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UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA LIBRARIES

Architecture and Fine Arts Library

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Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2011 with funding from

LYRASIS IVIembers and Sloan Foundation

http://www.archive.org/details/bestofhtwebstermOOwebs

THE BEST OF

H.t. WEBSTER

A Memorial Collection

With a Preface by ROBERT E. SHERWOOD

AND

A Biographical Sketch by PHILO CALHOUN

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Simon and Schuster New York

1953

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INCLB^NG THE RIGHT OF REPRODUCTION ^ ^

IN WHOLE OR IN PART IN ANY FORM

COPYRIGHT, I914 TO I953, INCLUSIVE, BY THE NEW YORK HERALD TRIBUNE, INC.

PUBLISHED BY SIMON AND SCHUSTER, INC.

ROCKEFELLER CENTER, 63O FIFTH AVENUE

NEW YORK 20, N. Y.

FIRST PRINTING

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ARCH, a FINE ART$ UBflARY

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOG CARD NUMBER 53-9691

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA LITHOGRAPHED BY THE MURRAY PRINTING COMPANY, WAKEFIELD, MASS.

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION by Robert E. Sherwood 7

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH by Pliilo CaUioim 9

I THREE CARICATURES OF H.T.W. 14

II EARLY POLITICAL CARTOONS 18

III THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME 24 and LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT-

IV OUR BOYHOOD AMBITIONS 98 and THE BOY WHO MADE GOOD

V DOGS 110

VI POKER PORTRAITS 120 and BRIDGE

VII THE TIMID SOUL 158

VIII HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE 186 and HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

IX THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE 210

X FISHING 234

XI MISCELLANY 242

XII LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY 252

BIBLIOGRAPHY 255

Introduction

BY

ROBERT E. SHERWOOD

O,

'n April 4, 1953, the last new drawing by H. T. Webster was published in the New York Herald Tribune and a hundred and twenty-five other papers, and for many of us, millions and millions of us timid souls, this day was marked as one of life's darkest moments. There will be other fine artist-cartoonist-critics to inspire us with joy or indignation from day to day, but never another to span the years and the range of human emotions in the same extraordinary way that Webby did.

We therefore welcome this book containing some two hundred and fifty reminders of the fact that this tall, friendly, humble artist belongs in the highest traditions of American humor. He belongs with Ring Lardner, Will Rogers, George Ade, Finley Peter Dunne, Kin Hubbard, Heywood Broun, Montague Glass yes, and with Mark Twain and Abe Lincoln.

It has often been assumed that the best of American humor came from the genial, homey, cracker-barrel school, as contrasted with the pol- ished, rapier-tipped wit of the English, or the devi- ous double-entendres of the French. Nothing coidd be more nonsensical. The distinguishing quality of our humor is its bite, its capacity to in- flict wounds, to wield the meat axe or the whip. I remember that when Will Rogers met the death which he had so often courted— an airplane crash while pioneering new Arctic trails with Wiley Post —some pompous politician arose to pay tribute to Will, saying, "His humor was always kindly. He never said or wrote anything that hurt anyone."

Having known and loved Will Rogers, I am sure that if he thought this "eulogy" were true if his frequent, bitter jibes at phonies, charlatans, stuffed shirts (including the Very politician who uttered the libel) had failed to hit their targets and hurt them he would be furious, he would feel that the best cracks of his career had been in vain.

Similarly, it would be deeply depressing to the admirers of H. T. Webster to learn that the mem- bers of the Ku Klux Klan dismissed his comments on this gruesome subject (an example appears on page 20) as merely liarmless, good-natured spoof- ing.

One does not need to look to such violent exam- ples as this one, or to the profoundly funny and pitiful commentary on the "liberation" of 1944 provided in the drawing called "Collaborationist" (page 1 1 1 )to observe the iron that was in Webby's gentle soul. One may look to the snow-bound little dog and his frantic tracks (page 116) while his complacent masters are sunning themselves on a tropical beach, or to the superbly savage blast at "give-away" programs (page 213). There was probably not one of "The Unseen Audience" car- toons that did not offend or irritate somebody in the radio industry, nor can there be widespread disagreement that the victim in each case deserved to be offended and irritated, at the very least.

Webster denounced Wives, as a class, in "And There's Nothing You Can Do about It," and he excoriated Husbands, as a class, in "How To Tor- ture Your Wife."

INTRODUCTION

In his admirable introduction to this book, Philo Calhoun (one of Webby's closest friends) points out that the artist's favorite target was him- self, that his portraiture of the ineffable and im- mortal Caspar Milquetoast was sheer autobiog- raphy. That is unquestionably true, but Webby was also providing a revealing mirror for all the rest of us, with the exception of those unfortunates who live in a Hitleresque dream world of self- delusion and who fancy they are not impressed by signs that say "No Loitering."

In identifying himself with Mr. Milquetoast, Webby was aligning himself on the side of the Angels, he was standing up as one of the Pushed as opposed to the Pushers. He was our champion.

I first came to know Webby around about 1925 when I was Editor of Life (now always referred to as the old Lifej. We were putting together the big Christmas Number, and we thought it would be a great prize to have a contribution by H . T. Web- ster, who was attracting considerable attention with his cartoons in the New York World (this was the heyday of that memorable newspaper under Herbert Bayard Swope). Our Art Editor, Frank Casey, knew Webby and brought him to the

office, but the artist was discouragingly diffident, he felt that his poor efforts could not compete in the fast company of a magazine that was published by Charles Dana Gibson; besides, he said, he didn't have an idea in his head. When he left, I was sure that we'd have nothing from him. But the next day he returned with a drawing which he un- wrapped and offered, apologetically. He said, "Don't worry if you don't like it, I can probably use it for the daily stuff." It showed a dismal news- paper office on Christmas. A haggard, jaded City Editor was giving an assignment to a callow re- porter: "Go uptown and interview some of the poor devils who have to work and can't have din- ner with their families today. Write a good sob story, about a column and a half. On your way back you might stop at a lunch wagon and get half a dozen hot dogs. Have 'em put on plenty of mus- tard. I won't be able to leave the shop all day."

I still have the reproduction we proudly made of that wonderful drawing.

Webby had a huge heart as well as a sharp bite. When you have known someone like him, you want to remember him and the contributions that he made to the art of living.

Biographical Sketch

BY

PHILO CALHOUN

H,

arold Tucker Webster was the name he got from his parents back in 1885 when he was bom in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He always hated his first name, fought his way out of it in his teens, and has been "Webby" to his friends ever since. Coohsh about even the last syllable of this harm- less nickname, suspecting it might be a touch on the cute side, he always signed letters "Web," and drawings "Webster."

Webby had not yet reached his teens when the family moved to a small Wisconsin town which rejoiced (and still does) in the name of Toma- hawk. George Ade said it was once on the map in pencil, but "some fresh drummer rubbed it out."

His father set up a drugstore there and Webby grew up rapidly into what O. O. Mclntyre de- scribed as "an earnest, hard-working, gum-chew- ing freckled-faced boy." His school record was not distinguished. Even in drawing, he refused to hold his pencil as directed in Prang's Improved Drawing Course, spent his time making caricatures of the teacher, succeeded in getting the lowest mark in the class. Out of school hours he worked in the local brickyards, drove a grocery wagon, hustled freight at the railroad station, fished the neighborhood streams, read Mark Twain, drew endless sketches of everything and everybody.

A boy who worked in the harness shop at Tomahawk boasted that when he grew up he was going to sell horse collars set with diamonds to Mr. Vanderbilt. "An' Harold Webster is gonna draw little pictures."

"Little pictures!" retorted Harold; "I'm gonna draw big pictures! So big a million people can see 'em at once. I betcha million dollars I do!"

When Webby told the story many years later his cartoons were appearing in one hundred twenty-six dailies and his "Timid Soul" series in

a score of Sunday papers, of a combined circula- tion of upwards of nearly twelve million copies. They were indeed "big enough" for a million people to see all at once. Said he; "If that boy really did sell those diamond horse collars, maybe I ought to collect."

At seventeen, Webby left Tomahawk for Chicago. He enrolled in Frank Holmes' School of Illustration. Twenty days later the school folded. This was all the art education Webster ever had except an earlier correspondence school course which he said he finished only because he had paid for it in advance.

He drifted out to Denver, got some kind of a job with the Republican, quickly shifted to the Post when he was offered fifteen dollars a week as a sports-page cartoonist. "I knew it was more than I was worth," said he, "and was more than I could possibly spend, but I had to keep up the dignity of the profession." He held the job for two months and quit "just in time to avoid being fired."

Back to Chicago again, and some dreary weeks of job hunting before he landed a position with the Chicago Daily News where he worked for two years. His next move was to the Chicago Inter- Ocean, where his political cartoons began to at- tract attention. Before long they became a front- page feature and were apparently caustic enough to have inspired a bill in the state legislature pro- hibiting cartoonists from making pictures uncom- plimentary to Senators and Representatives. It didn't pass, and the pictures continued.

It was during this period that Webby received what he always maintained was his greatest com- pliment. A man on an Elgin electric train went into convulsions (literally) over one of his car- toons about the Chicago School Board and was carried off the train to a hospital in a critical con-

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

dition. Someone asked Webby whether the con- vulsions were caused by laughter or wrath, and Webby replied that it didn't matter; it was the violence of the reaction which warmed his heart.

