Jerry on the Job

Last updated
Jerry on the Job
Jerry on the Job 1914.jpg
November 25, 1914, strip.
Author(s) Walter Hoban
Current status/scheduleConcluded daily & Sunday strip
Launch dateDecember 29, 1913
End date1931
Syndicate(s) International Feature Service
Genre(s)Humor

Jerry on the Job is a comic strip created by cartoonist Walter Hoban, set for much of its run in a railroad station. Syndicated by William Randolph Hearst's International Feature Service, it originally ran from 1913 to 1931. The strip had a brief revival by Bob Naylor from 1946 to 1949.

Contents

Origins

Jerry with pickaxe (1919) Jerry with pickaxe.png
Jerry with pickaxe (1919)

When Hoban was given only a weekend to devise a comic strip, he created Jerry on the Job, about pint-size Jerry Flannigan, initially employed as an office boy and then in a variety of other jobs. The strip was launched on December 29, 1913. [1] [2] Comics historian Don Markstein described Hoban's character and work situations:

Jerry was about the size of a five-year-old who was small for his age, and proportioned like an infant (larger head as compared with the rest of his body) only more so—Jerry was only two heads tall; i.e., the remainder of him, all put together, was about as big as his head... After a year or two, he began moving from job to job. He was a retail clerk, a messenger boy, even a prize fighter (at his size!) and other things before Hoban went off to fight World War I, and the strip went on hiatus. When it returned, Jerry was working at a railroad station under the supervision of Mr. Givney, the station's manager. His job included just about everything that went into making a railroad station function—selling tickets, sweeping floors, toting baggage, running little errands for the boss, etc. Sources of humor included the eccentrics who hung around the station, Mr. Givney's peevishness, and Jerry's own ineptitude. Also, Hoban pioneered in the use of humorous signs posted here and there in the background, a motif also seen in Smokey Stover , Mad and elsewhere. And practically everyone commenting on the strip has praised Hoban for putting his characters through spectacular "takes", that is, exaggerated physical responses to surprising or disconcerting events. He specialized in what some call the "flip take", which left the character undergoing it (usually Givney) as flat on the ground as Charlie Brown after trying to kick Lucy's football. [3]

Sunday strip

The Jerry on the Job Sunday page began in 1919, but on October 19, 1930 it became a topper strip above another Hoban feature, Rainbow Duffy. [4] The daily strip came to an end in 1931, as did Rainbow Duffy and the Sunday strip. [4]

Hoban died in 1939, but his former assistant, Bob Naylor, revived Jerry on the Job as a syndicated strip for King Features, starting on Oct. 21, 1946. However, Naylor's revival was not as successful as Hoban's original strip, and the strip was canceled in 1949. [3]

Animation

From 1916 to 1920, Jerry on the Job was adapted by International Film Service and Bray Studios into a series of animated films, including The Mad Locomotive , Cheating the Piper , A Thrilling Drill, Swinging His Vacation and Without Coal. [5] The animator was Walter Lantz, who recalled, "I animated one 250- foot Jerry on the Job every two weeks". [6]

Cultural legacy

Hoban's work was a strong influence on cartoonist Merrill Blosser and his comic strip Freckles and His Friends , which ran from 1915 to 1971.

During the late 1930s, Hoban's character was used to advertise Post Grape-Nut Flakes. The ads ran on newspaper comic pages and in Woman's Day . [3]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cartoon</span> Type of two-dimensional visual art

A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images intended for satire, caricature, or humor; or a motion picture that relies on a sequence of illustrations for its animation. Someone who creates cartoons in the first sense is called a cartoonist, and in the second sense they are usually called an animator.

<i>The Katzenjammer Kids</i> 1897-2006 American comic strip

The Katzenjammer Kids is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years. It debuted on December 12, 1897, in the American Humorist, the Sunday supplement of William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal. The comic strip was turned into a stage play in 1903. It inspired several animated cartoons and was one of 20 strips included in the Comic Strip Classics series of U.S. commemorative postage stamps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Kelly</span> American animator and cartoonist

Walter Crawford Kelly Jr., commonly known as Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio, Fantasia, and Dumbo. In 1941, at the age of 28, Kelly transferred to work at Dell Comics, where he created Pogo, which eventually became his platform for political and philosophical commentary.

<i>Mutt and Jeff</i> 1907–1983 American comic strip

Mutt and Jeff is a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept of a newspaper strip featuring recurring characters in multiple panels on a six-day-a-week schedule had previously been pioneered through the short-lived A. Piker Clerk by Clare Briggs, but it was Mutt and Jeff as the first successful daily comic strip that staked out the direction of the future trend.

