Spanking Cartoons
Early comic strips were almost all laced with spanking scenes. Most were laced in domestic humor and slapstick.
Outcault broke many social taboos with his cartoon snapshots of New York tentement waifs. His portrayal of mischievous street children chafed at gender stereotypes and appealed primarily to lower-class audiences.
Rudolph Dirks’ The Katzenjammer Kids (King Features, 1897)
Rudolph Dirks, born in Heide, Germany, made his name by doing gag cartoons for Judge and Life magazines before coming to the attention of New York Journal editor Rudolph Block. He was given the task of developing a strip to compete with the popular ‘Yellow Kid’ by Outcault.
The result was ‘The Katzenjammer Kids,’ which introduced a permanent cast and a frame sequence in a comic strip. It was also among the first to use speech bubbles. Dirks portrayed Hans and Fritz as twin troublemakers who rebelled against authority, whether it be Mama, der Captain (a shipwrecked sailor acting as surrogate father), or the long-bearded school official der Inspector.
Unlike many early comic strips, which were filled with violence and sex, The Katzenjammer Kids was wholesome in tone, but still packed the same punch that made it so popular. The strip’s German-ness faded over time, and Hans and Fritz became more playful rivals than pranksters, but the silliness endured, becoming one of the longest-running cartoons in American newspaper strips.
Dirks continued drawing The Katzenjammer Kids until his death in 1958. It then went through a number of writers and artists, including Harold Knerr (1914-1949), C.H. ‘Doc” Winner (1949-1956), Joe Musial (from 1956-1964), Mike Senich (from 1976-1981), Angelo DeCesare, and Hy Eisman (1986 – 2006).
Richard F. Outcault’s Buster Brown, King Features, 1903.
Outcault’s mischievous child starred in cartoons published in several newspapers including the Herald. William Hearst’s The New York World added an illustrated cartoons section as his popularity grew.
Hearst bought out Outcault’s cartoons and syndicated them. His version of Buster Brown was quite different from the original. The new comic strip featured a wealthy child who lived in a mansion along with his parents and staff. The little boy wore a long hat, bow tie and pink suit, an outfit that was directly inspired by Frances Hodgson Burnett’s classic children’s novel, Little Lord Fauntleroy (1886).
Outcault introduced speech bubbles to his comic strip in addition to a change in character. Outcault was the first cartoonist to use daily narrative sequences, speech balloons and recurring characters. Other artists had used recurring character before. His pitbull, Tige, was another innovation. He would often comment on the action. However, he did not always mean what he was saying. Tige was a character that would inspire a similar recurring feature of Hearst’s, the Our Gang series.
Charles M. DeCarlo’s Hogan’s Alley (King Features, 1904)
The title says it: a fine selection of comic strip cartoons. It covers a wide variety of topics, including political, social and cultural issues, and even the occasional cartoon based on a real event.
A great selection of strips, including many from the first few years of the comics era. The book also contains a short biography of DeCarlo and a short history of King Features.
This book is an excellent choice for anyone interested in comic art, particularly the period between 1897-1904. It will also appeal to anyone who enjoys funny animals or detective stories. The book is full of interesting topics and well illustrated. The book is very good value for the money. There are a few minor flaws, but overall, this is a very worthwhile book. The binding and cover are excellent. The paper is white and the text is easily readable.
Maurice Chevalier’s Little Iodine (King Features, 1905)
Maurice Chevalier, born into a working class family in Paris, began his career singing in cafes. His first performance was a catastrophe; his song V’la Les Croquants was met with laughter as he sang it 3 octaves higher than the correct pitch. He persevered and developed a reputation as a talented mimic and entertainer.
In 1909 he formed a partnership with France’s biggest female star, Frehel. Their success led to their formation of the Folies-Bergere, where Chevalier became a star dancer. In 1922 he married Nita, with whom he had two children.
During World War II he refused to return to Paris. The Nazis blackmailed Chevalier by telling him his refugee friends were going to suffer if he didn’t perform in Paris. But Chevalier refused, and instead bought a large piece of property outside Paris that he named La Bocca, after a local river. Every evening, a songwriter from London would list the names of notorious French collaborators.
Despite his aversion to Hollywood, Chevalier was invited to the United States and made several silent films. After the talkies were invented, he made a number of popular musicals. He often paired him with opera singer Jeanette MacDonald.
Charles M. Stiles’ Little Girl (King Features, 1950)
A cartoon is a stylised and humorous depiction of human life or an event, a form of art that originated in newspaper comics. It is distinct from other forms of animation, such as (western), mainstream animated films and video games that feature characters rendered as three-dimensional people rather than flat cartoon figures. This page contains cartoons with spanking scenes as well as cartoons on spanking in general.
This cartoon from the satirical publication Punch shows a woman teacher spanking two young boys in open air during school football practice. She is a sports coach so the boys were probably guilty of serious foulplay during the game. The cartoon was drawn in 1956, a time of social unrest among the Chinese in Australia that later turned into riots.
The famous comic strip was created by Alfred Gerald Caplin (1899-1975), a cartoonist. Li’l Abner , which first appeared in the New York Mirror on 13 August 1934 and then was syndicated by United Features (now part of United Media). In many of the storylines the title character is a naive farmer who constantly gets into trouble with his feather-brained girlfriend Daisy Mae.