he transferred from Peking to Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Fourth Regiment, Third Brigade, at 116 Sinza Road in Shanghai, China.
In early February 1928, Boring was aboard the USS Chaumont bound for San Francisco, California. From February to mid-March, he was at the Navy Yard in Mare Island, California. Boring was discharged on March 13, 1928.
According to the 1930 census, Boring and Helen lived with his in-laws in Norfolk, Virginia at 114 Church Street. Boring was a display man at a department store. The Norfolk city directories, from 1930 to 1934, listed Boring at 3719 Granby. His employer was the Virginia Electric & Power Company. In 1936 Boring’s address was 767 West Ocean View Avenue. The 1937 directory said he resided 3511 Omohundro Avenue and worked at the Virginia Pilot newspaper.
The Larchmont Times (New York), August 10, 1950, profiled Boring and said
... A native of Watertown, S. D., where his father was postmaster, he is a graduate of the Minneapolis Institute of Art and the Chicago Art Institute where he studied illustration. He spent four years in the Marines in the Pacific from 1924 through 1928, and has worked as artist and layout man for the advertising department of the New Orleans Times-Picayune and for a department store in Norfolk, Va., switching later to the Virginia Electrical and Power Company as art director where he handled advertising brochures and newspaper advertisements. He then went to the Virginian Pilot and Norfolk Ledger-Dispatch, doing layouts, headings and signatures.Ambitious to be a short story writer, he took a course at William and Mary but he’s been too busy to get around to it seriously.It was this urge to write, however, that was indirectly responsible for his drawing Superman. Intent on writing during his spare time, he would pour over Writers’ [Writer’s Digest] magazines in an attempt to learn a short-cut to success, and one day came across a “cartoonist wanted” advertisement. Boring answered the ad and contacted Jerry Siegel who had an idea to sell comics to a magazine. Siegel and his partner, Joe Shuster, had not yet dreamed up the Superman idea.“I think there was only one Comics Magazine on the market at that time in 1937 or 1938,” Boring muses. “And that was Action Comics.” [Superman appeared in Action Comics #1, June 1938.]In his spare time, Boring began to put Siegel’s stories into picture strip form. The first one they tried was “Slam Bradley” who was an ordinary fellow, goodlooking and strong and with a resemblance to Superman, but who wore civilian clothes—no uniform. Two pages per month were sold to “Action Comics.” After that came “Spy” and one called “Radio Squad,” each story running about two pages each month. Two or three other ideas flopped.Then one day Siegel from his home in Cleveland sent Boring a story about a fellow called “Superman.”“It was new and fresh as an idea then and it still is today,” Boring said, recalling Siegel’s enthusiasm for it.But it was hardly received with enthusiasm by the syndicates. Siegel and Shuster had quite a time selling it in the beginning. It looked crazy, they were told. A man who flew would be laughed right out of the market. Besides, the artists would run out of material in a week, it was said.Despite that, Siegel knew he had a good idea and took it to every syndicate at least three times. He finally sold a story to good old “Action Comics.” The results were electrifying. Kids began to ask for it by the thousands and circulation of the magazine jumped overnight, just how high no one seems to know. “Before long millions of kids were screaming for this big strong guy,” Boring recalls with a smile.In 1940 [sic] Siegel took it to Mclure [sic] Newspaper Syndicate and Boring quit his job in Virginia and moved to Cleveland to draw the syndicated strip for “Superman” at the resounding salary of $50 per week. ...
Boring probably saw the October 1936 issue of Writer’s Digest that published the following.
Publication Enterprises Co. is in immediate need of contacting artists to work upon comic and cartoon strips. While at this time our greatest need is for artists to work upon illustration story strips, we would also be pleased to consider the work of cartoonists.We work on a 50-50 basis, doing the continuity and selling ourself. Artists sending in samples of their work are asked to enclose envelope and return postage if they care to have their work returned.Publication Enterprises Co.,10622 Kimberly Avenue,Cleveland, Ohio.Jerome Siegel, President.
