''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'', originally ''Take Barney Google, F'rinstance'', is an American

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

created by

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

Billy DeBeck William Morgan DeBeck (April 15, 1890 – November 11, 1942), better known as Billy DeBeck, was an American cartoonist. He is most famous as the creator of the comic strip ''Barney Google'', later retitled ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'' ...

. Since its debut on June 17, 1919, the strip has gained a large international readership, appearing in 900 newspapers in 21 countries. The initial appeal of the strip led to its adaptation to film, animation, popular song, and television. It added several terms and phrases to the English language and inspired the 1923 hit tune "Barney Google (with the Goo-Goo-

Googly Eyes Googly eyes, or wiggle eyes, are small plastic crafting items used to imitate eyeballs. Googly eyes traditionally are composed of a white plastic or card backing covered by a clear, hard-plastic shell, encapsulating a black plastic disk. The comb ...

)" with lyrics by

Billy Rose Billy Rose (born William Samuel Rosenberg; September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. For years both before and after World War II, Billy Rose was a major force in entertainment, with sh ...

, as well as the 1923 record "Come On, Spark Plug!" Barney Google himself, once the star of the strip and a very popular character in his own right, was at one point almost entirely phased out of the feature. An increasingly peripheral player in his own strip beginning in the late 1930s, Barney was officially "written out" in 1954, although he occasionally returned for cameo appearances, often years apart. During a period between 1997 and 2012, Barney Google was not seen in the strip at all. Barney was reintroduced to the strip in 2012, and has slowly returned to being a semi-regular character. Snuffy Smith, who was initially introduced as a supporting player in 1934, has now been the comic strip's central character for over 60 years. Nevertheless, the feature is still titled ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith''. As of June 17, 2019, ''Barney Google'' has run for an entire century, making it the third-longest running and uninterrupted comics series of all time, after

Rudolph Dirks Rudolph Dirks (February 26, 1877 – April 20, 1968) was one of the earliest and most noted comic strip artists, well known for ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' (later known as ''The Captain and the Kids''). Dirks was born in Heide, Germany, to Joh ...

' ''

The Katzenjammer Kids ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years (1914 to 1949).Frank O. King Frank Oscar King (April 9, 1883 – June 24, 1969) was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip ''Gasoline Alley''. In addition to innovations with color and page design, King introduced real-time Continuity (fiction), continuity ...

's ''

Gasoline Alley ''Gasoline Alley'' is a comic strip created by Frank King and distributed by Tribune Content Agency. It centers on the lives of patriarch Walt Wallet, his family, and residents in the town of Gasoline Alley, with storylines reflecting traditio ...

''. After ''Gasoline Alley'', it is the second-longest running newspaper comic still in syndication and producing new episodes as of 2021.

Characters and story

Barney Google

Like ''

Mutt and Jeff ''Mutt and Jeff'' was a long-running and widely popular American newspaper comic strip created by cartoonist Bud Fisher in 1907 about "two mismatched tinhorns". It is commonly regarded as the first daily comic strip. The concept of a newsp ...

'', ''Barney Google'' started out on the sports page. First appearing as a

daily strip A daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays. Bud Fisher's ''Mutt and Jeff'' is commonly regarded as the first daily c ...

in the sports sections of the '' Chicago Herald'' and ''

Examiner Examiner or The Examiner may refer to: Occupations * Bank examiner, a kind of auditor * Examiner (Roman Catholicism), a type of office in the Roman Catholic Church * Examinership, a concept in Irish law * Medical examiner * Patent examiner * Tr ...

'' in 1919, it was originally titled ''Take Barney Google, F'rinstance''. The title character, a little fellow (although he shrank in stature even more after the first year) with big "banjo" eyes, was an avid sportsman and ne'er-do-well involved in

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

, and prize fights. The "goggle-eyed, moustached, gloved and top-hatted, bulbous-nosed, cigar-chomping shrimp" (according to comics historian

Bill Blackbeard William Elsworth Blackbeard (April 28, 1926 – March 10, 2011), better known as Bill Blackbeard, was a writer-editor and the founder-director of the San Francisco Academy of Comic Art, a comprehensive collection of comic strips and cartoon art fr ...

) was relentlessly henpecked by "a wife three times his size" (as the song lyric goes). The formidable Mrs. Lizzie Google, or "the sweet woman", sued Barney for divorce and thereafter virtually disappeared from the strip. By October 1919, the strip was distributed by

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

and was published in newspapers across the country. His name might have been an inspiration for the large number name

googol A googol is the large number 10100. In decimal notation, it is written as the digit 1 followed by one hundred zeroes: 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, ...

, which in turn inspired the company name

Google Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...

