202:“Born in Brooklyn, I became an orphan at age four. My boyhood was like an Horatio Alger story. Shoeshine boy after school, made 60 cents a week. Quit that to become butcherboy at $ 1 a week. Loved to draw and make people laugh. Could not afford lessons. Loved vaudeville. Might have tried acting career if I hadn’t married. ... I was too young for the First World War and too old for the Second.”
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sang its praises, and then again in the 1970s when a nostalgia craze swept the nation. It took the 1980s, a decade focused on the here and now, and a final creative change on the strip when even Al Smith had had enough, to finally allow the strip the rest it had deserved for
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strip during the 1930s, and after Fisher's assistant Ed Mack died in 1932, the job of creating the strip fell to Al Smith. The strip retained Fisher's signature until his death, however, and not until
December 7, 1954, was the strip signed by Smith.
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postulates that Smith's nearly 50-year run on the strip was, at the time of Smith's retirement, a world record for longevity. Smith (and later his family members) also ran a
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Smith continued to draw the strip until 1980, when George
Breisacher took over for its final two years. Smith also drew the strips
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320:— from 1951 until his 1986 death, at which point it was supplying 25 features. (Early on, the syndicate partnered with the
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331:. The most successful (or at least longest-running) strips syndicated by the Al Smith Feature Service were
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from 1920 to 1930. From 1920 to 1933, Smith wrote and drew the syndicated cartoon
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281:— as well as those of other cartoonists. Smith served as president of the
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The strip's waning circulation got a shot in the arm in the 1950s when
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628:"Hare Tonic: Unsung Al Smith, Record-Holding Unknown Cartoonist,"
180:, Smith was the art editor for the syndication department of the
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gave the following reason for the strip's longevity and demise:
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603:"Al Smith, Cartoonist, Dead; Drew 'Mutt and Jeff' Comics,"
358:
146:(March 21, 1902 – November 24, 1986) was an American
316:Smith ran his syndication service — mainly serving
304:'s Humor Comic Strip Award in 1968 for his work on
292:. He died on November 24, 1986, in a nursing home.
198:and ended in 1933). In 1960, he wrote of his life
150:whose work included a long run on the comic strip
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714:Forever Nuts: The Early Years of Mutt & Jeff
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221:Forever Nuts: The Early Years of Mutt & Jeff
716:by Bud Fisher, edited by Jeffrey Lindenblatt;
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748:"Al Smith, 84, 'Mutt and Jeff' Artist, Dies"
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647:Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999
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732:"Newswatch: Smith Syndicates Own Strip,"
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819:"Court Alderson - Lambiek Comiclopedia"
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803:"Mystery Strips of E&P: Letter J,"
194:'s syndicate service (it moved to the
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269:, which distributed his own strips —
261:Beginning in 1951, Smith ran his own
211:appeared to lose all interest in his
746:Archives, L. A. Times (1986-11-27).
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587:sample with short Al Smith biography
515:by Frank Hill and Ted Mancuso (1985)
409:by Tom Oka (Tom Okamoto) (1951–1980)
129:Erna Anna Strasser (m. May 25, 1921)
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537:by Al Smith (1951-1997) — titled "
359:Al Smith Service strips and panels
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547:by Courtney Alderson 1951-1972
393:by Charles Cartwright (1959-1997)
866:American comic strip cartoonists
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770:"35 Years with Mutt and Jeff,"
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162:comic strip syndication service
787:"Obscurity of the Day: Deems,"
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16:American cartoonist, 1902-1986
1:
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119:Humor Comic Strip Award, 1968
509:by George Albitz (1985-1986)
479:by Paul Fung Jr. (1978-1983)
302:National Cartoonists Society
283:National Cartoonists Society
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117:National Cartoonists Society
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564:Lincoln Newspaper Syndicate
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473:by Foster Moore (1993-1999)
367:by Howard Rands (1989-1991)
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503:by Joe Dennett (1951-1961)
288:In 1980, Smith retired to
659:Nadel, Dan (2016-10-14).
649:. Accessed Nov. 16, 2018.
461:by Hal Borden (1961-1965)
322:Chicago Tribune Syndicate
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312:Al Smith Feature Service
267:Al Smith Feature Service
223:, comic strip historian
196:United Feature Syndicate
108:Al Smith Feature Service
861:American comics artists
776:(June 15, 1968), p. 39.
485:by Kern Pederson (1980)
467:by Kern Pederson (1978)
373:by Al Smith (1982–1983)
219:In the introduction to
871:Comic strip syndicates
699:Lambiek Comiclopedia.
684:Lambiek Comiclopedia.
553:Art Beeman (1951–1983)
497:by Sid Hathaway (1970)
300:Al Smith received the
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808:(September 11, 2006).
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836:NCS Awards: Al Smith
608:(November 26, 1986).
425:by Al Carreno (1954)
383:, Bruce Darrow, and
233:President Eisenhower
792:(October 05, 2009).
551:Those Were the Days
491:by Lou Paige (1951)
465:It Just So Happened
351:, and Smith's own
349:Those Were the Days
254:strip accompanying
156:. Comics historian
734:The Comics Journal
665:The Comics Journal
631:The Comics Journal
606:The New York Times
531:by Al Smith (1955)
178:Brooklyn, New York
51:Brooklyn, New York
773:Asbury Park Press
752:Los Angeles Times
318:weekly newspapers
188:From Nine to Five
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61:November 24, 1986
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806:Stripper's Guide
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736:#73 (July 1982).
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633:(OCT 14, 2016).
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501:Off Main Street
477:Jest For Laughs
391:Church Chuckles
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333:Church Chuckles
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785:Holtz, Allan.
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541:" in 1951–1952
535:Rural Delivery
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495:Looking Around
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285:in 1967–1969.
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183:New York World
174:Albert Schmidt
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97:Notable works
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755:. Retrieved
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686:"Bud Fisher"
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668:. Retrieved
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523:George Wolfe
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453:Frank Thomas
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443:Frank Thomas
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417:George Wolfe
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401:George Wolfe
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385:Don Sherwood
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247:Cicero's Cat
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158:R. C. Harvey
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63:(1986-11-24)
856:1902 births
851:1986 deaths
643:Smith entry
582:Smith, Al.
545:Sonny South
525:(1962-1978)
489:Li'l Peanut
455:(1955–1964)
445:(1951-1954)
435:(1964–1997)
423:Ginger Blue
403:(1970–1973)
387:(1954-1958)
381:Pat Boyette
371:The Bumbles
329: 1999
279:The Bumbles
225:Allan Holtz
106:(1932–1980)
76:Nationality
845:Categories
757:2023-03-15
701:"Al Smith"
670:2023-03-15
570:References
439:Going West
209:Bud Fisher
148:cartoonist
90:Cartoonist
44:1902-03-21
263:syndicate
168:Biography
125:Spouse(s)
558:See also
236:decades.
190:for the
144:Al Smith
134:Children
79:American
22:Al Smith
85:Area(s)
720:
539:Jackie
429:Grubby
419:(1969)
413:George
341:Grubby
296:Awards
277:, and
265:, the
252:topper
250:, the
113:Awards
53:, U.S.
513:Pixel
507:Phrog
471:Jason
407:Deems
365:Buffo
337:Deems
192:World
172:Born
718:ISBN
601:AP.
519:Pops
459:Inky
345:Pops
244:and
58:Died
36:Born
521:by
451:by
441:by
431:by
415:by
399:by
379:by
176:in
847::
750:.
663:.
645:,
613:^
594:^
355:.
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343:,
339:,
335:,
326:c.
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273:,
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760:.
703:.
688:.
673:.
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137:3
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42:(
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