In Amazing Heroes, Boring said
“I carried the magazine in my back pocket for a couple of weeks until I dropped them a line. And I got an answer back. I sent some samples of my work.”
At the time, Boring had a full-time job. The Norfolk Virginian-Pilot, November 10, 1938, printed a Sears, Roebuck and Co. advertisement that announced its contest winners. One of the three judges was Boring who worked at Rice’s Fashion Corner.
In American Newspaper Comics (2012), Alberto Becattini said Wayne Boring ghosted Toledo, Ohio artist Elmer Woggon’s Big Chief Wahoo around 1938. The Superman comic strip was distributed by the McClure Syndicate and debuted on January 16, 1939. Initially drawn by Joe Shuster, the strip was ghosted by Boring, Paul Cassidy, Paul Lauretta, Jack Burnley and others. Boring was credited as artist beginning July 1948 to May 1, 1966. During the series run a number of artists ghosted for Boring.
In The Funnies: 100 Years of American Comic Strips (1994), Ron Goulart said
The initial dailies look to be the work of Shuster himself, but a number of other artists drew the feature in the funnies. They included Paul Cassidy, Dennis Neville, John Sikela, and Wayne Boring. Boring would inherit the strip in the late 1940s when Siegel and Shuster were legally separated from their creation.
Boring has not yet been found in the 1940 census. His wife and eight-year-old son, Wayne Jr., were in Norfolk, Virginia at 3904 Holly Avenue.
Boring signed his World War II draft card on October 16, 1940. His address was 10609 Euclid Avenue, Room 306, and employed by Joe Shuster at the same address. Boring’s description was five feet seven-and-a-half inches, 140 pounds, with blue eyes and blonde hair.
It’s not clear how long Boring stayed in Cleveland. The 1941 and 1943 Norfolk, Virginia city directories were not available at Ancestry.com. The 1942 directory listed Boring’s wife at 3904 Holly Avenue. Commercial artist Boring had a listing in the 1944 directory at the same address.
The Larchmont Times said
In 1942 Boring with his wife Lois moved to Larchmont Acres where they have lived ever since.
Records at Ancestry.com said Boring and his first wife, Helen, divorced in 1947. He married Lois Frances Anderson in Staunton, Virginia on March 8, 1948.
In Superman: The Complete History, the Life and Times of the Man of Steel, Les Daniels said
By 1948, Wayne Boring had given the Man of Steel a new look ... Superman was drawn in a more detailed, realistic style of illustration. He also looked bigger and stronger. “Until then Superman had always seemed squat,” Boring said. “He was six heads high, a bit shorter than normal. I made him taller—nine heads high—but kept his massive chest.”
Alter Ego #142, September 2016
The 1950 census said Boring and Lois were residents of Mamaroneck, New York at 816A Richbell Road. His occupation was cartoonist. Boring’s ex-wife and son were at the same address in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1954 Wayne Jr. graduated from Virginia Military Institute and became a doctor.
Boring was one of eight cartoonists featured in Coronet, June 1954.
The Danbury News-Times (Connecticut), February 15, 1957, said
Mr. and Mrs. Wayne D. Boring moved here recently from Larchmont, N. Y. into the Thomas Stout house at Washington Park estates.
The 1958 through 1966 Ridgefield, Connecticut directories listed Boring at 10 Lincoln Lane. The Wilton Bulletin (Connecticut), September 21, 1960, said
Mr. Boring and his wife, Lois, (no relation to Lois Lane) have lived here since 1956, moving from Larchmont, N.Y. He does all his work at home, rarely traveling to the offices in New York.
Wilton Bulletin 9/21/1960; reprinted in
In 1966 Superman editor Mort Weisenger fired Boring for unknown reasons.
