Tillie the Toiler
Tillie the Toiler | |
---|---|
Author(s) | Russ Westover |
Launch date | January 3, 1921 |
End date | March 15, 1959 |
Syndicate(s) | King Features Syndicate |
Tillie the Toiler is a newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Russ Westover who initially worked on his concept of a flapper character in a strip he titled Rose of the Office. With a title change, it sold to King Features Syndicate which carried the strip from January 3, 1921, to March 15, 1959.[1]
The daily strip began on Monday, January 3, 1921, followed by the Sunday page on October 10, 1922.
Westover retired in 1951 with his assistant Bob Gustafson then doing most of the writing and drawing. After Westover departed completely three years later, Gustafson's signature appeared on the strip beginning October 4, 1954. The daily strip ended March 7, 1959, with the last Sunday eight days later on March 15.[2]
Characters and story
Stylish working girl Tillie was employed as a stenographer, secretary and part-time model. An attractive brunette, she had no problem finding men to escort her around town. Comics historian Don Markstein described the story situations:
Tillie (last name Jones) toiled for a fashionable women's wear company run by clothing mogul J. Simpkins. Or usually did, anyway—she'd occasionally quit or be fired, as the plotline, which ran at breakneck pace and didn't always make perfect sense, required. During World War II, in fact, she even joined the U.S. Army. But she always came back to Simpkins. Mostly, she worked in his office, but she also did a little modeling. Whatever she did and wherever she went, however, she was impeccably dressed in the very latest styles. (Except when she was in the army, of course.) This helped her in the pursuit of charming and often wealthy young men, who came and went at an alarming rate, providing grist for the story mill. She did, however, have one steady male associate, Clarence "Mac" MacDougall, a short, bulb-nosed co-worker who loved her persistently even though she returned little of the feeling.[2]
Toppers
For the Sunday page, Westover produced a series of topper strips, starting with Kitty Change-Her-Mind (Jan 10–March 14, 1926) and The Counter Kids (March 21–May 2, 1926).[1]
On May 9, 1926, Westover began a topper series that would run for two decades – first called The Van Zippers (May 9–Aug 15, 1926), then The Van Swaggers (Aug 22, 1926 – June 26, 1938) and finally The Van Swaggers Starring Aunt Min (July 3, 1938 – 1943?)[1]
A paper-doll panel, Tillie the Toiler's Fashion Parade, appeared next to the topper from April 24, 1932, until 1951.[1]
Reprints
Cupples & Leon collected the strips into book form in 1925, followed by seven other books in that series. Dell Comics reprinted the strip in 14 issues between 1941 and 1949. Tillie the Toiler and the Masquerading Duchess was a novel published by Whitman in 1943.
Films
The comic strip inspired two films of the same name: Tillie the Toiler (1927), a silent film with Marion Davies in the title role, and Tillie the Toiler (1941), starring Kay Harris.
References
- ^ a b c d Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 386. ISBN 9780472117567.
- ^ a b Toonopedia" Tillie the Toiler
External links
- Christopher Wheeler: Tillie the Toiler books
- "See You in the Funnies" by Barbara Erdman
- v
- t
- e
- Arctic Circle
- Baby Blues
- Barney Google and Snuffy Smith
- Beetle Bailey
- Between Friends
- Bizarro
- Blondie
- The Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee
- Carpe Diem
- Curtis
- Deflocked
- Dennis the Menace
- Dustin
- The Family Circus
- Flash Gordon
- Funky Winkerbean
- Hägar the Horrible
- Hi and Lois
- Intelligent Life
- Judge Parker
- Kevin and Kell
- Laff-a-Day
- Legalization Nation
- Mallard Fillmore
- Mark Trail
- Marvin
- Mary Worth
- Mother Goose and Grimm
- Mutts
- On the Fastrack
- The Phantom
- Popeye
- Olive & Popeye
- Prince Valiant
- Pros & Cons
- Rae the Doe
- Rex Morgan, M.D.
- Rhymes with Orange
- Safe Havens
- Sally Forth
- Sam and Silo
- Sherman's Lagoon
- Shoe
- Six Chix
- Slylock Fox & Comics for Kids
- Take It from the Tinkersons
- Tiger
- Todd the Dinosaur
- Zippy
- Zits
- Abie the Agent
- Ace Drummond
- Agatha Crumm
- Alphonse and Gaston
- The Amazing Spider-Man
- And Her Name Was Maud
- Apartment 3-G
- Archie
- Art Linkletter's Kids
- Barney Baxter
- Baron Bean
- The Better Half
- Betty Boop
- Betty Boop and Felix
- Big Ben Bolt
- Bleeker: The Rechargeable Dog
- Boner's Ark
- Brick Bradford
- Bringing Up Father
- Buckles
- Buz Sawyer
- Captain Kate
- Count Screwloose from Tooloose
- Crankshaft
- Crock
- Disney Christmas Story
- Disney Holiday Story
- Donald Duck
- Dr. Kildare
- Dumb Dora
- Edge City
- Etta Kett
- Felix the Cat
- Flapper Filosofy
- Franklin Fibbs
- Gil
- Grandma
- Grin and Bear It
- Gummi Bears
- Half Hitch
- Happy Hooligan
- Hazel
- The Heart of Juliet Jones
- Hejji
- Henry
- The Incredible Hulk
- Inside Woody Allen
- Johnny Hazard
- José Carioca
- Jungle Jim
- The Katzenjammer Kids
- King of the Royal Mounted
- Krazy Kat
- Little Annie Rooney
- Little Iodine
- Little Jimmy
- The Little King
- The Lone Ranger
- Mandrake the Magician
- Mickey Mouse
- Mister Breger
- Moose & Molly
- My Cage
- Norb
- The Norm
- Oh, Brother!
- Ollie and Quentin
- Ozark Ike
- The Pajama Diaries
- Pete the Tramp
- Piranha Club
- Polly and Her Pals
- Quincy
- Radio Patrol
- Red Barry
- Redeye
- Reg'lar Fellers
- Retail
- Rip Kirby
- Room and Board
- Rusty Riley
- Sam's Strip
- Scamp
- Secret Agent X-9
- Silly Symphony
- Skippy
- Steve Canyon
- Steve Roper and Mike Nomad
- Strictly Richter
- Teena
- They'll Do It Every Time
- Tillie the Toiler
- Tim Tyler's Luck
- Tina's Groove
- Toots and Casper
- Triple Take
- Trudy
- Tumbleweeds
- Tundra
- Uncle Remus and His Tales of Br'er Rabbit
- Walt Disney's Treasury of Classic Tales
- What a Guy!
- Winnie the Pooh
- Wonder Woman