About 1908 Webby joined the art staff of the Cincinnati Post, where he stayed until 191 1, when he started on his great adventure a trip around the world. He was gone the better part of a year. Financially, the trip was a flop. Receipts from illustrated travel sketches did not even pay ex- penses. There were compensations of another sort, however, of which he became increasingly aware as the years passed. No one could take from him the memory of a trip up the Yangtse River in China with George Dorsey, author of Why We Behave Like Human Beings, then Curator of the Field Museum in Chicago. This adventure took the two young men nearly to the Tibet border, through a part of China in which no white man had ever been seen within the memory of the oldest inhabitant. At one point a flooded river nearly brought a quick end to Webby's career. Years afterward he could bring to life in a few sentences the horde of villagers standing on the river banks hopefully waiting for the foreign devils to drown.

Webby gained much from these months of the only real education he had ever known. He started out a boy and returned a man, mature in his think- ing, adept in his art, broadened as only a highly sensitive personality can be broadened, by the im- pact of many cultures and many people.

Nothing less than New York would satisfy his growing ambitions at this point, and there he landed, almost down to his last hundred dollars, but fortified by a sturdy confidence in a talent which he knew was now worth a price.

For eight years he worked for a newspaper syndicate, doing political cartoons, and other drawings, including the series which he then called "Our Boyhood Thrills," and which delighted a later generation under the improved caption "The Thrill that Comes Once in a Life-Time." In 1915 George H. Doran Company published the first collection of his drawings in a book entitled "Our Boyhood Thrills and Other Cartoons."

One has only to look back forty years in the old

files of America's foremost humorous journals to appreciate what crude and primitive fun-makers our grandfathers were. It was a commonplace to lampoon the Irish, the Jews and the Negroes in childish and cruel caricature. The mother-in-law joke was still going strong and the endless pranks of the Katzenjammer Kids were a Sunday dinner conversation piece. Webster's humor had a flatter- ing subtlety, a robust geniality and a nostalgic warmth which appealed to many who were frankly bored with the slapstick pattern of the current funny men. Webby was bringing his art into higher levels of good taste, and nice people, who wouldn't allow an average, so-called "funny paper" in their homes, were laughing and remembering what they laughed at. Men began referring to him as "the Mark Twain of American cartoonists," and no accolade could have been more exact, or could have better pleased a man who knew Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn almost by heart, and who all his life thought of Twain in terms little short of idolatry.

A boy barely out of his teens, Webby once drew a pen sketch of Mark Twain and sent it to him. Mr. Clemens' acknowledgment, to the effect that he thought the likeness "striking," was framed with his photograph and hung in a conspicuous place on the wall of Webster's living room to the day of his death. And it didn't spoil his pleasure a bit when the author wrote to a friend : "This morn- ing I have received another heart-breaker. It comes from Webster of the Chicago Inter-Ocean. You will see yourself that it is too exact. This kind of accuracy, continued long enough, can ruin a man who is constructed as I am. I want to be pretty. I want to eliminate facts and fill up the gap with charm."

During the middle teens of the century, Webster had rooms in New York with R. N. Brickerhoff, cartoonist and illustrator, a product of Toledo, Ohio, and Ray Rohn, another artist of Ohio back- ground. They called themselves "The Ohio Wom- an Haters' Club." Webby lost some caste with his fellow-members on one occasion when Lillian Russell rather publicly dubbed him "that Greek God, Webster," but was beginning to live it down when a young lady named Ethel Worts turned up

10

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

in New York. Ethel hailed from Toledo and had come to town to study at Columbia and take some lessons in folk-dancing. Her fellow-townsman Brickerhoff persuaded his colleagues that the least they could do was to give her a cup of tea. Two weeks later, "after giving the matter profound thought," Webby drove her to the Little Church around the Corner, where they were married on August 2, 1916. There is a legend that part of the honeymoon was spent touring the country with Ringling Brothers" Circus Ethel riding an ele- phant, and Webby doing a trick with the clowns. Anyway, they lived together peacefully and com- panionably for over thirty-six years.

During World War I Webby had charge of the cartoonists" section of the Division of Pictorial Publicity, which was a useful cog in the Liberty Bond sales organization. The favorite of his own drawings made for this cause showed a couple of eight-year-olds, one dressed in the height of fash- ion and guided by a proper governess, listening with solemn helplessness to the other, a ragged, grinning little gamin who gibes pridefully: "My Pa he bought a Libity bond he did." The caption: "The Beginnings of Caste."

In 1920, a drawing he made for the old Life showed a silly-looking Republican elephant in a nightgown kneeling beside a trundlebed. It was entitled: "If I should die before I wake,"" and was published shortly before the convention which nominated Warren G. Harding. It caught the eye of that old Democratic war-horse, William J. Bryan, who used it as the text for a political article. Webby referred to it as Bryan's "sermon." He didn't like it and felt that the cartoon must have misfired somewhere. He didn't like Bryan, either.

In 1919, Webster commenced his long associa- tion with the New York Herald Tribune. Except for a seven-year stretch with the New York World, which ended shortly before it suspended publica- tion in 1931, Webby worked for the "Trib"' and its syndicate for the rest of his life.

In this period he abandoned political cartoon- ing almost entirely and was producing a succession of series drawings, each centered around some basic theme and pointed up by a catchy group title. Most of them lasted for years; at least three of

them lived on for a generation or more. Death or suspended animation was due only to malnutri- tion. I can"t think of any which succumbed to the deadly virus of a listless public.

"The Thrill That Comes Once in a Lifetime" and "Life's Darkest Moment," originally appear- ing under other captions, were the earliest of these and had the longest continuous run. "Poker Por- traits" was always popular, but trailed off in the twenties, when Webby gave up poker for bridge. "They Don't Speak Our Language" and "Our Boyhood Ambitions" were almost automatically short-lived, because occupations which develop a specialized slang are not unlimited, and neither are the dreams of potentially famous adolescents. "Events Leading Up to the Tragedy," "The Be- ginnings of a Beautiful Friendship," "The Boy Who Made Good," "The Man in the Brown Derby," "And Nothing Can Be Done About It," and "Are You Listening?" were each a vital part of American life at intervals in the three decades following World War I. "How To Torture Your Husband (or Wife)" and "Trailer Tintypes" were late products. The last of all was "The Unseen Audience," hilarious satire on radio and televi- sion, which won him the Peabody Award in 1948. for distinguished service to radio.

Your dyed-in-the-wool Webster fan, like a Sher- lock Holmes addict, or like me. is hard to persuade that any part of this tremendously versatile prod- uct is less workmanlike or indeed less amusing than any other. Each drawing is better than the last, and in the mass they have acquired an almost canonical sanctity in which priorities and prefer- ments are scarcely to be recognized, except pos- sibly in the two famous Lincoln's Birthday car- toons of 1918 and 1940. If your individuality must assert itself to the point of playing other favorites, then you had better cast a vote for the meek little man whom Webby created and named, and in whose person he poked endless fun at no less than H. T Webster himself. Not that they looked alike. Webby was well over six feet tall and big in pro- portion, with a pink face, a lot of unruly white hair, a quiet, deep voice and a perfectly respect- able chin. However, like Caspar, he had a pro- found respect for authority, and that included

11

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

traffic signs, Canadian guides, investment counsel, weather reports, gas station attendants, peppery old ladies and income tax agents. I'm quite sure he was not lacking in physical courage, but he com- bined an almost hypersensitive consideration for the other fellow's feelings with an inherent distaste for rows, and there resulted a cautious approach to many normal situations, an almost naive confi- dence in People Who Knew What They Were Talking About, which reached its ultimate joyous absurdity in Caspar Milquetoast.

Mr. Milquetoast first appeared as the unnamed hero of a cartoon in the New York World in 1924. It was several weeks before a second drawing in the series saw the light, and another month or two later a third picture introduced the little gentleman for the first time by the name which was to become a household word all over the world. Seven years later, Simon and Schuster published a collection of these cartoons in book form, and Webby lived to see the word "milquetoast" listed and defined in a standard dictionary.

Many of Caspar's experiences closely paralleled incidents in the day-to-day life of his artistic pro- genitor. Caspar had trouble with his car, his pipe, his golf, his fishing and his opinionated friends. So did H.T W. himself. Webby loved to drive, but couldn't change a tire. He was an inveterate pipe- smoker, but the pipe had to be of a certain shape and the tobacco was made up specially on a per- sonal formula. For several years he was a member of the Artist's and Writer's Golf Association, an outfit which arranged fantastic winter excursions to remote tropical golf links, and Webby tried con- scientiously to justify his connection with this lusty group by learning the game. I doubt if he ever broke 100, but he taught Caspar to play, too, in dozens of hilarious golfing pictures.

Mr. Milquetoast took up fishing about the same time Webby did, -sometime in the late twenties. The Websters had moved to a spacious house near the shore at Stamford, Connecticut, and had adopted as their family physician Dr. D. A. Sham- baugh, who had offices in a nearby town. This was the "Doc" in scores of fishing and bridge pictures, and it was he who introduced Webby to fly-fishing for Atlantic salmon. For years Webby would come

up from Florida about the middle of April, to be sure of being on time for the inevitable telegram from Jack Russell, who ran the camp, that the ice was breaking up on the Mirimachi.

Four was the required personnel on these trips, because Webby had succumbed in a big way to the fascination of the bridge game, and long evenings at the card table were an essential part of the fun. The foursome finally crystallized into Webby, "Doc," Judge Webb of Fairfield and myself. For years we played every Tuesday during the months Webby lived north, and the same crowd arranged a week or two at Webby's house in Palm Beach sometime in the winter.