In American Newspaper Comics, Alberto Becattini said Boring assisted on Rip Kirby from April to June 1966, and August 14 to September 2, 1967; produced art for August 7–12, 1967 and September 4–16, 1967. Vic Forsythe’s comic strip, Joe Jinks (retitled Davy Jones beginning June 12, 1961), was drawn by many artists including Boring who did the daily strips from March 31, 1969 to June 1971. On Prince Valiant, Becattini said Boring assisted from 1968 to 1971
The Danbury News-Times, April 19, 1969, profiled Prince Valiant artist, Harold Foster, and said
... Wayne Boring of Ridgefield inks in the background after the owner completes most of a strip. ...
In 1972 Boring drew a three issues of Marvel Comics’ Captain Marvel, #22, 23, and 24, and a story in Creatures on the Loose #19. He drew Thor #280 which was published in 1979.
At some point Boring moved to Pompano Beach, Florida and worked as a part-time security guard. In 1983, he was a guest at the OrlandoCon.
For DC Comics from 1984 to 1986, Boring contributed to All-Star Squadron Annual #3, Superman #402, Action Comics #561 and #572, Secret Origins #1, and All-Star Squadron #64.
Boring passed away on February 20, 1987, in Pompano Beach, Florida. Obituaries appeared in Amazing Heroes #119, June 15, 1987 and The Comics Journal #116, July 1987.
Boring’s father passed away on August 5, 1945; mother on April 5, 1957 (South Dakota Death Index); second wife Lois on November 10, 2001; and first wife Helen on November 23, 2001.
* Boring’s age was misstated as 66. He was 78.
Further Reading
Comics, Between the Panels (1998)
Super Boys: The Amazing Adventures of Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster—The Creators of Superman (2013), pages 173 and 207
Comic Book Historians, Joe Shuster’s Favorite “Ghost”: Wayne Boring
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Comments:
The Larchmont Times article quoted here contains a few errors:
Action Comics was not the only comic book being published at the time;
Slam Bradley and Spy appeared in Detective Comics, and Radio Squad in More Fun Comics, all before the debut of Action Comics in 1938.
Post a Comment
Action Comics was not the only comic book being published at the time;
Slam Bradley and Spy appeared in Detective Comics, and Radio Squad in More Fun Comics, all before the debut of Action Comics in 1938.
# posted by : 6/01/2024 1:06 PM
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: William Paul Pim
(An earlier profile was posted in 2016.)
William Paul Pim was born in Freeport, Pennsylvania, on December 1, 1885. The birth date was on his World War I draft card. Who Was Who Among English and European Authors, 1931–1949, Volume 3 N–Z said he was born in Freeport. Who’s Who in America, Volume 22, 1942–1943, said he was born near Freeport. Pim’s parents were Ira Lester Pim and Mary Ella Dougherty.
The 1900 United States Census recorded Pim as the oldest of two children. The family lived in Buffalo, Pennsylvania, where his father was a farmer.
Who’s Who said Pim graduated from Cabot Institute (Carbonblack, Pennsylvania) in 1903, and studied photo-engraving at Bissell College in Effingham, Illinois in 1906.
Pim’s residence in the 1910 census was Cleveland, Ohio at 1854 East 18th Street. His occupation was commercial artist. Who’s Who said Pim had a studio in Cleveland until 1914.
From 1915 to 1917, Pim resided in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was a cartoonist for the Birmingham News. He married Lenna E. Hales on July 16, 1917. Cartoons Magazine, October 1917 reported their skyscraper wedding.
The top floor of the highest building in the South was selected by W. Paul Pim as the stage for his wedding ceremony recently. Mr. Pim, who is the staff artist of the Birmingham (Ala.) News, was married to Miss Lenna Hales of the News’ advertising staff. The ceremony took place on the twenty-fourth floor of the Jefferson County Bank building, the headquarters of the Newspaper Club. The groom is well known throughout the South for his cartoon work. He has been on the staff of the News for two years, having come to Birmingham from Pennsylvania and Ohio. Immediately after the ceremony the young couple embarked on a honeymoon tour through the East.
