More picture stories from the 19th century children's magazine, The Little Corporal (1873)

The Little Corporal's picture stories were part shadow play and part comic strip, with a hint of rebus (a type of word puzzle highly popular in 19th century children's magazines). Each Little Corporal picture story was followed, in the next month's issue, by a detailed text ("translation").  Were the folks credited for the picture stories (W.O.C., Private Queer, E.K., et al.) the text writers or illustrators (or both)?  I have no idea, though, somehow, I'm guessing "Private Queer" was fictional.

Comic strips and books of the 1800s--the ones I've seen, at least--tend to be quite light on story and heavy on gags, improbable situations, and extreme caricature.  By contrast, The Little Corporal's picture stories, with their realistic situations, mild slapstick, and matter-of-fact texts, strike me as a big step in the direction of the sort of comic stories I grew up reading.  And the artwork is an absolute joy.

Note the deviation from the shadow-play approach on the sixth picture story down, "Playing Truant."  Maybe the artist had intended to render the characters in silhouette but didn't have time?  And apologies for the absence of a translation to the last story--I don't have the Jan., 1874 issue containing same.  Enjoy these marvelous comics-coming-into-shape relics:

Evolution of the comic page layout: My Father: A Poem (1819?)

This fascinating chapbook was published during the publisher's lifespan--1845-1847--but, intriguingly, the back cover/wrapper reads, "Published in 1819."  Could this be a reprint of an 1819 chapbook?  So far I've found no (Internet) record of an 1819 edition, but 1819 is certainly possible, since miniature books like this one, with verse and illustration interspersed in this fashion, can be found at least as far back as the 1700s.  So....

I haven't precisely pinned down the history of the text; allegedly, it was derived from another children's text (and gender-reversed!).  Lots of swiping was going on in those days.

Interestingly, if arranged on a single page, the layout of My Father--A Poem would look highly similar to the comic book-style 1875 montage, "Bertie and His Sled," originally featured in the monthly children's magazine, The Nursery:

                                                    


Lee

Egg decorating, 1902-style!

From the March, 1902 American Boy magazine.  Cartoon eggs!

Lee

More Ballou's Monthly Magazine cartoon fun (1875)

More MAD-style humor from Ballou's Monthly Magazine (March, 1875):

                               In black and white:

1872, 1887, and 1890 magazine ads featuring cartoons with dialogue.

Cool cartoon ads from Wood's Household Magazine, The Youth's Companion, and Wide Awake.  Nine of these, in typical 19th-century fashion, feature dialogue below the panel, while two feature dialogue inside the panel, with the W.L. Douglas $3 shoe ad sporting a dialogue balloon.  The "Samantha at Saratoga" ad features a book excerpt (er, extract) to accompany its cartoon.

All scanned by me from magazines in my collection.

Wood's Household Magazine, August, 1872:

The Youth's Companion, Oct. 13, 1887:

The Youth's Companion, March 3, 1887:

The Youth's Companion, Feb. 17, 1887:

                                                           

The Youth's Companion, Feb. 3, 1887:

The Youth's Companion, May 5, 1887:

The Youth's Companion, June 2, 1887:

The Youth's Companion, Feb. 24, 1887:

Wide Awake, November, 1890:

Lee

If MAD magazine had been around in 1870...

These 1870 comic strips from Ballou's Monthly Magazine --"The Horse Cars," especially--strike me as totally MAD.  Or am I crazy?  Here, 82 years before MAD, are brittle, cynical, and slapstick cartoons and comic strips making fun of everyday, middle-class life.  I'd love to use some Fifties MAD examples for comparison, but I'm guessing there are copyright issues.

Scanned by me from a bound Ballou's volume.  The art runs the gamut from skillful ("A Thomas Cat on a Spree") to crude ("A Night with Mosquitos"), and various points in between.  I was able to get about 2/3 of the humor--the rest had me going, "Huh?"  I guess 144 years can take the edge off (or even the meaning out) of pop humor.

Click to enlarge....

Ballou's Monthly Magazine

January, 1870:

February, 1870:

March, 1870:

April, 1870:

May, 1870:

June, 1870:

July, 1870:

September, 1870:

October, 1870:

November, 1870:

December, 1870:

American Boy cartoons, Sept., 1905, including "Dickey Dont."

A Google search for "Dickey Dont" + "cartoon" yields zilch.  So maybe Dickey Dont wasn't a series.  Orrrr... maybe it was, but it's been forgotten, at least by Google's search function.  To be filed under, "Who Knows?"

These are cool cartoons in the primitive early 20th century style, with lame humor galore.  Dicky Dont is especailly pointless--the entire joke is that Dickey doesn't do what he's been instructed to do, and, in the process, triumphs over his elder.  Try not to fall over laughing.  Then again, it's pop-culturally interesting, in that misbehaving young boys are hardly a new trend in comedy.

The American Boy ad (middle) is quite similar to the wide-pan magic lantern slides of the era.  The technique is still used in comic strips--a single scene depicting action(s) in progress.  As ever, click to enlarge images....