But card games and fishing, much as he enjoyed them, were, after all, only recreational sidelines. His great pleasure in life was people, and he at- tracted them in droves. It was an unforgettable experience to be in any gathering with him and to see how, without self-assertion or effort, his corner gradually became the center of the room. Webby's voracious reading, his wide contacts and his in- stinctive good manners had combined to make him a person of stature and consequence, entirely apart from his particular talent.

I have never known anyone with so many friends. Modest almost to a fault, he had a healthy aversion to pushing or climbing or intruding, but invitations to everything from neighborhood luncheons to fishing parties in Scotland seemed to pour in from everywhere. Wealth or position, race or creed, had no place in his own selective process. I have heard him talk politics and history with ambassadors and with gas-station attendants. It was just as much fun for him to swap fishing yarns with a Maine guide as with the editor of a nation- ally known sports journal. He played bridge with Charles Goren or with my youngest boy with the same zest and the same courtesy. Restraint and sincerity were the keys to his respect, and to even a moderate degree of intelligence and a flicker of humor he was generously responsive.

Webby never would make a speech in public and steadfastly refused to appear on television. He was heard on radio only once a transcribed interview. For many years no one but his close friends knew of an acute arthritis which in 1927

12

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

cost him the use of his right hand. In three months he trained himself not only to write, but to draw, left-handed.

A few years ago the late Governor McCon- naughy of Connecticut appointed him to the Gov- ernor's staff with the rank of Colonel. Webby was flattered and pleased at first, but became terrified when the Adjutant wrote, requesting measure- ments for a uniform. Webby never sent them. For two years he stayed in Florida an extra fortnight, until he was "sure the military season was over."

You wouldn't have to be with Webby very long to be conscious of how genuinely kind he was. You would probably never be told, for instance, that he never took a cent of the proceeds from the sale of original drawings (they all went to the Herald Tribune Fresh Air Fund), or that he financed some needy youngster for a college education. But you couldn't avoid being warmed by the succes- sion of little thoughtful things which added up to as near a perfect score in human relations as it has been my privilege to see.

I remember on one of our fishing trips, a case of ale was stolen from our cabin. Someone else re- ported it, and the culprit, one of the guides, was caught and fired. Webby heard that he was the sole

support of his mother. Nothing would do but he must hunt up the old lady, tell her he was sorry it happened, and give her enough to tide her over until the boy got another job.

I wish there were space to speak of particular drawings which will live as long as American home life retains its inimitable pattern. Most of them are included in this collection. Only when Abraham Lincoln and Tom Sawyer become dated, only when little boys no longer love little dogs, and men and women have no time or inclination to some- times laugh at themselves, will H. T. Webster have lost the power to brighten our days and warm our hearts.

Webby died last fall, in a way which he might have chosen himself, had the choice been his. It was sudden, at the end of a happy week end with his old friends. It was at a time when age had not dimmed his view of life or his talent for expressing it. He would have sought no sounding epitaph, but I think he might have been content with what a great critic once said about Joseph Addison: "His tone is never that of a clown or of a cynic. It is that of a gentleman, in whom the quickest sense of the ridiculous is constantly tempered by good nature and good breeding."

13

I

Three Caricatures of H. T. W.

Drawn at various times by himself.

14

CARICATURES OF H.T.W.

5EVE1^AL OF US CHERISHED THE" AMie>moH

To BE Charles DANA Gibson's

OFFtCEl E)OV WHAT WAS VOUR.S ?

(Copyright, i9i5, by H. T. Webster.)

CARICATURES OF H.T.W.

COPR, 1923 (N. Y. WOHLD), PRESS PUB. CO.

16

CARICATURES OF H.T.W.

"TRVINS To THIMK OF^ 50^^eTHiMO-_

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17

II

Early Political Cartoons

Webster began political cartooning for the Chicago Inter-Ocean about 1908, but did little of it after 1919 when he joined the Herald Tribune Staff. He was normally a Republican; left the fold once, and temporarily, because of a personal liking for Al Smith.

EARLY POLITICAL CARTOONS

GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH THE NEW BABY

19

EARLY POLITICAL CARTOONS

20

EARLY POLITICAL CARTOONS

ANOTHER STRAY PUP

21

EARLY POLITICAL CARTOONS

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Copyright. 1918. by H. T Webster

ALL OF US WAR GARDENERS KNOW HOW YOU FEEL, WILHELM

22

EARLY POLITICAL CARTOONS

THE PROHIBITIONIST FINDS A HORRID OLD DANDELION ON THIS ESTATE AND WALKS HALF A MILE TO BURN IT IN THE KITCHEN STOVE

23

Ill

The Thrill That Comes Once in a Lifetime

and

Life's Darkest Moment

These two series had the longest continuous runs of all the Webster cartoons. Both titles were first used in the New York Globe about 1911. In the early days they were purely "kid pictures"; one started as "Our Boyhood Thrills" and the other developed from "Little Tragedies of Childhood," which dated from Webster's Cincinnati Post days. A collec- tion of them (his first book) was published by The George H. Doran Company in 1915. Later both series included many other subjects; both are still going strong, months after Webster's death.

24

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

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\'/'/' / CMd

PROOF •TH/^-r■^1^e Fff^ST

MUSTACHe IS VISIBLC AT A DiST^NJCe OF OMG FodT

43

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

44

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

U-3-'4t Cowal". l^tT. N. T. HerofJ Tribiine IncJ

45

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

School ha5 clo seo^ "n-te WA"re«2- [i wARo^ eMO(je>H for,

[3\-riM 6., "THC ClRCO$ l$ COf^lMG. To ToVUr-i.THe 6ASee.ALLTeAfvi HAS EtecXeP Htf^ ^\TCHe^ ArnOTHe C)rHLV <SiRL HAS VAJRi-r-reM A MO-re (3A(3irHc9 nets vgRv Scul.

Copr. 1925 (N. Y. World) Press Pub. Co.

46

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

47

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

hello, cl/^^r : Going Fishimg- ALL BV ^uRSeLF?/

M.-^ -^ \-^'

TUB DlSCO\/<5RV TH/^r

TtiSpte /^^e" TTmcs vjhgn

-JHE COMPAMIOMSHIP OF

/^ BEAUTIFUL W0'^/l^J (S NOT ewrrReLV aj^c^ssary

HtSS PATTfRliOMTTMli i MRS MOStCi

1 ALBERT worn- BE /^BlFToT^kE" h S PiAmo i

LF5>0mT0X)A/. he &UfcMED rtlL Hr3 Flr*<H^t: , ^■MaOTiMl> OFr FlPt PAC«€C5 OmTMU V-™ 1 Aie B&e Twr-y LL be WELC By MEVX WECK 1 VCi , I HOPe SOT-OO WETLL 1 M IT'5 Ovee FOP AnoTWtR -i-EAR-

48

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

ThFFiEST Time

HADT& RAV Fum Fy4eE TOP- you

JHL

OH,&oy. NO \A/AR.S. NO ATo/^IC BOAnB. MO DIPLOA1AXIC WRAMSLeS. AJO STRIKES. AJC COMMU/MIST PLOTS. OOST A AJICe, OLO-FASHIOMeD /\X AlURDeR AajD

A STORY FROM wiNsreo, e=oAJMee-r(euT- ABouT A (?HiCK<^AJ WITH SIX i_ees

/\ VERY ouD AjewsPAPeR

TftAT WAS F='OUAJD IMTfte A-mC

Mh

hjie'/

49

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

/ '

OUT OF The CHRVS/ALIS

/ 1 1 '

/

©(•9--*<D-M-V"^R-''i'JMtf i*jC

50

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

iH/E AWAK^M/MG To Ihe VALU£ OF PUBLIC ITV AND TfiG SeLSCTION OF A MeOIUM ASSURIMG A TRSMENOOUS C(RCULA~riOM

© '533 ^^.yTralStJ^*£. i-Jc

51

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

52

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

53

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

The CLIMGiMG V/IME

@ 1933 ^) y-TratBu»OE,i»oc

^V ^''

,€^

'^\^^

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

a. BARRfcL STT^v/es O

a. Pieces OF HARMiss-s— o

A. BRooM HAMPLeg O

ToTT^i- Cost

(£)l93B N.Y.-rfgiBviKiE. . i-vC

55

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

56

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

ItiS FIRST Tll^G

You HAD The ex-

F£RiEMC& OF"

OF /^lATCNeD CLU3S FoOi

IF "TiDU WAMT THAT 6A<3 OF CLuBS Trt&Y'R'e YOURS, I N<SV£R WAAJT"

To L/^V (Sves oM th' filthy^

THI/^GS ^S L-CKIOIS I Live '

57

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

gee! I UKE CHtCKGM

Too !

Xhs BoV who FoomD He HAD SOMeT7H/MC3 ISJ GOMMOhJ </^(TH HIS HSRO

©iqW- i-'--y-T&ie,uM£ i^c

58

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

59

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

60

THE THRILL THAT COMES ONCE IN A LIFETIME

61

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

62

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

63

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

NO SNOw)~^o /ee— AJO sk/ytikig?

AJO SLID (NO— Too <5/^RLV f=0^

PISH IWe -Too L^T& R?R R/^eeiT HUM-r/NG

loo y^/ARj^ To k-eeP oav flannels ~ too

CfOi_0 To TAK<£- TTVe/^ OFP —Too COCD To <30 S«a/'M^/(V/G or. eAR^FOOT

© IJOS M.y. TB1BUM6. IMC.