Who’s Who said Pim was with the Cleveland Plain Dealer from 1917 to 1918. While in Cleveland, he took the life class at John Huntington Polytechnic Institute.
On September 12, 1918, Pim signed his World War I draft card which had his address as 130 North 73rd Street in Birmingham, Alabama. He was an artist with the Birmingham News and described as medium height and build with gray eyes and brown hair.
Cartoons Magazine, July 1918, said
Pim Boosts Tank RecruitingIf you see a tank recruiting poster that is particularly impelling and gives you an impulse to go run a tank, the chances are that Pim did it—W. Paul Pim of the Birmingham, Alabama, News.The poster shows a large tank, with a soldier on top of it, and a large United States flag in the background, over which is written the legend “We’re Berlin Bound,” while the caption extends a cordial, Primesque invitation to “get in a tank and treat them rough.”
Pim moved from the News to the Birmingham Ledger where he worked from 1919 to 1920.
In the 1920 census, cartoonist Pim and his wife made their home at 4303 Avenue E in Birmingham.
Pim’s art training included the Federal Schools’ courses as explained in The Federal Illustrator, Summer 1926.
Federal Course Helped Paul Pim “Put His Ideas Across”There is a reason for this which is well voiced by no less an authority than W. Paul Pim, of the George Matthew Adams Service.Mr. Pim has for years been a favorite with the readers of the Birmingham newspapers and acquired fame outside his city through his work on the old Cartoons Magazine, but he himself says that he never really began to advance in a big way until he became acquainted with the Federal Course.A few years ago he was instructing a class of war veterans, and as the government furnished them with Federal School textbooks, he became interested in the course, and soon became vocational director for the school in the Birmingham district.Shortly afterward he placed his first national syndicate feature, “Baby Mine,” with the George Matthew Adams Service. In addition to this he now has a very successful five column comic strip, “Telling Tommy,” with the Cosmos Newspaper Syndicate, Inc. All of this progress was made since his association with the Federal Schools.Let Pim tell it in his own words: “I have had a good many years in newspaper art work,” he writes, but when it came to putting across something really worth while, the suggestions and advice of men like Herbert Johnson, John T. McCutcheon, Sidney Smith, Fontaine Fox, Frank Wing, Clare Briggs, Frank King and others which I found in the Federal Course proved an invaluable aid.”Mr. Pim five years ago had reached a point in his career that would be regarded by many as a very safe and substantial one, but he was not satisfied. If he could find the material in the Federal Course an aid to him, how much more beneficial it is to you students who are just beginning. There is a wealth of information for you here.
Who’s Who said Pim started, in 1921, an advertising art studio. He was a commercial art instructor at Birmingham-Southern College from 1922 to 1931. The school’s newspaper, Gold and Black, November 9, 1922, reported Pim’s appointment to the faculty.
Noted Artist Is Added to FacultyPaul Pim Will Conduct Course On “Hill”Official announcement was made from the president’s office of Birmingham-Southern College Thursday morning of the addition to the college faculty of W. Paul Pim, local artist, nationally known for his art work and the now famous “Baby Mine,” which is running in The Birmingham News and 60 other daily publications of the United States. The announcement made by President Guy Snavely, is but another step in Birmingham-Southern’s policy of affording an opportunity to the student body of the college to come in contact with masters in the various lines of artistic endeavor.The course to be offered by Mr. Pim will be conducted Saturday morning for three hours, in the form of a one-hour lecture period and two hours of work in the art laboratory. The course will emphasize commercial art, cartooning in all its forms and illustration work. It was stated by the college authorities that two hours of regular college credit would be given those successfully completing the work. The course will begin with the opening of the second semester of the college year.Mr. Pim, who did his art study at two of the well-known art institutes of the country, the John Huntington Institute, Cleveland, and the Bissell College of Pohtographic [sic] Engraving of Illinois, worked for a number of years as an artict [sic] on various Cleveland daily papers and was art editor of The Birmingham Ledger and other Southern newspapers. Since suspension of The Ledger, he has conducted a commercial art business in Birmingham and recently became nationally famous by the creation of “Baby Mine,” which first ran in the Birmingham News.The art course at Birmingham-Southern, which will be conducted by Mr. Pim, will be open to anyone wishing to take the work, but is planned primarily for those wishing to enter the commercial art game, regular college students and the school teachers of the district. Especially is the course planned to fit the needs of the school teachers of the city and county, and it will give numbers of them an opportunity to become more familiar with the art work, which is a part of their duty in the regular grade teaching. The course will be part of the regular extension school work.In speaking of the course Dr. Snavely said: “Birmingham-Southern is delighted to have the creator of ‘Baby Mine’ on the college faculty. We feel that in Mr. Pim we have a talented artist, competent in every way to conduct the course that we have planned. Birmingham-Southern is following in the wake of the larger institutions of learning of the country in adding nationally known men to its faculty. This is done to give to the students of the college an opportunity to come in contact with men who stand out in the life of the nation. We feel that the education of no student is complete until he has had some opportunity to come In contact with artists of the first rank, whether it be in the field of art, music or literature. We congratulate ourselves on securing the services of Mr. Pim.”