<i>Toonerville Folks</i> American comic strip by Fontaine Fox

Toonerville Folks was a popular newspaper cartoon feature by Fontaine Fox, which ran from 1908 to 1955. It began in 1908 in the Chicago Post, and by 1913, it was syndicated nationally by the Wheeler Syndicate. From the 1930s on, it was distributed by the McNaught Syndicate.

<i>Theyll Do It Every Time</i> American comic strip (1929–2008)

They'll Do It Every Time is a single-panel newspaper comic strip, created by Jimmy Hatlo, which had a long run over eight decades, first appearing on February 5, 1929, and continuing until February 3, 2008. The title of the strip became a popular catchphrase.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Features Syndicate</span> American print syndication company

King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles, and games to nearly 5,000 newspapers worldwide. King Features Syndicate also produces intellectual properties, develops new content and franchises, like The Cuphead Show!, which it produced with Netflix, and licenses its classic characters and properties.

<i>Barney Google and Snuffy Smith</i> American comic strip

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith, originally Take Barney Google, for Instance, is an American comic strip created by cartoonist Billy DeBeck. Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a large international readership, appearing in 900 newspapers in 21 countries. The initial appeal of the strip led to its adaptation to film, animation, popular song, and television. It added several terms and phrases to the English language and inspired the 1923 hit tune "Barney Google " with lyrics by Billy Rose, as well as the 1923 record "Come On, Spark Plug!"

<i>Henry</i> (comics) Comic strip created by Carl Anderson

Henry is a comic strip created in 1932 by Carl Thomas Anderson. The title character is a young bald boy who is mostly mute in the comics. Except in a few early episodes, when the comic strip character communicates, he does so largely but not entirely through pantomime. He also spoke in a comic book series of 1946–1961 and in at least one Betty Boop cartoon from 1935 in which Betty Boop has a pet shop and Henry speaks to a dog in the window.

<i>The Little King</i> 1930–1975 American comic strip

The Little King is an American gag-a-day comic strip created by Otto Soglow, which ran from 1930 to 1975. Its stories are told in a style using images and very few words, as in pantomime.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Boltinoff</span> American cartoonist (1914–2001)

Henry Boltinoff was an American cartoonist who worked for both comic strips and comic books. He was a prolific cartoonist and drew many of the humor and filler strips that appeared in National Periodical comics from the 1940s through the 1960s.

Wee Pals is an American syndicated comic strip about a diverse group of children, created and produced by Morrie Turner. It was the first comic strip syndicated in the United States to have a cast of diverse ethnicity, dubbed the "Rainbow Gang".

<i>Reglar Fellers</i> American comic strip by Gene Brynes

Reg'lar Fellers is a long-running newspaper comic strip adapted into a feature film, a radio series on the NBC Red Network, and two animated cartoons. Created by Gene Byrnes (1889–1974), the comic strip offered a humorous look at a gang of suburban children. Syndicated from 1917 to January 18, 1949, Byrnes' strip was collected into several books. Branding also extended to such items as baseball bats and breakfast cereal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Howard Post</span> American cartoonist

Howard "Howie" Post was an American animator, cartoonist, and comic strip and comic book writer-artist.

<i>Happy Hooligan</i> 1900-1932 American comic strip

Happy Hooligan is an American comic strip, the first major strip by the already celebrated cartoonist Frederick Burr Opper. It debuted with a Sunday strip on March 11, 1900 in the William Randolph Hearst newspapers, and was one of the first popular comics with King Features Syndicate. The strip ran for three decades, ending on August 14, 1932.

Abie the Agent is an American comic strip about a Jewish car salesman by Harry Hershfield. It debuted in 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferd Johnson</span> American cartoonist

Ferdinand Johnson, usually cited as Ferd Johnson, was an American cartoonist, best known for his 68-year stint on the Moon Mullins comic strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Hoban</span> American cartoonist

Walter C. Hoban was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip Jerry on the Job.

Cheating the Piper is a 1920 silent short animated film by Bray Productions, and is one of the cartoons based on the comic strip Jerry on the Job since the series started in 1916. The film itself is loosely based on the legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

The Mad Locomotive is a 1922 short animated film and part of a series of films that started in 1916 based on the comic strip Jerry on the Job by Walter Hoban.

References

  1. "'Jerry on the Job' Will Be on the Job Every Day for Progress Readers". The Clearfield Progress (Clearfield, Pennsylvania), July 2, 1926.
  2. Lambiek
  3. 1 2 3 Jerry on the Job at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on October 8, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 213. ISBN   9780472117567.
  5. Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons . Checkmark Books. p.  32. ISBN   0-8160-3831-7 . Retrieved 6 June 2020.
  6. Lenburg, Jeff. The Great Cartoon Directors.