64

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

65

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

66

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

67

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

68

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

69

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

70

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

I - M r II~1TT

I see YcPuR. SON IS Re/\Di/\je that disgr/\c<£"Ful "HUCkTLeBtRRY F(mm"Book:. You KrJOVV, OF couRse, IT WASThROWM 0U7"0F/=\ library /M S0/'^<E^ AJf^W eAiGLAMD ToWM. AMOTHSR BLOOD AND THOMOeR gOOKYHAT S-HOULD Bfc KEPT ouT oFlHS HANDS oF //v/lPRe^SSIOM/^BLS BoYS IS TRtASURe ISL/^SjO" AND

I AM Takino Tne aiayycr up with TF/e library Board

evyeAJ BeFoRe TRe days of the:

COMIC 300KS \^Je HAD TR.OUQLE OVeR OUR /ADVeAJXuRfc STCDRieS

Copyrighr, 1948. New York Hecold Tt.bunc Inc

/2-7-

71

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

ALL THIS EK/£RLi\STIMC5 'TALK ABouT YouTH DEIhJG COAJRJSep IS MOM Se<\JS£-.

SeenS LIKe ^VERY RAPeR AND /MA&A2:/AJe I PICK UP iHESC OfiKYS NA5 SOMST-HIMG To

SAV ABOUT YoulH BEIKIG CONTUSED. l'^ GeTTI^G SICK OF IT, You YoUSJ&STEf^S VOSiT APPR<^C '^"f^ \t>Uf^ ADVAM-TAGeS. ^yo^^J, WHeN l WAS F/Vt V&ARS Y^Uf^Gef^

Thaw Vou ( wewT" To work /m a b^ick

VARO. got up at six eVERV MOf^lMG AMD

CTuMioR KnjowS This oAje

IT LASTS AM HOUR AMD A HALF

■y TaiBo-JE "^C

hif,'!'''^

72

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

A (3oV /^A^eO \AJILLie "CHRISTIAMIA TuFkKi" AhjO

/M/^Kes TTne usual, wicne-

*»a

(^m'

t^/

<g) I93g. N.y. TRIBUNE IMC

73

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

74

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

75

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

GUM/^V A^cCAPe IS CC'M/^JG To 0/^-r. He's o For 2, HiT-r/MG -AX 119. THe Veref^ANV SHOrTS-toP ust D To HAve Pl^mTV of stCjff^ euT Aee

IS TAk:(-M& ITS- ToLU. WHSM /^ MAN GETS To ee TH/R-rV Ve'ARS OLD He DO<^SM Move AROUN)0 WITH HIS CUSTOMARV 2.IP- HIS .exes SHOW THe RAVAeeS OF T7/^0e But OH, \aj<S(-u, THA-rs LiFe

A DODDERiMG OL.O OewT 0F45 LISTENS To A BASE BALL BROADCAST"

^5*^'

© n40-N Y TRIBUNE 1 NC.

76

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

Ij'tH^ G/RL^VA/HO For Two v^eeKS has

USED ALUTHS ORe-AMS, LOT/OMS, SOAP>?

AMD Powders Rc=ooMf^Gs\oeo ev

The HOLLVWOOQ STARS', eofKiCL-UDE-S- ■THi^T she (S mo more C5LAMOROU5 THAM usual

77

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

GORDoM, iW OUST BROUOHT S^uf^

pRtss 5'uiT Dovajaj from The /\TTtc, /MMO (WISH SWd look at it—

SfnPLV RIDDLED WITH A/)oTH holss] OF COURSE "r6(j ReALize what this- M^AMS we cam't go To THe

r /

OH, AlV eosH . Th/^t's awful / weLL, lbt's

TRVToTakg (T PHILOffOPHIC/^LLYi wo use RAILING- AT FATe

78

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

W<fll,hova7 dv/^ Like IT P 'Th£\' v^eRe^ H/^vif\J A SALe /^T A SHOP /V<S-AR

IH' oFF/ce", /^ND I Bought Siy or "e/^T not- bad,

Tne WOAI/qA/ \aJHO ^^S~ 6<S<S"AJ VJORKING SIX AIOAVTTWS OAV A SWeAT"(SR W/T7H WHICH To SURPRISE HeR HUSB/^f^O

%^^

<e^/

©1^37 ^)^YT^:lB^>P^e. mc

79

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

../i/^^^'^

'?/r'f'

/'/;.

NOT iHe TVpe

80

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

Copyright, 1921, H T. Wcb*l«r,

81

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

82

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

DOCTOE.,

H -H He's S-S- Sick.

Am" - An' - |

ro^yrtmi. rore. b7 » T WcbniJ

^^y

HE hVVS ruCH SENSITIVE LITTLE I FACE - ALM05T LiKE A Glt^L'5

SOMCTiME'^ HE If EvEn PftfTTiEE- TmAh Hi5 S"I5TEE. A"DHe'5 Tne /MOST "Ifer-iDeei-HlARTED L'l TiOv, RamDOLPh, ^'mg MiTi WATSON I

VouR 5weeT LiTTue 5oh& - tooj) A^oer-iiMGr meR

i-^

AMOH& TIC MEMBeTSi OF

The team Ai -rue

MueCilv Avt WILD CAT

i,^^

83

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

84

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

6«''"/

Copr. 1926 (N. Y. World) Preaa Pub. Co.

85

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

86

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

87

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

89

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

90

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

The uf-jReASO/\jAeLefyj<sss

OF lv/OA^<S/\) (M\

l^^'^§^;::.^^7

© 1537 N.y TKiauNE.lNC.

91

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

92

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

93

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

94

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

95

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

96

LIFE'S DARKEST MOMENT

"^t^sg^

POG-

ICopTiUM. i«i6. brlTT. Wt&dv^

97

IV

Our Boyhood Ambitions

and

The Boy Who Made Good

Two early groups of drawings. The first stopped because of obviously limited material (the "boyhood ambitions" were in each case authentic), and the other because there were not so many things which aroused the cynic in Webster. As he grew older he became gentler and funnier in dealing with human frailty.

98

THE BOY WHO MADE GOOD

/Amdv, MY Bov^ OH The str.eh&th

OFVOUP- IHTERVIEW WITH MIUUOMAIK.E

G-iLTRoy The Chief has asvced me

To MAlie VOU OuE. STAE- REPoRTtli- S0METHlMCrTEU_5.METDo TrtfVT BE6IMMINO

With Saturday youp. SALAtz-y will be ■* IL. fo A WE&i^ . YOU CAM iSo Home NOW AMD Paci^ YouP- G-RiP, we vyAHT VOU To EuM ovee_AMD

IHTECViEW ROBER.T E. LEE.

AHDR.EW CAEHEG-IE VA/AtsTE-D "lb BE A NEWSPAPEI2- REPOl^TE.R^

WHAT W/\'j VoUR. S

(Copyrigm. 1')15. by H. T. Webster.)

99

OUR BOYHOOD AMBITIONS

'50 "/A'VE BEEHAVvWlPPIHA-MOTMCB. PUPO^ HAVEYA? SEEMS LIKPVA. <2AW'T O-IT AUDHG-W|-m MO OME , WeLL , l^M A GQMMA MAtiE A

Example outa /a . (^sibP that l?>Lu&i>ER)M^!) VOU'R-E FIRED

OUirHAGO!"

'OH.MR.MCINT/Rtlj PLLASE GIVE ME

Just OME moe-e

CHAMCE ! "

BEIHGr PRIHCIPAL OF THE HiGrH SCHOOL. FOR. ABOUT 15 MIMUTE5

WHAT WAS YOURS?

100

OUR BOYHOOD AMBITIONS

101

OUR BOYHOOD AMBITIONS

(Copyright, I9l5, by H. T. Webster

102

OUR BOYHOOD AMBITIONS

CHAE-LES RlH&Liri<S,THeClie AtAN , WAMTEP "To OWN 2. ELe PHA nT5AMD/ALlQH Am HAVe HI5 /MOTHER S PER.Nl5i To TEAlM "Trte/vi (MTHt KlTCHEl

(Copyright, 1916. by H T Webster.)

103

OUR BOYHOOD AMBITIONS

5ENATOI2- WIIDAM E.eORAH

WANTBD To BE A R/VILWAY COMPUCTOfa.

(Copyright, t9l6, by H. T. Webster.)

Cit<hV

104

THE BOY WHO MADE GOOD

105

THE BOY WHO MADE GOOD

MR. BLAB/MORe, A/ow 'mAT /^L_ HAV<F The DATe AND PLAO^ OR

Y&ufR eiRTH, LemE- H^ye the sr<oRVoF VouR CL/Aie To rAMe

COLL^Oe WHAT DID VOU DO?

^A1,'FAIL5D AT- LAW; THe BOMD BUSfWeSS AMD ir^SORASlCB GO OM

GOT FeD UP

WITH That and w£Mr /NTO APVe'ftTVSI/MG.

Got out of That

AMD

17^e^J i weMT /nto Polit/cs and

UeP^RN^D THAT- I HAD ThfE" G/FT oF ©AB AND COULD CON\/\MCe -The MoB THAT Two AMD Two yyfyOE SIX

I SCLD BomDS For. a Few weeks,

AMD TfteN VJeNT INTO A ^-AW OFRCt. I didn't GeT A(-ONO WITH THe P/\RT^/fcR5", So 1 cpuiTAMD WtMT /MTo (NSuRANCe. DlD^/'^~ LIKt That and TRfSD RSAL iE\S77\Te-

FAILED /Ay REAL iSSTATiE AMD AOVSR- TlSlhJG- COmPLETS FRUSTRATlONJ,

EH?