1925 La Revue yearbook
During the 1920s and 1930s, American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Pim produced Baby Mine, Masterpieces of Great Literature, Telling Tommy, and Next!
The Fourth Estate, July 15, 1922, said
“Baby Mine” Contest Pulls Great Response in Birmingham.“Baby Mine,” by Paul Pim of the George Matthew Adams Service, is being featured by the Birmingham, Ala., News. Recently the News offered a prize of one dollar for letters on “What your baby says” to be printed daily with the Paul Pim cartoon.Eight hundred answers were received the first week, which nearly swamped the contest department. The answers were so surprisingly good that the News decided to make a feature page on Sundays of those that were not prize winners. The first of these pages appeared Sunday, July 2, with a large lay-out showing Paul Pim at work in his studio.At a recent dinner of the Birmingham Rotary Club Pim made a hit with a chalk talk, his subject being “Baby Mine.”
Printers’ Ink, May 17, 1923, said
New Advertising Business Formed at Birmingham, Ala.B. A. Davey and Associates is the name of a new advertising business which has been formed at Birmingham, Ala. The officers of the new company are: B. Davey, president; Baxter Eastburn, vice-president; and Morton Simpson, secretary-treasurer.Mr. Davey formerly had been advertising manager of the Birmingham News. Mr. Simpson recently had been advertising manager of Loveman, Joseph & Loeb, Birmingham department store. Mr. Eastburn had been with the J. Bloch & Sons Clothing Company, also of Birmingham.W. Paul Pim is art director of the new company.
The 1930 census recorded Pim in Birmingham at 4300 9th Court.
In 1939, Pim wrote Telling Tommy About Mother Nature’s Curious Children, the first of seven Telling Tommy books. Telling Tommy About Famous People in Their Youth (1940); Telling Tommy About Days We Celebrate (1941); Telling Tommy About Famous Inventors (1942); Telling Tommy About Our Good Neighbors (1943); Telling Tommy About Things We Use (1946); and Telling Tommy About Pilgrims Progress (1957).
According to the 1940 census, self-employed artist and writer Pim was a Birmingham homeowner at 4300 10th Avenue.
The 1950 census, enumerated in April, said Pim was at the same address and “unable to work”.
Pim passed away July 26, 1950, in Birmingham. Many newspapers published the Associated Press obituary.
William Paul Pim, Author, CartoonistBirmingham, Ala., July 26 (AP)—William Paul Pim, whose sketches for children became nationally known, died at midnight after a long illness. He was 65 years old.The artist drew the “Baby Mine” and “Telling Tommy,” syndicated features. He was author of a series of illustrated stories about Tommy.Born in Freeport, Pa., he came here in 1915 and worked as a newspaper cartoonist. During the first World War he was with The Cleveland Plain Dealer and then returned here.Mr. Pim began the “Baby Mine” series in 1921 after opening an advertising studio. The “Telling Tommy” features followed.Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Lenna Hales Pim, and a sister, Mrs. Roy Van Dyke of Freeport.
