Much like the H.T. Webster panels I featured here a couple of weeks ago, J.R. Williams offered up little slices of life in his classic
Out Our Way. He too captures a certain essence of small town middle class life, with a special emphasis on kids and dogs, and those memorable moments which last a lifetime.
There's something inherently nostalgic about Williams' depiction of life in America between the World Wars, and I wonder if that wasn't true even at the time they were first published; one can certainly see that element in the panel above.
Even though they portray a time long past, they still retain their humor. I mean, there's something timeless about the joke of the fire chief caught in his chair, even as it defies the impression we have of the modern firefighter.
Here's an example of a Sunday page of
Out Our Way, featuring the Willets. The color version strikes me as more typical of other strips, while the daily panel displayed a more personal style and perspective (but maybe that's because I've only seen what's been reprinted, and didn't experience it daily as they appeared).
The above makes me think of Tom Sawyer and Aunt Polly. Ever notice that mothers in the older strips (and movies too) actually looked matronly?
See what I mean by timeless? I think that the turnout in my town for non-state or national campaigns might be around 20%. I guess it was always like that.
Something else that Williams had in common with Webster: he liked to do cartoons about dogs. His tend to be rather scruffy mutts.
I like the way his kids are always a little disheveled themselves-- evidence of the hard work of chores and play.
This one's a real classic! Just count the number of ways that the hostess has to feel embarrassed by this episode.
I think if I sent my laundry out, I'd be tempted to adopt this strategy myself. This was the age of the classic gag panel (in addition to Williams and Webster, there was also Gene Ahearn's
Our Boarding House and Clare Briggs' work), which comics historian Jerry Robinson summarized as "extracting humor from the mundane." I'm not sure what the modern counterpart would be (I don't think we'd find it on the comics page), but I'm glad these cartoons exist as one means of reconnecting with the day-to-day aspects of life in this country's past.
Much like the H.T. Webster panels I featured here a couple of weeks ago, J.R. Williams offered up little slices of life in his classic Out Our Way. He too captures a certain essence of small town middle class life, with a special emphasis on kids and dogs, and those memorable moments which last a lifetime.
There's something inherently nostalgic about Williams' depiction of life in America between the World Wars, and I wonder if that wasn't true even at the time they were first published; one can certainly see that element in the panel above. 
Even though they portray a time long past, they still retain their humor. I mean, there's something timeless about the joke of the fire chief caught in his chair, even as it defies the impression we have of the modern firefighter.
Here's an example of a Sunday page of Out Our Way, featuring the Willets. The color version strikes me as more typical of other strips, while the daily panel displayed a more personal style and perspective (but maybe that's because I've only seen what's been reprinted, and didn't experience it daily as they appeared).
The above makes me think of Tom Sawyer and Aunt Polly. Ever notice that mothers in the older strips (and movies too) actually looked matronly? 
See what I mean by timeless? I think that the turnout in my town for non-state or national campaigns might be around 20%. I guess it was always like that.
Something else that Williams had in common with Webster: he liked to do cartoons about dogs. His tend to be rather scruffy mutts.
I like the way his kids are always a little disheveled themselves-- evidence of the hard work of chores and play.
This one's a real classic! Just count the number of ways that the hostess has to feel embarrassed by this episode.
I think if I sent my laundry out, I'd be tempted to adopt this strategy myself. This was the age of the classic gag panel (in addition to Williams and Webster, there was also Gene Ahearn's Our Boarding House and Clare Briggs' work), which comics historian Jerry Robinson summarized as "extracting humor from the mundane." I'm not sure what the modern counterpart would be (I don't think we'd find it on the comics page), but I'm glad these cartoons exist as one means of reconnecting with the day-to-day aspects of life in this country's past.
1 comment:
Another trip down Memory Lane, John
I remember reading a letter that Aunt Marcella sent to Mother when we lived in Cincinnati. She had sent Mother her winter coat and to save on postage, she cut off all the buttons. Aunt Marcella wrote to tell Mother that she would find the buttons in the coat's pockets.
So you see - the funnies were not that far off from the way things were. Mom
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