Spark Plug

Beginning on July 17, 1922, the strip took a momentous turn in popularity with the seemingly innocuous introduction of an endearing race horse named "Spark Plug". Barney's beloved "brown-eyed baby" was a bow-legged nag that seldom raced, and was typically seen almost totally covered by his trademark patched blanket with his name scrawled on the side. ''

Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a print syndication, syndicated daily strip, daily and Sunday strip, Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz. The strip's original run extended from 1950 to 2000, continuing in reruns afterward. ' ...

'' creator

Charles M. Schulz Charles Monroe "Sparky" Schulz (; November 26, 1922 – February 12, 2000) was an American cartoonist and the creator of the comic strip ''Peanuts'', featuring what are probably his two best-known characters, Charlie Brown and Snoopy. He is wid ...

was known to his friends as Sparky, a lifelong nickname given to him by his uncle as a diminutive of ''Barney Googles Spark Plug. Comics historian

Don Markstein Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonop ...

noted: In deference to his enormous popularity during this period, the strip was retitled ''Barney Google and Spark Plug''. DeBeck's strip hit its peak of popularity with Spark Plug about the same time the song "Barney Google (Foxtrot)" by

and

Con Conrad Con Conrad (born Conrad K. Dober, June 18, 1891 – September 28, 1938) was an American songwriter and producer. Biography Conrad was born in Manhattan, New York, and published his first song, "Down in Dear Old New Orleans", in 1912. Conrad p ...

was sweeping the country. It became one of the best known, most iconic

novelty record A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and w ...

s of the 1920s, and has been recorded by such famous artists as

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...

and

The Happiness Boys ''The Happiness Boys'' was a popular radio program of the early 1920s. It featured the vocal duo of tenor Billy Jones (1889-1940) and bass/baritone Ernie Hare (1883-1939), who sang novelty songs. Career Jones and Hare were already established as ...

The Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the Swing music, swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andre ...

, and

Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...

: Other popular characters and concepts introduced in the strip about this time include "Sunshine", Barney's black jockey, a troublesome

ostrich Ostriches are large flightless birds of the genus ''Struthio'' in the order Struthioniformes, part of the infra-class Palaeognathae, a diverse group of flightless birds also known as ratites that includes the emus, rheas, and kiwis. There are ...

named "Rudy", "Sully", a monocled champion wrestler, and the mysterious hooded fraternity "The Order of the Brotherhood of Billy Goats", a parody of mystic

secret societies A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

. (There was also a "Sisterhood of Nanny Goats" for the ladies.) Their password was "O-K-M-N-X" which, deciphered, stood for a standard breakfast order ("Okay, ham and eggs"). Barney was elected "Exalted Angora" in 1928.

Transition to "Barney Google & Snuffy Smith"

In 1934, an even greater change took place when Barney and his horse visited the

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

mountains and met a volatile, equally diminutive

moonshine Moonshine is high-proof liquor that is usually produced illegally. The name was derived from a tradition of creating the alcohol during the nighttime, thereby avoiding detection. In the first decades of the 21st century, commercial dist ...

r named Snuffy Smith.

Hillbilly Hillbilly is a term (often derogatory) for people who dwell in rural, mountainous areas in the United States, primarily in southern Appalachia and the Ozarks. The term was later used to refer to people from other rural and mountainous areas west ...

humor was popular at the time (as

Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (wi ...

was proving with ''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn ...

''). The strip increasingly focused on the southern

Appalachia Appalachia () is a cultural region in the Eastern United States that stretches from the Southern Tier of New York State to northern Alabama and Georgia. While the Appalachian Mountains stretch from Belle Isle in Newfoundland and Labrador, Ca ...

n hamlet of "Hootin' Holler", with Snuffy as the main character. The mountaineer locals are suspicious of any outsiders, referred to as "flatlanders" or even worse, "revenooers" (Federal Revenue agents). Snuffy Smith was so popular that his name was added to the strip's title in the late 1930s, while the top-billed Barney Google became an increasingly peripheral character in what once was his own comic. Eventually, Barney Google left Hootin' Holler in 1954 to return to the city, and was essentially written out of the strip except as a very occasional visitor. Barney has appeared rarely in the feature from the mid-1950s on, but returned to Hootin' Holler for a visit in a series of strips beginning on February 19, 2012. Prior to 2012, Barney had not appeared in the strip since January 5, 1997, a span of over 15 years. Barney Google—usually with Spark Plug in tow—made occasional return trips to Hootin' Holler from 2012 to 2020, and moved back permanently to Hootin' Holler in a series of strips run in May 2021. He still appears infrequently, but is now more of an occasional supporting player (as opposed to a very occasional guest).