Pim was laid to rest in Forest Hill Cemetery.
Further Reading and Viewing
Stripper’s Guide, The Newspaper Feature Service Romantic Cartoon Series, Part 9 (1927–1928)
The Kiwanis Magazine, July 1923
The Kiwanis Magazine, August 1924
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Monday, April 22, 2024
Ink-Slinger Profiles by Alex Jay: Frank Tashlin
Frank Tashlin was born Francis Fredrick Tashlein on February 19, 1913, in Hudson, New Jersey, according to the New Jersey Birth Index, at Ancestry.com, and his World War II draft card. His parents were Charles F. Tashlein and Augustine Deloy Maury who married in 1912. The Philadelphia Inquirer (Pennsylvania), August 24, 1912, said
Virginia Man Gets Marriage License HereA marriage license was issued here yesterday to Charles F. Tashlein, of 620 West Grace street, Richmond, to wed Augustine Deloy Maury, age 30, dressmaker, of West Forty-eighth street, New York city. Tashlein’s first wife died in New York city May 13, 1911. Mrs. Maury’s first husband died in New York six years ago.
Tashlin and his parents have not yet been found in the 1920 United States Census. The 1925 New York state census counted the trio in Long Island City, Queens, New York at 465 Third Avenue. Tashlin’s father was a chauffeur.
Tashlin has not yet been found in the 1930 census.
According to Who’s Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television’s Award-winning and Legendary Animators (2006), Jeff Lenburg said Tashlin was “an errand boy and cel washer at New York’s fabled Fleischer Studios”. At age seventeen, he was an animation inker on Paul Terry’s Aesop’s Film Fables. Tashlin’s art training included correspondence courses of the Federal School of Applied Cartooning. The school’s quarterly publication, The Federal Illustrator, Summer 1932, said
Frank Tashlin has been connected with the Aesop Fables Studio in New York for two years. He reports nice, fat pay envelopes and extra checks for magazine illustrations which he is turning out under the name of “Tish Tash.”
Later Tashlin “moved” to the studio of producer Amedee J. Van Beuren who bought out Fables Pictures. In 1932, Tashlin began work on the Tom and Jerry series.
The Federal Illustrator, Spring 1933, published Tashlin’s “Behind the Scenes in a Motion Picture Cartoon Studio”.
In 1933, Tashlin accepted Leon Schlesinger’s offer to work on Warner Bros.’ Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon series in California.
A possible clue to Tashlin’s location was found on a passenger list at Ancestry.com. On August 5, 1933, his mother sailed on the steamship Virginia from New York. She arrived in the port of Los Angeles on August 19. The passenger list had her address as 2202 Holly Drive, Hollywood, California.
American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Tashlin created Van Boring which ran from January 6, 1934 to June 20, 1936. It was distributed by the Los Angeles Times Syndicate. From 1936 to 1938, Canada's Dominion News Bureau handled the series, presumably in reprints.
The Los Angeles Times, October 18, 1936, reported Tashlin’s upcoming wedding.
Miss Dorothy Hill, fiancee of Frank Tashlin, whose wedding will take place next Saturday in Westwood Community Church, was guest of honor at a tea and linen shower given last Sunday by Mrs. Manly Nelson at her home at 10121 Tabor street.Mrs. Jennings Brown will assist her sister as matron of honor and other attendants will include Misses Dorothy McCarthy, Mary Mahoney, Dorothy Melaby and Mrs. Nelson. George Manuel will serve as best man and ushers include Frank Hee, J. W. Jenkins, Nelson Demorest and Manly Nelson.
The Film Daily, October 26, 1936, said
Leon Schlesinger, producer of “Looney Tunes,” and “Merrie Melodies,” entertained at his Beverly Hills home in honor of Frank Tashlin (“Tish Tash”) and his bride, Dorothy Marguerite Hill. Miss Hill, who sings on the Shell Chateau program, met Tashlin when she applied for an audition.
