The New Yorker covers: December 28, 1981

I don’t get too excited about holidays, with one major exception. I’ve always had a warm spot in my heart for Christmas. The New Yorker has run many Christmas covers over the years, some of which, such as those by the late George Booth, are quite memorable.

William Steig
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Thomas Merton

Perhaps I am stronger than I think.

"What is art but a way of seeing?" Saul Bellow

"Water Lilies, The Clouds," 1903, Claude Monet

Movie Posters, 1966: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!

Today in the history of the American comic strip: June 14

American cartoonists and writers may not have invented the comic strip, but some argue that the comics, as we know them today, are an American creation. Clearly, the United States has played an outsize role in the development of this underappreciated art form.

6.14.1914: The Teenie Weenies begins the first of its three runs, which, in combination, spanned more than 50 years. Created by William Donahey, the comic starred two-inch-tall humans who lived under a rose bush.
 

6.14.1959: Frank O’Neal adds a Sunday Short Ribs feature to the daily strip, which debuted in 1958. He turned the comic over to an assistant in 1973.

6.14.1964: Akwas, Mike Roy’s Sunday-only adventure strip set in North America before Christopher Columbus set sail, makes its first appearance. It ran until 1965, but remained in syndication until 1972.

6.14.1993: Alley Oop creator V. T. Hamlin dies in Brooksville, Florida. He was 93. Introduced in 1932, Hamlin’s strip about a man transported from the Stone Age to the 20th century remains in print.

6.14.2014: Launched in 2006, On a Claire Day ends its newspaper run. The strip about an insecure and naive young woman was created by Henry Beckett and Carla Ventresca.

6.14.2020: Jan Eliot’s Stone Soup suggests that the cartoonist may be planning to retire the strip, which went into daily syndication in 1995.  

Most of the information listed here from one day to the next comes from two online sites -- Wikipedia, and Don Markstein's Toonopedia -- as well as 100 Years of American Newspaper Comics, edited by Maurice Horn. Note that my focus is on American newspaper comic strips (and the occasional foreign strip that gained popularity in the United States). Thus, comic books and exclusively online comics are not included here.

The New Yorker covers: July 3, 1971

Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July in the United States, celebrates the ratification of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The Second Continental Congress approved independence on July 2 of that year, but Congress did not adopt the actual declaration until two days later.

Ilonka Karasz
(covers untitled until February 1993)

And now, a few words from . . . Thomas Merton

We do not exist for ourselves.

"What is art but a way of seeing?" Saul Bellow

"Pigeons," 1910, John French Sloan

Movie Posters, 2023: Two adults, please, and a large popcorn!