Snuffy Smith and the townsfolk of Hootin' Holler

Snuffy Smith (whose last name is pronounced "Smif" by virtually all the characters in Hootin' Holler) is an ornery little cuss, sawed-off and shiftless. He lives in a shack, mangles the English language, and has a propensity to shoot at those who displease him. He makes "corn-likker" moonshine in a homemade still and is in constant trouble with the sheriff. He wears a broad-brimmed felt hat almost as tall as he is, has a scraggly mustache and a pair of tattered, poorly patched overalls. He constantly cheats at poker and checkers. He also has some proclivity toward stealing chickens, which led to a brief but effective use of his character in a marketing campaign by the

Tyson Foods Tyson Foods, Inc. is an American multinational corporation, based in Springdale, Arkansas, that operates in the food industry. The company is the world's second-largest processor and marketer of chicken, beef, and pork after JBS S.A. It annually ...

corporation in the early 1980s. In 1937, he held the post of "Royal Doodle Bug" in the "Varmints" lodge; during this period, the strip heavily employed the

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

, "What did the Doodle-Bug say?", an apparent homage to "What did the Woggle-Bug say?" in

L. Frank Baum Lyman Frank Baum (; May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author best known for his children's books, particularly ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its sequels. He wrote 14 novels in the ''Oz'' series, plus 41 other novels (not includ ...

and

Walt McDougall Walter Hugh McDougall (February 10, 1858 – March 6, 1938) was an American cartoonist. He produced some of the earliest full color newspaper comic strips, and was one of the first producers of regular political cartoons in American daily papers. ...

's ''

Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz ''Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz'' was a newspaper comic strip written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by Walt McDougall, a political cartoonist for the ''Philadelphia North American''. ''Queer Visitors'' appeared in the ''North ...

'' strip of 1904–1905. Almost all of the characters in the strip (except the infrequently seen Barney Google and the occasional visiting "flatlander") are exaggerated hillbillies in the classic

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

tradition: sharp-tongued gossipy women such as Snuffy's wife Loweezy; his baby Tater; his mischievous nephew Jughaid; his neighbors Elviney and Lukey King Features: ''Snuffy Smith'' characters
(Lucas Ebenezer Hinks); the sanctimonious (but nonetheless ungrammatical) Parson; Silas, the ever-parsimonious owner of the General Store; the ostentatiously-badged Sheriff Tait, and others. Vehicles are rundown jalopies of a seeming 1920s vintage, even in the 1970s and beyond. The characters are drawn so that they appear to be talking out of the sides of their mouths.

Topper strips

''Bughouse Fables''

On December 24, 1920, DeBeck began a gag panel called ''Bughouse Fables'', featuring his observations of ordinary people doing foolish things, which he signed "Barney Google". This daily panel ran until November 13, 1937. DeBeck added ''Bughouse Fables'' as an accompanying topper strip to run with ''Barney Google'' on Sundays, from January 17 to May 9, 1926.

''Bunky''

On May 16, 1926, DeBeck began another topper strip, originally called ''Parlor, Bedroom and Sink''—but better known as ''Bunky''. ''Parlor Bedroom and Sink''—which evolved into ''Parlor Bedroom and Sink Starring Bunky'', and eventually simply ''Bunky''—is an over-the-top parody of stage

melodrama A modern melodrama is a dramatic work in which the plot, typically sensationalized and for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodramas typically concentrate on dialogue that is often bombastic or exces ...

s and movie and radio serials that were popular at the time. The title character "" (short for Bunker Hill Jr.) was a hapless waif whose penniless parents, Bunker Hill Sr., and Bibsy, had given birth to the strangely erudite newborn with the enormous nose on November 13, 1927. The irresponsible Bunker Sr. eventually disappeared from the strip. From then on, pint-sized Bunky (still dressed in the baby bonnet and gown in which he was first seen) was the star, protector, and benefactor of the family. His vocabulary rivaled that of any educated adult. Arch-nemesis Fagin, introduced in 1928, was as vile and despicable a villain as any

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

antagonist. He "would steal pennies from a blind man's cup and kick dogs that weren't even in his way. Robbing widows and orphans ... was routine for him", according to comics historian

, who said the strip popularized the phrase, "Youse is a viper!"''Bunky''
at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

. from the original on April 13, 2012. Fantasy author and ''

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...

'' creator

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906June 11, 1936) was an American writer. He wrote pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He is well known for his character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sorcery subge ...

, a big fan of ''Bunky'', was fond of quoting from the strip, as noted by his friend,

Tevis Clyde Smith Tevis Clyde Smith, Jr. (February 11, 1908 – December 24, 1984) was an American historian, fantasy writer, poet and amateur publisher, known for his association with Robert E. Howard. Most of his writing appeared as by Tevis Clyde Smith; he al ...

. After DeBeck's death in 1942, ''Bunky'' continued for a time under

Joe Musial Joseph Musial (January 15, 1905 – June 6, 1977) was an American cartoonist who drew ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' from 1956 to his death in 1977. Family Musial was born and raised in Yonkers, New York. His parents were Polish immigrants. Career H ...