According to 1936 and 1938 California voter registrations, Tashlin was a Democrat who lived at 1833 1/4 Grace Avenue in Los Angeles. His mother was at 1833 1/2.
The 1940 census counted Tashlin, his wife and two-year-old daughter, Patricia, in Los Angeles at 2013 North Highland Avenue. He was a story director whose highest level of education was three years of high school. In 1939 Tashlin earned $3,400. Almost five months later, Tashlin signed his World War Draft card on October 16, 1940. His address was 11605 Dilling Street. Walt Disney was his employer. Tashlin was described as six feet four inches, 220 pounds, with gray eyes and brown hair.
In 1941 Tashlin was working on Fox and the Crow cartoons at Columbia Pictures. The following year he was back at Warner Bros. In the second half of the 1940s, Tashlin pursued work in feature films by creating gags, screenwriting and directing. Tashlin’s screen credits include The Paleface (1948), The First Time (1952), Son of Paleface (1952), Artists and Models (1955), The Girl Can’t Help It (1956), Hollywood or Bust (1956), Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957); The Geisha Boy (1958), The Disorderly Orderly (1964), The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) and The Private Navy of Sgt. O’Farrell (1968).
The 1950 census had the same address. Tashlin was a television director.
Tashlin’s The Bear That Wasn’t was published by E.P. Dutton in 1946. It was reprinted by Dover Publications in 1995. In 1950 Farrar, Straus published his The ’Possum That Didn’t. The World That Isn’t saw print in 1951 from Simon and Schuster. Pageant, June 1952, published 16 pages of The World That Isn’t. Tashlin self-published How to Create Cartoons (1952).
The Knoxville Journal (Tennessee), October 26, 1952, reported Tashlin’s engagement to Mary Costa who was the voice of Disney’s Sleeping Beauty. Their wedding plans were noted in the Knoxville Journal, June 27, 1953.
Advertising Age, February 9, 1953, said
Frank Tashlin Co. FormedFrank Tashlin Co., Hollywood, has been incorporated to produce television films. Frank Tashlin, director-writer, is president. Other officers are Lester Linsk, v.p., and Charles E. Trezona, secretary-treasurer.
The 1955 Beverly Hills city directory listed the company at 29 Benedict Canyon Drive.
Tashlin passed away on May 5, 1972, in Los Angeles. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park. An obituary was published in The New York Times, May 9, 1972.
Further Reading
The New York Times, August 20, 2006, “Unmanly Men Meet Womanly Women: Frank Tashlin’s Satires Still Ring True”
Michael Barrier, Frank Tashlin Interview
Amateur Cine World, January 11, 1962, “Is Frank Tashlin an Underrated Director?”
Mary Costa
Coronet, June 1956
Who’s Who of American Women (1959)
Labels: Ink-Slinger Profiles
Comments:
Thank you for this, and especially for the Federal Illustrator article, which I'd been looking for. (My great-grandmother's younger half-brother founded the Federal Schools.) It seems to end in mid-sentence--is there another page?
While I'm sure that many people reading this original post know this already, I want to get it on the record for people who might read it long afterward. The "Tom and Jerry" cartoons that Tashlin started working on in 1932 are not the famous cat and mouse duo -- Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera introduced the cat-and-mouse Tom and Jerry in 1940, for MGM.
The Tom and Jerry at the Van Beuren studio were human characters, and their cartoons were only made from 1931 to 1933. By the time their cartoons were sold to television, the cat and mouse had become so famous that the human Tom and Jerry were renamed Dick and Larry for television airings.
Post a Comment
The Tom and Jerry at the Van Beuren studio were human characters, and their cartoons were only made from 1931 to 1933. By the time their cartoons were sold to television, the cat and mouse had become so famous that the human Tom and Jerry were renamed Dick and Larry for television airings.