Theki my Father SeT ME up /M THe

COAL euSIMESS, Bui HARD LUCK FOLCOWeD]

^e. TF/e eu^iN/es's w^nt bankrupt

AMP MOW VouRe

AM OUTSTAMD(Me RABBLE-ROUSER

I MEASI S'TAT^SA^AM- A ReMARKABue

STORV; AlR-

PLABMORe

HeH/H£H/ i'm

afraid Vou're

GNING> eMTlRecY 'Too /MUCH Cf?eOlT, VtouWS MAN

]06

THE BOY WHO MADE GOOD

107

THE BOY WHO MADE GOOD

yes,S(R That's

Rt<3HT

VieLL, OLD rcMSR , ]

STILL- K^ORKII^G

OM WUR PSRPe-TuAL. j

I

Bfi^CK IN eiGHTY MlhJ£ ( -THOUGHT ( HAD IT, BuT

/v/iY FLY vJHeeL- was oveRweiGHT /^'^' I n^p T??oueLe

/'m ow th' R(6ht Track NOy^J , Young FeLLeR.AWoTMc?^' Five YeARS /^w' I vjon't hak/s

-To WC-R^Y, i'll HAVe A10RC-

MoweY "Tham I C'^w SPeMP

( \/e e^GN A Va/ORKIM OM ("

A^Aw am' 6oy PeR sev/er^yTY

Two V^-^RS. I STARTED

vjHeN I WAS- NiNGT^er^

I PuRtY mcar had (H

IN NINGTYT^O, &OT SCMeTHINl' We^JT WI^OMG WITH ON<S OF -Th' CfM-^ SHAFTS' ,

Le's see, You Re

AeOUT NINETY ONe, i^R€N'

i'll ee NiKJSTY Two Th' first OF PeceMi5eR

108

THE BOY WHO MADE GOOD

5/<^V, OLD r^/^ii^, I TUST. ,_(e^'(eD -IHC Sic mevvj^ ! Gee^T STOFF! 1W/=.NJTA

CoMGis^TOL-A-re van

109

V

Dogs

There isn't a Webster series into which a few dogs didn't stray now and then. His latest book of cartoons (Life with Rover: 1949) collected the best of them. Mrs. Webster owned the poodles, but Webby liked them, too.

The most famous of these dog drawings was the one entitled "Collabo- rationist," a term in common use during the Second World War to de- scribe the sort of Frenchman who played along with the Vichy (German controlled) government.

110

DOGS

DOGS

112

DOGS

113

DOGS

WHO FCLL PR|NC<SSS .■»>

<g)i»wjy T»i

114

DOGS

'i^,

©i^i%

115

DOGS

116

DOGS

Hev, ve Duf?N fool! wHcpe vc coim"? TWen Ain't his Tf?ACf^s TMev's ovcf? Hei?€!

CAh4'T Ve Sf-iGLL NUTHIM' '<'

?^r

TMe BLOODHOUND'S Bl<S. OPPOR>TaN IT V

A(?Rives wmgnj He is in thc th(?>ocs

or A BAD SaMr-i€:R coLD

^i^

'^^^Z

/,',J,^

117

DOGS

(Copyright, 1917, by H. T. Webster.)

"but for the grace of god there goes fifi'

///0 r///'

118

DOGS

VI

Poker Portraits

and

Bridge

The first group was one of Webster's most popular during tfie late teens and early twenties. It stopped when he gave up poker for bridge around the time of the big depression. He said no card game could survive "deal- er's choice," "deuces wild," ten-cent limit and women players. A nostalgic pictorial record of the sturdy all-male jackpot game, with table stakes, was published in 1926 with a foreword by George Ade.

The first of his three collections of bridge drawings had come out two years before the poker book, and much of his best and funniest later work was done under the caption "Bridge."

120

POKER PORTRAITS

121

POKER PORTRAITS

Tm bettimg

Two berries!

'av*''!

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECT OF A BIG STACK

122

POKER PORTRAITS

tt^i^l-

HOW OUR MOTHER USED TO PICTURE A FRIENDLY GAME OF PENNY

ANTE

123

POKER PORTRAITS

THE FLOW OF WISDOM

124

POKER PORTRAITS

Co^T^2 , s'o AN th' Cigars* 7, €'0 AN T(^e(?e wef?e ^holcs eoi^NED.N -Th' Rufr . I woM*86.2 5". iFTHese

CHECKS An I.O.U, S f\«.£ ALL Goo£?_ TlL only 6eOUT/ABO«jT*3y. 'HAT I

IS IF I Can (SeT ANew/f^uG- 'FoP. WHATTHfS OMe Cost

THE BIG WINNER

125

POKER PORTRAITS

DRAW 5 one CTARPTB FOOfS ACeS Ar4p 6eTS KeLUCTAM-TLV -

(SexS A CLu6 WHEM He NeeDS A HeART-BETS Ar-«f7 SCAKe 5 A (MAr-t with

STAMPS Pat OM sevens UP. 'SersTne lkvu-tamO IS MOT eAccei?

THE INSCRUTABLE POKER FACE

126

POKER PORTRAITS

127

BRIDGE

128

BRIDGE

129

BRIDGE

130

BRIDGE

131

BRIDGE

\

( HO/^CR , l\'£ FIGuf^eO our -This w^Y You coulO HAv/e MAD£ That &ramd \

Ts Leo You OISC/^RO o^Je of Dua?mvs

VOUR HAND WIT-H TNff ACe. -"^eM ^fco

HAMD BY RuFFrM& THg-ftReeoF SPApes^

C«Prw|H. 190. He

13:

BRIDGE

/Vl CeKTAINLS' GLAD To K^EE-nflE W(Fe OF THc LUCKISS-r BRIDSe PLAVeR IM Towaj-

I Hope J?/^ 6OU&HX You A MliMK COAT OUT oF HIS LAST A/l&H-rS VA/(/VA/IM&S. Al/^VBE HE -ruRWS OV.SB; ALL HIS- PROFITS To You, '1H^_

vj'aY we Do vjiTH OUR vj/ves. vyeLL, if hc

Dots I'm TALKIM& To A f^lCH VJOMAAJ

GeNTteMesj, 'You HAVE HEARD MY oPPowea/t" PIOTWO HiF;<^RTS,' This- ISA CHALCSA/Ge To evERV Tv-IO-FtSTEO, RcD-BLOODeO AMC^/CAa NO MAhJ CAKI OOU3T MY S fAJCeRITY,' I STAND OaV my RfcCORD .' MY UPe IS AW OPtM BooK .' ,

W<? WILL FACeTHE issue WITH Flf^i^ ReSOLVf.

iiD Two SP'^OHS / ^— ""

Sir DOWN, senator!

133

BRIDGE

134

BRIDGE

135

BRIDGE

136

BRIDGE

^

137

BRIDGE

CHRISTMAS.'! DO vou

©H3< N y THiBuMfe '-C-

138

BRIDGE

FROA^ THe PRosPec-rus

AMD AFTeR SUPPeR, He/q LTH (LV TiR^D FRoA-i Your. DAV om THt- STREAA^,You sink iKj-ro A SOFT f5£D OF FRAGRANT BALSAM, and ARE G<SMT"LV LULLtD INTo DRCAMLeSS SLUA^SiFR BVTN(S WH(SPeR(MG P/^ye^S AMD THE CR{CK£T CHORUS^ To AWAf<ew Re FRESHeO AT ROSY DAWAJ BoRoRe THe FIRST LA^V SPIRAL OF SMOKfc RlS(SS FROA^ THO BRe/^KPAST FiRt

Qi-^ai- ^.y Tre-iSofvie mc.

139

BRIDGE

OOH MOW I

ttm play my

ACe, TAMT I

■P

ess ou "TAf^

/\n' bu CATCH A^y DReAT BIG

ICKLe CRAC»<Pot/

If ^^'^^'^/'

140

BRIDGE

141

BRIDGE

142

BRIDGE

|^%"<^>:<:^^:x:?:::>>"x^^^

©ig<l -M.y -n;^ieutv>£ i^.c.

143

BRIDGE

Bee paroom,

But 'The house NEXT Door is CM Fire

RIDICULOUS

-TX/Oute i—e

^wmmm.

144

BRIDGE

Portrait of Your OAueHTSR. HAS HCR OL.D MASl's <^Y£S AND Mose Too

gam't ser

A WAV FR'OM

HeRieDITY.'

BAH ■' '^'J SX PLooeD TSeoRV. This &iri- will

VteARS OLD NSXT MONTH, AMD SHe STJLL LEADS AWAY Ffi^M AAV

145

BRIDGE

146

BRIDGE

THB ^RlD&t GAMe AT TtAJ

o'c?LoeK You <^iAV S"e/$ve umTIL ( TiEL-u You

147

BRIDGE

k:.^^'/

148

BRIDGE

149

BRIDGE

150

BRIDGE

■'''/yy^yyy'-

(T S tTuST owe A'l/MuTe To Twe(_ve

/^MD I iH/MK we /^L'_ SHOULD S7?^MD UP; HOLD HAaJDS /:\ajD S(NC5 /^ULD LAM(3 SYKI& , t'(^ FRlGHrFULLV SeNTIMBNTAL-

ABOUT New/ vgar's eve

1 1 1

RUBBeR GAMe, SIX wo 7?$uMP DouSLeO AND R(5-Dou6LeD

©1537 N.yTtr.suUE. INC

151

BRIDGE

152

BRIDGE

\r]\

w*::"

v'v-.viiii'"" '■

\\- \«i "Ml

■\

;uw

ill

v>*^''- K

■V ^--^^r^

^XCXoRe. OF Twc? M£^/\J

(c]l-13-1 M y Tf^'BurJl^ iNC

'^S^vif

f , n \ V

,.-^^

L,,U'

153

BRIDGE

Bid out of Torm, TT^u^peD AMD BLoeKeD MeRse^LR /nj dumaov

'f^'^/ ^^^^/

'i'D37-MW-TTaiBowe

154

BRIDGE

155

BRIDGE

/viv oeAR, eveR since weVe eeeN AiAf^f^ieo

we've SHAReD eveRYtHtAJG -TbOETHiSR. - /^LL OUR. O&VS -^NO SORROWS. A/MD H/=^ve / e^veR CONCeALEO ANYTHING FROM Vou UuST To SPARE VOUR FeeLlNGSy NO. ALL. R^C^Hl- Thsn I W/^NT To T&Z-L. Vfc>u >^60UT -T^/e HAMD I Het-O ON TH£ -m^tKi

-Tonight and how/ i playgd it / DEALT AMD we we^e '

\/ULN£RABL£

'6

r~Tn

-The scN-r/Me/oTAL

APPf<OAiCH

f^ih

^)i9mS ■■ y TfZjBUm^^ -- -C

'U'l?

