This is one that I only discovered years after its heyday, but it was always a treat to run across
Our Boarding House (created by Gene Ahearn, and later done by Bill Freyse). I guess boarding houses were kind of a relic of the first half of the twentieth century (
Moon Mullins was also set in one), which gives the strip a real nostalgic air. But the real appeal is the great character of Major Hoople, the lazy blowhard proprietor of the house whose wife did all the work while he regaled the tenants with his various theories and tall tales.
During the week,
Our Boarding House was a single panel cartoon, but even with that limited space Ahearn and Freyse did a good job of conveying the setting, without sacrificing the rather long-winded dialogue, especially by the Major.
Everyone in the strip looks and sounds like a real person-- not that the style is very realistic, but the artwork conveys a sense of place and time and character that rings true.
In a lot of ways (visually especially), this strip reminds me of
Gasoline Alley, but with the emphasis on a more adult perspective of the world, one that's a little cynical and cognizant of how likely it is that one might not always realize one's dreams. But in a humorous way, of course.
Major Hoople's neverending self-importance also suggests a kind of courage in the face of adversity, or anyway, in the face of an otherwise mundane existence, and there's something almost inspiring about that.
I can't think of a contemporary counterpart to Major Hoople or
Our Boarding House; maybe it was such a product of its unique times that it's themes wouldn't make much sense to contemporary readers, but I doubt it. There are still people who dream big despite their limitations, and you'd think there'd be a way to incorporate that into the comic page. Idon't know-- given the space alloted to current strips, maybe it's just a situation where there's no room for the expansive bloviating of a character like the Major. Too bad.
This is one that I only discovered years after its heyday, but it was always a treat to run across Our Boarding House (created by Gene Ahearn, and later done by Bill Freyse). I guess boarding houses were kind of a relic of the first half of the twentieth century (Moon Mullins was also set in one), which gives the strip a real nostalgic air. But the real appeal is the great character of Major Hoople, the lazy blowhard proprietor of the house whose wife did all the work while he regaled the tenants with his various theories and tall tales. 
During the week, Our Boarding House was a single panel cartoon, but even with that limited space Ahearn and Freyse did a good job of conveying the setting, without sacrificing the rather long-winded dialogue, especially by the Major.
Everyone in the strip looks and sounds like a real person-- not that the style is very realistic, but the artwork conveys a sense of place and time and character that rings true. 
In a lot of ways (visually especially), this strip reminds me of Gasoline Alley, but with the emphasis on a more adult perspective of the world, one that's a little cynical and cognizant of how likely it is that one might not always realize one's dreams. But in a humorous way, of course.
Major Hoople's neverending self-importance also suggests a kind of courage in the face of adversity, or anyway, in the face of an otherwise mundane existence, and there's something almost inspiring about that.
I can't think of a contemporary counterpart to Major Hoople or Our Boarding House; maybe it was such a product of its unique times that it's themes wouldn't make much sense to contemporary readers, but I doubt it. There are still people who dream big despite their limitations, and you'd think there'd be a way to incorporate that into the comic page. Idon't know-- given the space alloted to current strips, maybe it's just a situation where there's no room for the expansive bloviating of a character like the Major. Too bad.
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