King Features Syndicate cartoon drawings and proof sheets

Call Number

PR 446

Date

1935-1936, inclusive

Creator

King Features Syndicate

Extent

3 Linear feet in 5 flat file folders

Language of Materials

The documents in the collection are in English.

Abstract

The collection holds 12 original drawings of editorial cartoons by Kenneth Russell Chamberlain and by Clive R. Weed, and 50 proof sheets of newspaper comics, syndicated by King Features. Four of the comics are from Walt Disney Enterprises. The other 46 comics are from a variety of cartoonists, written and drawn for both Sunday and daily papers. They encompass both humorous and adventure/action types of comics.

Biographical / Historical

King Features Syndicate was formed in 1915 by the publisher William Randolph Hearst, consolidating the various syndication enterprises that had formed within Hearst's newspaper businesses since they started syndication activities in 1895. The syndicate had its own staff of cartoonists, which created such characters as Popeye, featured in the "Thimble Theatre" strip. By the mid-1930s, the period represented in this collection, King Features was one of about 130 syndicates in the industry. King Features also distributed strips by cartoonists from outside the organization, including those of Walt Disney Enterprises, which is also represented in this collection. As of 2022, King Features Syndicates still exists, distributing content worldwide to over 5000 newspapers.

In 1936, some of King Features' newspaper comic strip proof sheets were exhibited at Ferargil Gallery in New York City. When the exhibition closed, the syndicate contacted N-YHS to ask if the library wanted some of the sheets for the collection. Librarian Alexander J. Wall accepted and a selection, made by King Features, was donated in April 1936. Wall asked that editorial cartoons also be donated and the twelve original such drawings in the collection were included in the gift. A few weeks later King Features sent along the Walt Disney-created sheets that are in the collection.

(The first paragraph of the above note is based on Wikipedia entries. The second paragraph is based on correspondence in N-YHS's institutional archives; see General Correspondence, RG-2, folder for letter Ki for years 1933-37.)

Arrangement

The collection is organized in three series:

Series I. Editorial Cartoons (12)

Series II. Comic Strips. King Features Syndicate (46)

Series III. Comic Strips. Walt Disney Enterprises (4)

Scope and Contents

Subjects

Access Restrictions

For more information on making arrangements to consult the collection, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Use Restrictions

Taking images of documents from the library collections for reference purposes by using hand-held cameras and in accordance with the library's photography guidelines is encouraged. As an alternative, patrons may request up to 20 images per day from staff. Application to use images from this collection for publication should be made in writing to: Department of Rights and Reproductions, The New-York Historical Society, 170 Central Park West, New York, NY 10024-5194, rightsandrepro@nyhistory.org. Phone: (212) 873-3400 ext. 282.

Copyrights and other proprietary rights may subsist in individuals and entities other than the New-York Historical Society, in which case the patron is responsible for securing permission from those parties. For fuller information about rights and reproductions from N-YHS visit: https://www.nyhistory.org/about/rights-reproductions

Preferred Citation

The collection should be cited as: King Features Syndicate cartoon drawings and proof sheets, PR 446, Department of Prints, Photographs, and Architectural Collections, New-York Historical Society.

Location of Materials

For more information on making arrangements to consult the collection, please visit www.nyhistory.org/library/visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift, King Features Syndicate, April 1936

Related Materials

King Features Syndicate donated its historical proof sheets in 2007 to two repositories: Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum at Ohio State University and the Michigan State University Comic Art Collection.

Collection processed by

Larry Weimer

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2023-08-21 15:48:27 -0400.

Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Language: Finding aid written in English

Processing Information

The items in the collection were initially arranged, foldered, filed, and card cataloged in the mid to late twentieth century as part of the Caricatures and Cartoons Collection (PR 10). In June 2022, archivist Larry Weimer removed all the King Features drawings and comic proof sheets from the general Caricature Collection to catalog them as a separate collection, and to inventory them in this finding aid.

Repository

New-York Historical Society

Series I. Editorial Cartoons, 1936, inclusive

Scope and Contents

The series holds twelve original drawings of editorial cartoons, six each by Kenneth Russell Chamberlain and by Clive Russell Weed. Three are about high income taxes, four about other domestic U.S. issues, one about U.S. politics, three about foreign affairs, and one St. Patrick's Day-themed.

Scope and Contents

The series is arranged by artist and then chronological. The item number used in the container list was assigned as a unique identifier at some point by N-YHS to the drawings and is found on the back of the drawing and in the Reading Room's card catalog of caricatures.

A leap year proposal [William Borah bid for Republican Party presidential nomination], 1936 February 29

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-12 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Chamberlain."

Once a year he gets really concerned about it [Income taxes/Government spending], 1936 March 2

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-1 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Chamberlain."

[Above:] Let's get rid of the bad ones first! [Below:] Cruel and senseless [Deportation laws, separation of families], 1936 March 6

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-11 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Chamberlain."

We can stand a gentle soaking, but those hailstones hurt! [Impact of income tax in relation to other taxes], 1936 March 7

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-2 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Chamberlain."

"Too many monkey wrenches slow 'em up, Sam" [Efficiency of England's justice system relative to U.S.], 1936 March 9

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-3 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Chamberlain."

The most vital question of the hour [Scarcity of coal], 1936 March 11

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-4 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Chamberlain."

[Above:] Sure, oim part Irish meself! [Below:] March 17th - and Decorated!, 1936 March 17

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-5 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Weed."

"What does it say about the Rhineland?" / Munition makers, 1936 March 21

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-6 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Weed."

Haile Selassie: - "Come on, rain, do your stuff!" [Selaissie (Ethiopia) at Italy's bayonet edge], 1936 March 23

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-7 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Weed."

Well, it's over - Until next March! [Impact of high income taxes], 1936 March 24

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-8 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Weed."

We have something to fight, at home! [flooding], 1936 March 25

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-9 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Weed".

Lilliputian [Angel of peace(?) in the armored hand of war(?)], 1936 March 26

Folder: FF-1, item: 1936-10 (Material Type: Graphic Materials)

Scope and Contents

Crayon drawing. Signed "Weed." Inscribed "Dear Paul--I wish you would let Ward see this if you have time. I told him about it, Clive."

Series II. Comic Strips. King Features Syndicate, 1935-1936, inclusive

Scope and Contents

The series holds 46 newspaper comic strip proof sheets issued by King Features in late 1935 to early 1936. These were most likely to have been among those included in the exhibition at Ferargil Gallery in 1936 from which a selection of comics was made for N-YHS (see Historical Note). 31 of the sheets are for the Sunday comics, and so are larger in size for full page publication with more panels than the sheets for the daily papers, of which there are 15 horizontal sheets. The daily sheets each include only one day's strip, not multiple days. All are black and white line art, without color.

The container list includes all sheets/titles in the series. The cartoonist name is noted following the title in parentheses. Two entries have multiple titles separated with a slash (/); these indicate a mix of strips on the sheet (e.g., a mix of a horizontal strip and a single panel comic). Many of the strips are not titled within the strip itself, but a title and cartoonist name were noted on the reverse either by King Features or at N-YHS. The series holds a mix of humorous strips and adventure/action strips.

Arrangement

The series is arranged roughly by format in three oversize folders. Folder FF-2 holds Sunday comics, generally of the humorous type. Folder FF-3 holds Sunday comics, generally of the adventure/action type, though the categorization is not rigid. Folder FF-4 holds daily strips, both humorous and adventure/action. Within each folder, the container list presents the titles in alphabetical order by cartoonist.