156

BRIDGE

L/LL/AM,THIS /S THfc S<^CO/UO T7/Mc ToMICS'HT' YaUK/e TT^KSKI /^B OUT OF A 0USlf^(ES S OouBLt. / A/^ MO(/<f ABLG Tg V/e\A/ iHt /MMISJ<SSJr OeSTf^uCTtOM OF Tne VJof^LD BV XH^ /^"TOA^ Boa^B W(T"M /^

oeeRee of c^oMPLACEhjcY

"Xne PHiLosaPH^K

@'<9*J<j O V TfZ<gu>/<; .*J

157

VII

The Timid Soul

Webster is perhaps best known as the creator of Caspar Milquetoast, the Timid Soul, who first saw the hght in the New York World in 1924. He has since appeared in books, movies, radio and vaudeville. In this series the artist literally added a word to the English language. "Milquetoast," with a small m, may be found in most modern American dictionaries.

158

THE TIMID SOUL

159

THE TIMID SOUL

\aJH£M V^ GOlf^' To

Put pack WHe^e

A HURRlCAMe BLOU/S

OM <^R,^^/LpU(ST£3AST'S HOuS<S

©'g3g-N-y.TK.I»UM« .MC

160

THE TIMID SOUL

MR. MILQUETGA^T AJeveR LIKG'S To 3G SEG^J LcoKlNG AT UNORAPeD STATcJARV

©19^0- "-J y TH-iPunE mC

161

THE TIMID SOUL

162

THE TIMID SOUL

163

THE TIMID SOUL

Pose For. a photo to ee useo /n

/^o7£ - The PL/^W<5 is om TT^t Gftou^D

/^4^l

,4*^/

164

THE TIMID SOUL

165

THE TIMID SOUL

166

THE TIMID SOUL

MfS.. ^rsoucwoicpise", / L.L. CoNceoc

ITT '^H'^T GKJC^ VCXJ /^ ^. Wg- LOST. /Vl H/^K/e ^ 5 (F I $(NK

My purc-r, Wf-^iCH i'll ff2oe^6Lv

a ItACi^ PUTTS

Ui7

THE TIMID SOUL

168

THE TIMID SOUL

164

THE TIMID SOUL

'''''l'ii^irU-,*t4_,^

V ^ ; -V,:

^iA^

^i^,

©1935 »J.y.T(ti&wwe, ixJC

170

THE TIMID SOUL

THE TIMID SOUL

I^R./^ILQUSTaAST SHIFTS FROM FIRST To H/GH

<2) 1936 Ni.y. TRiSuNJE,iwc

172

THE TIMID SOUL

-To Try CMeuJiNe. -iseAcco

li^^

eA,

©l'?3'^- ^<-V Tg.i&uME IMC

173

THE TIMID SOUL

174

THE TIMID SOUL

e>e£N IMV(T"<SD DOWlMTo H£<^DQUART(5RS To lOeMTlFy TH€ /^AnJ VJHO STOLt HIS CAR.

175

THE TIMID SOUL

176

THE TIMID SOUL

/^R. /^iLQUeTO/^ST RtADS OKI THe LABeL OF/^ BoTTLG OR

Meoic/M^ TfyAT <s^eH s-rdom FuL CPowlA^MS 4,000,000

©iqsq ro Y-re-isui.J£ IHC

177

THE TIMID SOUL

I'n QerrTisjG sick /^no riReo

WATc;H^M<5 V&U LOAF 0MTH/5 U^o6- I Suppose Vfe-u Thimk

THe WORLD owes You '^ LtVIM&« GeT euSV WITN THAT BRooAO

OR ILL K(Cf< Vt'U OFP THE PLAee. VOU H<SARP A^e,' WHAT^ T?V-<^tP

Vt)U AMP WHO eLse P

/MR« M/L(^ueToAs"r HAS BeeN

RCADIMCS A 600 K OnJ HoV^ To AC?(9UIRe A DOA^/MATf'M© PeRSONJAL-lT''T"

©i^s^f^-y TctBuMe IMC.

178

THE TIMID SOUL

*"^'*«4M«-v,^

wm

v/

/,

Copyn.hi P,t„ Publnhinn. Co (N™ York Wotid) 1930.'

174

THE TIMID SOUL

180

THE TIMID SOUL

isi

THE TIMID SOUL

gW^x^^^^^^X^:^:^;^^^^^^

,0 _ '2-. -^m .,

THE" L(Tr'^<F 6oV /we-x-T Door h/^s bc^^m pr/^ct/c/mg

For iHiS LAST Two HoURS

(g) ig"=

M V "rre.iaufcj€

182

THE TIMID SOUL

183

THE TIMID SOUL

y'km<3w what

I SHOT THIS

A Rorr'N 79;

I'm THROUG/H WITH -Th' F/LThY OAMG ! an'

This Time I Me AN it'

DOn'-T T^LK To S

MeA^our PUTRiP golf/ / t?/^/^^

WITH /AN 81 » V/H£N A MAM SHOOTS OV/^R g'O Heb (?eTTeR G/ve- OP Th '

That's vjhat

\'^ OONNA

UH ~ NGwef^ MIND, OPERATOR,

CANceu That

GALL

.y^^

184

THE TIMID SOUL

MR. M/LQUerOASX isn't ALW/^YS Umio

/-/ Z- ^3 Copif.ghr, 1948. N T Htra\i Ti

185

VllI

How to Torture Your Wife

and

How to Torture Your Husband

The artist himself has described this group as depicting incidents in the life of every happy family. He adds that the more the family can laugh at them, the happier it will be.

186

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

n

WHY DoMT \iDu G£T SOMe-THISJG

like: That "P

,^\th

^^t9<»0. M-V TgiftuMC mc

hi^r/

1S7

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

188

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

HmI soup

To -MIGHT,

GUESTS

CHlCKBhJ I

VJELU~\aJELL. !

'^^^f^-

^(ilf-^ \ ^^

^5!!

vjetL, c?uiT-<s ^

IF YOU w^Rt -(RYIN& To &iv/e OUR Guesrs Tne imPRessioi^ that we Live ON/ Pork amd p^ams wHeNJ we'f?<5 ALoi^E you

CcRTAlNLY

189

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

HEFiBS SOMBTHlhJG' TH^-T A^AV /WT&fteST YoO, (Ve ^ADfc

A RSGoftO oFTne MUA^eef^ oFf/Mes Vou useo THe ad-

Vou Liseo THE WORD 78 TiA^es. \t?(j APPLieo n-To OOC5S, CH/LDRew,Movfe ACTo/^s-, Houses, fyA-rSiDRes^^e^^

eARR(W<3S, MUSTAiCHeS, P<5N(5U(MS, SW/^r^/Mfe PoolS, MATCH gOX^S^PlOKLG FORKS, AUT&^oe/LeS,T?^AFF(e

CoPS; PICK€T FeMces awd R^g- Roes, ^amd /^i

ALMOST eV^R-V/NSTAWCe YoO MISUS60 TH(S WORD,

c?uT^ mgams sharp— CL-eveR

190

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

HEY I Look out / You'll bust /^ll

['--'-'-'^-'-^-iri-i^-"^-'-'-'-'— ^''■-'-■-'''-'j

THS IMPUL-'SiUe HUC3

©t^i-J-M y.TKlftUMe (MC

1^1

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

OF A^ASCARA ON y&uR /^ose,

/NMD what's Wlf^Of^& W(l>y

Your ORessT Does/\j'-r s-ee^ -75 H-^we ri©ht; «Ave Vbu Got

{T OM eAGKKj^AR.O^ r'

-XHE- MASJ Va/HO DoesA^-

©1339 My.Tre.BusjE.uc-

192

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

193

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

The AMGLERS

,<iK

W7

( we've eeeA/ eLC/iAiiMG oux \ouf< oRessef? AMP TReRefe A Tot^ OF Rubbish /w Tfte uppet^ PR/^weR.s /^ LOT- OF LerreRS -m/^-r ^Re

TfeM YS^RS OLD —ABOUT- -Two DoZieM OLD SOLF SCOR.es —A STACK OF- AJ^WSPAPeR CUPPINGS— A RAProF F/SH/W© -TACKLe

c?Ar^t-o©ues— so/wt Pipe cceAMe^s awd

A MESS OFOTHSR. STUFF. A/0\^, WHAT" Do^ >tJ(J WAMT /we To Do WITH AL

194

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

195

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

196

M

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

197

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR WIFE

I S6£ -That ma^j. i see -fne car. coakmg oot cF fne Sioe STTaeeT. i won't pass TPe car ahead

UAJITl its SAF6 To DO So. //^ A^OT GoiMCb Too

FAST" /'m Doing 2.5, which is 5 uMDCf^ "TF/e L^OAL limit: I see'fHe 6dY oNiHG bicycle.

j S£^<5 -Th^" Dog CRoSSI/sIG 'Hve Road 2 BLOCKS AHEAD. W<5"Re ^U ABouT To SAY SO/^ETHING,

veART

^■y

V'^^/y^^K

y(f

198

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

199

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

200

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

■S-

"3

(DM, S¥©AI^?is)niE) IHlAKIIDI^IEIIlCffimiiFf

201

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

i^e itty Bitty

#Tea Shoppe

,-^/

r

V7HV, Vou SAID Wt COULD LUM CH /^WV PL^Ct I W/^MTIFD

202

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

VOO-HOO I OH

H6Re i An !

