"Temperance or Prohibition?", Illustrations by Winsor McCay 1929

J. J. Sedelmaier writes about this interesting find in an L.A. used book store.

Here's the LINK

 

I have blogged about Winsor McCay before. He is a favorite of mine.

LINKS



Little Nemo Himself

Was there anyone more inspiring than Winsor McCay?

His art is so imaginative, surreal and well-crafted.

CLICK photo to ENLARGE

Today, the Google logo celebrates his creation Little Nemo in Slumberland.

Here is a photo of Winsor McCay (sporting a gorgeous white suit and hat) in 1908 sketching for a charity benefit;
the young boy wearing the knickers and Nemo sash could actually be his son, age 12. The character of Nemo was supposedly modelled on his son Robert. LINK (Library of Congress photo)

Trivia: My grandmother's uncle Stanley Forde was in a silent film with McCay in 1924: The Great White Way. McCay played himself. LINK

Playing History Detective

Stanley Forde as a kid in Buffalo (I think)
Ink Drawing of Stanley Forde by "Sabro" 1925

Small watercolor by H. Hilton 1911 of Stanley Forde
(probably painted by Mrs. Helen Hilton Story during his affair with her)

Stanley Forde, baritone 1878-1929

I am playing history detective with a box of crumbled old clippings and fragile photos that my grandmother had saved. Above is a photo of my great, great uncle Stanley Forde who stood 6ft 2 inches (without the top hat). He was an actor and singer on Broadway between 1909 and 1927. The plays that he appeared in are listed here: Broadway

He also appeared in a B&W silent film called "The Great White Way". Upon researching this film, I found that it was a comedy/romance from 1924 produced by Cosmopolitan Productions. It "includes brief appearances by several prominent newspapermen, cartoonists and society figures of this period: Winsor McCay, George McManus, Billy DeBeck and Harry Hershfield, Tex Rickard, Arthur Brisbane, Nell Brinkley, Bugs Baer, Irvin S. Cobb, Damon Runyon. Also Oscar Shaw, actor, and Pete Hartley, boxer." LINK to more about this film.

I found a number of stills from this film in the box amongst yellowed newspaper clippings and other physical evidence of Stanley Forde and his career. He married Mrs. Helen Hilton Story in 1912, after a scandalous affair with her at the Jersey shore (an affair which ended up in the Supreme Court). She was "an heir to millions" according to the newspaper article: the granddaughter of Judge Henry Hilton. It seems they travelled back and forth to London for a few years, but I'm not sure that the marriage lasted. I am starting to scan and archive some of the puzzle pieces of Stanley's life onto a set on flickr, including the film stills from "The Great White Way". Stanley Forde died at the age of 51 in NYC.

It's fun playing history detective. Here is the link to my flickr set about Stanley:

Stanley Forde

The Art of Amy Crehore

P.S. For anyone who is following my blog: Stanley Forde's family was in the 1890 Camping photos that I posted earlier. The photos that boingboing so kindly blogged about.(Thanks, Mark)

Little Sammy Sneeze by Windsor McCay

"Little Sammy Sneeze" comics by Windsor McCay 1904-1906, New York Herald

I've been looking for a new art book to buy for Xmas. This might be the one. Lloyd just reviewed it on Mardecortesbaja . It's a collection of Winsor McCay's comic strips that appeared before "Little Nemo in Slumberland". The book is called "Little Sammy Sneeze". It also includes an intriguing sister-strip called "Hungry Henrietta". The "Little Sammy Sneeze" strip is about a boy who ends up sneezing violently in a variety of settings. He ultimately gets kicked out or punished by the people who are unfortunate enough to get caught in his explosion. “He Just Simply Couldn’t Stop It” and “He Never Knew When It Was Coming.”

Buy the book here: Sunday Press Books
View beautiful sample pages here.
The Art of Amy Crehore

Little Nemo and Gertie

Poster from Gertie the Dinosaur 1914
Page from "Little Nemo in Slumberland" by Windsor McCay
I have always loved the comic strip "Little Nemo in Slumberland" by Windsor McCay. He created the strip from 1905-1911 for the New York Herald. His superb sense of design and his subtle, mischievous humor never goes out of date. It's classic! Just look at the beauty of this full page example (above). It is surreal and abstract at the same time- making use of geometry, forms and color while telling a fantastic story. I think I've seen some of those drippy backgrounds in some art being done today (green dreamy drips above). His bio says he never completed grade school, but he certainly completed a lot of great art.

"Winsor McCay (1869-1934) was one of the founding fathers of the US newspaper comic. His 'Little Nemo in Slumberland' Sunday page, with its world of magic, fantasy and dreams, visual virtuosity and inventive use of frames and page lay-out has not been equaled. But also McCay's other comics, like 'Dreams of a Rarebit Fiend' still stand out for their originality and artistic quality. In addition, McCay was a pioneer in animation art as well, and his 1909 film 'Gertie the Dinosaur' stands as the first commercial successful animated cartoon."-read more here: Lambiek.net and about Gertie here: McCay
The Art of Amy Crehore