203

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

204

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

euT> PAf^L-l^7<5, DOAJT GGT SO UPSerZ I KN/OW You SLAVoD

C?V<5R IT ALU SUMMSf^, 3U-r /^LL I SAID WAS THAT IT T^ST<^S UKa ANY OTHER. CABBAee

:<iK

W7

205

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

/ OH, DARLING' Oo/^T ose

-fHe GU&ST 7owe/_S / C?0/^PAK]V POR DIAJAJe^/

You'll Find a Box or p/aiP<SR. Towels //^j TRe L(Me/M closet/

WITH HIS EY(ES FULL aF SOAP HE GETS HIS IMSTRUCTIOAJS

(c) it^tj-l tj V TreiBu^e

7-i-

206

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

OA(K-LIMO, Do

You Lov<s- M^'r'

VJELL., I WAMT To H^AR Vou SAY SO- RlGHTOuT LOUO- WH/)Tfe THAT? / csamV" AlAKe" ou-r

WHAT S-fauR^ SAV/MG;

dom't Bi^Lieve

You LOV<S A1(E AT /^LU. (F V&U DID v^U W<:5ULDM'T-

UH-Y^S /■A/De<5D.

We WILL &/ve THe AiAT-ref^

CUR lMMe:D\f\Te. AT-re^NTlOAJ . (ER-UH-"rfe"S, THAT-'S SO.

/'ll chsck

UP At-iQ CALL

\bu ^ACKr.

Y<5S-V^S

DURIKJe 6(JS^AJeSS HOURS

^Jtt>afe-M YftaSoMg

207

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

208

HOW TO TORTURE YOUR HUSBAND

209

IX

The Unseen Audience

This is the series which at first caused an uproar in the radio industry, but in ] 948 resulted in the Peabody Award to Webster "for distinguished service to radio."

210

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

21 1

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

IHE eCH

212

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

" -THIS C\rY IS THE LARGEST IN lH£ UNIT6FD STA-T^S."

" BROOKLYN ?" "no, 6UT You're close, one of its tallest

3UILDINOS IS-TftE EMPIRE STATE'/ ''OH.EMPIRE CITYP

''NO.euTTHE NAf^E STARTS WITH N-E-W.' ' OH.NEVJ

cre-RSEY?" "No,^/El^/^eRSEY \sastate-notacity.

rms CITY WAS NAMED AFTER THE DUKE OF YORK. ''OH I KhJOVJ-YoRK, PENNSYLVASJIA'.' "'NO, IM AFRAID NOT here's another hint- one OF THE f 'TYS AIOST FA/viOUS STREETS IS NAMED BROADWAY- ^^^^"^^^^ YONKERS ." ''NO. THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE. VJHAT ^ CITY ARE Vou IN RIGHT NO\^?''

SIVE ITHIS BRIGHT LADY J fT^^^^^ C^^IZ' FIFTEEN HUNDRED / ^ASY J ^guesIeO, DOLLARS/ ^ ^^^ y ^ ^^ \ Toledo

-•T^

Copyright. 1948. New rorli Herjid T tbunc In

<o 3o

213

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

EIGHT o'clock. TlMe

You G^ABB<ED SO/^e

A po\ajoer/ SCRAM:

ThE INFUUEMC^ OF RADIO OM GRA/MDMA

^tf,

(c)f^i ^•yv^.\e>u*J£ imc.

4- 3o-

hi^C''/

214

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

WHV ain't You Smart L/Ke THeM q>ui:z. kids 7* V/\ could ^<5 (^arajim' a lot of a^oolah

/MST15AD OF A^e" Va/ORK^Aj' AIV RAyGtRS To Th' Bom€

215

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

"•w.-

jj^VA, ^ GeT IT, BILL?

That FULL- BOD I eD,

D<5L/C?A-T(f; HAUNTINGLY FRAGf^AMT Af^O^A

-TAKE A DfiAG^ AN' lASre- HAPPY

Boy/that -janta-

EXOTIC SCiEAJ-r/ M-^-^-M GOOD-

M-^-M-M Good!

Yes, SIR, iTS THE

Tobacco That,

COUNTS

The (mfluence

OF RADIO 15

rAR-REACH\NG

©iq^T- ►< V.-nziBuiJC^Me~ 5~2.l*

216

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

217

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

*^/\WD MOW OUR NEKT CONleSTT^MTT YOUR N/^MG; PLEASE? "MRS.OTTb SM/ALTZ/' ^^ AND VJHERE IS YoUR HOAie, /WRS. SMALTZy'^ ''east DKAIAvJAGe, NEBRASKA." '' H^W LOA/G

HAve You Be-<FM aiakrk^d"?'' ^^tw-^nty s/x year's." "How DID Vbu Ajeer mr. saialxz:?" *' i Aier him at a

DANCe " ''HOW A7/^A7Y DATES DID YoU HAVe BeFoRe

OTTO rRK^D TO KISS You?" '' aH , FouR or Five i euess.

'MAiD WH^N DID H<S PRoPOSe?'' '' I TH'MK /^BOOT- A MONTH AFTER ^EMET/' ^' ONE -^ "^^05^ eAOJ.OUS^

«, -HH/MK Hf SA\D, 'HOW AeOOT YoU /^AJO I G^TT/AJG /H^K f ' RIEO?" '^ANO DID You /\CrePT/)TOAJCe,Of^ DID YOU

-THISJK You we^e Tfie HARD-To- GETIYPE?"'

'V

PRELIA^INARIES To /ASKING IF WATiER FLOWS UPHILL OR DOWM HILU

,<^^

Copyright, 1949, New York Herold Tribune Inc.

7-/3-

W7

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

~N

I Hope we CAM see The

-^fyX SINGS 7h£ LNER FILL SONG

DISHPAN HANDS DISHP/AM HAMOS -TfieV WILL KEEP

awaV 'Thb mans. IfVou vjanT some

REAL ALLURE-USE dLATHER SOAP AND ^EEL SECURE <PO

A d\0 IM— PRove^^e^JT

ON i^Dio.

I've ALWAYS

deeN CURIOUS

fb SEE THE PEOPLE VJHO SING THE COMMERCIALS

219

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

YOU DID F/MRLY WSLL WITH KRISPY- i<RUNCHY, AND NOW we WILL take: up /^-M-M-GaOO' I WANT You To FAY P/^RTfCULAR ATTeA/T/OM To Tne ROLLING

M AND The emphatic emphasis on good, all right,

J NOW /^LJ_ T'oaeT-HGR A1-A1—A1-A1- GOOD''

220

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

221

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

vJHEM That A1A^7 of VbORS

e^T's Ho/^r FRo^n -TFie

OFF/C(E"OR FACTORY TTr^D

/^Mp humgry; surprise

HIM WITH A SPIAJA CH

SHORT cAKe^^ ArJ eAsrio

/vjAKfc DISH -rfVATIS SIMPLY^ VuMf^V. HGRe's HOvJ OK/eRine SPiNfiiCH SPRIMK-Le" TRRee cups OF GRATED PARSNIPS —lH£N ADD -Tv70 SLlCep BA/VAMAS, HALF A euP OF A^OLASSeS AMD

i(i f\

"^

\v///y/y. ///yu///yyyyyy.

V''

7^'^"'^-l

j^=r'^^*"' *" '--.-^ c

"^^f^^^t'^t'^^^^

<-^i

'- >::>^^,

^■MVlkjBUve I

T)T

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

equAl- To A HALF HOUR OF UMDILUTe^D HORROR?*. ALL RIGHT ^ BUT «F VOU SHOULD FEGL. SICK FRO/v\ SHe<5R TERROR A \^HIFror AM^O/^IA WILL HeLR /^FTHR ALL THERE IS MarHING QUiTe SO UPSETTING AS MUR-R-i^C)^f^~ ha! ha! HA /-ESPECIALLY VJH€N IT HAPPeMS IM A HAUMTeD HOUSS , FULL. OF B/»XS AMD SC?ueAKV DOORS. AS OUR SToRV OPfc/VJS A -THUMDfcR SToRM IS RAG/AJ& . (^Ru^BLCz- Bd/^BLG )

IT IS MIDNIOHT. L-IST-<^m/

IS FUNNY

w:«>

t)'

^/eS SIMPLY A SCREAM

.^xsy

\m

\y

(g)/9v^- f-iyrrTZJSu/je

¥(''/

223

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

ALL RiOHTj VJi^^ GuY^ yhu ASK^D

FOR ir. BANG/ BANG/ Thump!

SCRAM, ZrcD^f ITS Th' COPS'.THeYf^ /^r-Thi' Voaf^/ KSJOCKIKNOCKI HSY, You ' OPEN Up! Wfc GOT Th' HOUSB SURRCDUNDBOf OKAX BOYS, SMASH IN

YH'Doof^! CR^-A-SH! bang!

bang! bang!

>^

NO^,HUSH. CHILD R£hi. PAPDV'S YAKlhie HIS NAP

y^y

(C)(9^fc-g y Tg^Bwfcte .mc-

224

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

NO"^ ,LOOK, MO-JHeFK^ou WAAJT To WIM A WASHING AlACH/Me, DomV Vfour" ALL RIGHT. SO, WH^M TFyeV ASK ^fou VJHeRB "You LlVSYou SAY SROOKLVAV. NEVeR MIAJD V^HV: IT A^AKSIS TR^M FSEL eOOO^ NOVJ^THG largest city IhjTHe UMiTeD STAies IS new YoF^k^.THE FIRST PR(?SIDeNT WAS V/ASHIK/GTo/V^ AA/D Two AMD Two Ai/\Ke FOUR

225

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

Two OUT AMD 7h' eAses LO/^oeo. HERe Comes swjeEMeY,

(F SO Vou ARe AioT- GerrisiCb e^ouoH CALCIUM IN YouF^ rccD. Go^rt> Vfouft, /gefGHBORHOoD DRUGST&Ro ToDAV A/^D ASK For 6LAr^/fcRS AiA/L "T^^eLeTS PR|Ce25<^ -35 For THt eiCy CrCoWOMV Size Box. ^e^'?'^ 'S WHAT/^ F/^MOUS HoLLVwooD SrAR SAVS ABOUT -

D D C

D

u

lO^i

^)r^'^S *-■ y '77z'l2<-/'Vti f*JC .

226

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

\0(f^/

227

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

TH/s IS 'Xne HouF^ For relax— ATio^j. "f&s^ Folks, oust sit back, CLose ^L/^Vves and R<Fs-r. l&t" YcuR mino C/ARRV Vo<j gently To

SoA?fc TROPIC/^L Bf/^C/H, STRGTCH

Yourself lazily Ueacth a SHSLleR-

NG PALM AND USleN TblHS SOFT

AiuRMeR or A 'TuRcfuoise seA as

(T LA\/e5 IHE GOLDEN SANDS. Y^S, AlY FRIENDS^ You VJILL FIMD THAT-

A^IHE PoeT SAYS ~ -The cares, ^AT (NFesT The day, shall Fold -Their i&nts, like -The ara&S,

A\^0 AS silently steal

z

A-- - ^ '•-<

d

J>

f<IMDLY PHILOSOPHER

''^ih

Copyright, 1948. New York Herold Tribune Inc

„..- "^n

228

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

TH^ eoMMiT-r^c HAS Passed A^J APPRoPRi/^-riosj FbRTHRtfc BiLLioM Dollars of VJHICH Two

HUhJDRGD MILLKDhJS Af^(^ e/^RAIA/^KfcD FoR, ^^^^QI^Tt use, SEVEN HUNOf^ED MILLIONS

WILL GO To The Reserve Fusjo, Fouf^ humof^eo

^/LLIO<klS W/LL Be SP<SNT- BEFoRE THE EMD oF

THt FISCAL Year. Twenty Rve ^/ll/oms w/ll.-

''29

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

231

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

232

THE UNSEEN AUDIENCE

'Tw/\S The might PtFoRe CHf=<ISTA^AS /\/JD ALL -rUf^OUG'H THS House- MOT A CReA7~U/^t WAS STIR^imG

A/OT <EV/<5M A MOUSG '''-L- Bt BACK:

IM EYACTLyC THf^eiE MIKJUTeS To T^LL

IM c^-^ oil- x^-v-.-...-^-^-- --

Ybu WHAT HAPPeMe-D MexT /aj fne

MEAMT^Aie- OUR AMMOUMCSf^ W/LL ADVISe ALU^U LlTTCe BOVS AMD GIRLS WHAT 73 DO WH^M SUFFef^lM& WITH ^^WM.

ACID (MDI&eS-T(OM

f.

-^

. 1

A

IT

H

,*f-,

(?) /^V-g -y*^ y< ~rfZJ/3^^C^ /-rfC-

133

X

Fishing

There was never a series thus entitled, but, like dogs, fishing was the subject of many of the artist's best drawings. The collection published under the title To Hell with Fishing (1945) was by all odds the most popular of Webster's cartoon books.

For years at least one and often two or three fishing pictures appeared in the Timid Soul series toward the end of April, about the time Webby usually spent a week or two casting for Atlantic salmon.

234

FISHING

<9 " '

o^/J^'l: \o

... , M. .U7-"',tV. /,i'

CAUC3HT ReO HANJDeO

v. i'\\

<g4>t 4-y.-tmo

i/mE. 'ii^C-

235

FISHING

236

FISHING

137

FISHING

238

FISHING

239

FISHING

~n-te P£MALTy OF- H/VVIMC To U»ve UP To

Copr. 1926 (N. Y. World) PrM. Pub. Co.

f£»'^

4^

240

FISHING

-JfiSY'RE Thc eesT U&HTvJSt&HT eNQUSH WAOeRS MADe.

You'll r^oTice" Thb FseT /^(^e: RSiMFoRceo. The ef^o&ut=s You vv/fc/AR oveR Ths/^ H/^ve-

SQUt^RG H^AOeD HOBS". Vou'll

F'MD THsn AioRe eFFfCfeNT /w

VA/AD/Me OV^R SLIPPeRY ROCKS.

A'^>rr/^M^ylv/eR.s•AftY, if i c>ak) AFFORD IT"^ /^^ (boif^O To &eT You TfYAT Two oorvJCc RoD

241

XI

Miscellany

242

MISCELLANY

TRAILER TINTYPES

243

MISCELLANY

^oVoixfHoPPeo IT Povv/n,eH? ihat's €XCELL£ttT\ i Don't CAeer \AiHo

T)|QTh€ CHoPPlf^G . it's OoVA/r-j ,Amd Thax'? /^(.(-ThAT iMTeReSTS Me

Tve eeei^ wAnTiM e that BLASTeoTftec <?€(^dv£o Fdjz /? lon&

IVHILC. THeCe HA5 eeern A BLIGHT THAT HAS PeACTlCALLV OeSXecveO ^«-L- my CHe(2fZyT7?e£S Ar^P I^M SLAD YOU HAD

S^Nse eiNOuGH Tb hackt-his one Down without 6en-i<& Tdld.

WHILE Voo HAue VDOp; HAmD im VdO |V\ie,HT CSo ouep. n "The DpCHAf2D. Chop Oo»a/<^' lo o(a I'i Mofze AmO Cot THfr

(jp sTove

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COPR. 1924 (N. Y WORLD). PRESS PUB. CO-

THE SPOIL SPORT

244

MISCELLANY

LIFE S DARKEST MOMENT

245

MISCELLANY

Heme's fi, PRe.-rTY GooD STORY. I'l-l- ReAO IT-T&V&u

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yeuLOv^ TTe with fne PiNh:

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AND NOTHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT

246

MISCELLANY

WAS OOIMG To OeT ■TttRouOH

-The w/NT'eR wiTHour /s CO£_D. eoT—

ARE YOU LISTENING?

141

MISCELLANY

TRAILER TINTYPES

248

MISCELLANY

LIFE S DARKEST MOMENT

24S)

MISCELLANY

BREAKING THE GOOD NEWS TO ANXIOUS PARENTS

The Boy who flipped traimo

(Copyniht. 191'. by H. T Wttmo

LIFE S DARKEST MOMENT

250

MISCELLANY

Th ASK AMD ReFose To

/<^MSWeR. I WILL. NOT Be A PARTV To CO/mPRomisIW<5

ANY or OUR, oEMocRfirnc

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IF GEORGE HAD LIVED IN HOLLYWOOD

?51

XII

Lincoln's Birthday

Webster's most widely known drawings were probably the two which follow. Lincoln was one of the artist's personal heroes, and when the series scheduled for publication on February 12 was appropriate, it was often the medium for a birthday tribute. Of the examples published here, the first appeared in 1919 and the other in 1941.

252

LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY

HARDIN COUNTY 1 809

233

LINCOLN'S BIRTHDAY

Bibliography

OF H. T. WEBSTER'S CARTOONS IN BOOK FORM

Our Boyhood Thrills and Other Cartoons, New York, George H. Doran Co., 1915

Boys and Folks, New York, George H. Doran Co., 1917

Webster's Bridge, with William Johnston, New York, Frederick A. Stokes Co., 1924

Webster's Poker Book, with George F. Worts. Marc Connelly and R. F. Foster; foreword by George

Ade, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1926 The Timid Soul, introduction by Ring Lardner, New York, Simon and Schuster, 1931 The Culbertson-Webster Contract System, with Ely Cidbertson, New York, Frederick A. Stokes

Co., 1932 Webster Unabridged, introduction by Frank Sidlivan, New York, Robert M. McBride and Co., 1945 To Hell with Fishing, with Ed Zern; foreword by Corey Ford, New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts,

Inc., 1945 Who Dealt This Mess, with Philo Calhoun; foreword by Charles H. Goren, Garden City, Doubleday

and Co., Inc., 1948 How to Torture Your Husband, iv/;/! Caswell Adams, Philadelphia, The John C. Winston Co., 1948 How to Torture Your Wife, with Caswell Adams, Philadelphia, The John C. Winston Co., 1948 Life with Rover, with Philo Calhoim, New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1949

255

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