(''

The Katzenjammer Kids ''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years (1914 to 1949).Fred Lasswell Fred D. Lasswell (July 25, 1916 – March 4, 2001) was an American cartoonist best known for his decades of work on the comic strip ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith''. Life and career Though born in Kennett, Missouri, Lasswell spent most of his c ...

. The series ended on July 18, 1948.

Other toppers

Other toppers featured above ''Barney Google'' included: ''Who's Who'' (1932), ''Youse Is a Viper'' (May 15, 1932 - Aug 19, 1934), ''I Learnt This Trick from the Prince'' (Aug 12-Sept 2, 1934), ''Knee-Hi-Knoodles'' (Sept 9, 1934 - June 23, 1935), ''Hill-Billy Ba-Looney'' (Sept 15-Dec 8, 1935), ''What Did the Doodle Bug Say?'' (April 11–25, 1937) and ''Write a Caption for This Cartoon'' (Sept 11-Oct 9, 1938).

Fred Lasswell

When ''Barney Google'' began to lose popularity during the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, DeBeck introduced a simpler style through artist Fred Lasswell after seeing a poster by Lasswell, then in high school, at a golf tournament at

Palma Ceia Palma Ceia is a neighborhood located southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida in South Tampa. It is bounded by Miguel Street West of MacDill Avenue and Neptune Street East of MacDill Avenue to the north; Bay to Bay Boulevard from Dale Mabry to Himes a ...

Country Club in Tampa, Florida. Lasswell, who drew cartoons and posters at the McCarthy Ad Agency and for the ''Tampa Daily Times'', was brought in to create the Snuffy characters, which by 1934, surpassed Barney Google in popularity. Lasswell took over the strip, now named ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'' after DeBeck died in 1942. In 1944 and 1945, Lasswell began featuring Snuffy in guest appearances in Laswell's own ''Sargent Hashmark'' comic strip that appeared in the

U.S. Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the Marines, maritime land force military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary warfare, exped ...

' ''

Leatherneck Magazine ''Leatherneck Magazine of the Marines'' (or simply ''Leatherneck'') is a magazine for United States Marines. History and profile ''The Quantico Leatherneck'' was started by off-duty US Marines, and in large part by the post printer, Sgt. Smith, ...

''. After the war, Lasswell gained steady increases in distribution, with the strip eventually appearing in more than 1,000 newspapers throughout the world. In 1962, Lasswell received the Silver Lady Award, and two years later won the

Reuben Award The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

and the Best Humor Strip Award from the National Cartoonist's Society.NCS Awards
,

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

. Retrieved June 1, 2019. In both 1984 and 1994, he won the

Elzie Segar Award The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

, being the only cartoonist who received this award more than once. Lasswell died in 2001, 16 weeks ahead on the strip, leaving a digital archive containing 35,000 original comic panels and sketches, including over 20,000 daily and 4,000 Sunday strips and about 24,000 original gags.

John R. Rose

In mid-1998, editorial cartoonist John R. Rose began as Lasswell's inking assistant, and he became the strip's cartoonist after Lasswell's death. In addition to being the artist on the strip, Rose is the editorial cartoonist for Ogden Newspapers of Virginia and creates ''Kids' Home Newspaper'', a weekly syndicated puzzle feature for

Creators Syndicate Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few suc ...

. His books including ''The Bodacious Best of Snuffy Smith'' (2013), ''Balls of Fire! More Snuffy Smith Comics'' (2016), and ''Snuffy Smith In His Sunday Best'' (2018). Rose restored Barney Google as a semiregular character; in 2015, Rose was presented the

Lum and Abner ''Lum and Abner'' was an American network radio comedy program created by Chester Lauck and Norris Goff that was aired from 1931 to 1954. Modeled on life in the small town of Waters, Arkansas, near where Lauck and Goff grew up, the show proved i ...

Memorial Award by the National Lum and Abner Society for his contributions to rural humor. In September 2017, Rose was honored with an award at Walt Disney's Hometown Toonfest in

Marceline, Missouri Marceline is a city in Chariton and Linn counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. The population was 2,123 at the 2020 census. History Marceline was laid out in 1887, and named after the wife of a railroad man. A post office called Marceline has ...

, for his contributions to cartooning. John Rose was awarded First Place from the Tennessee Press Association in 2018 for Best Use Of Humor In An Ad for a series wildfire prevention public service newspaper ads featuring Snuffy Smith. He created these "Snuff Out Wildfires Before They Start" ads for the ''Knoxville News-Sentinel'' and the Tennessee Press Association after devastating wildfires hit eastern Tennessee. In June 2019, Rose featured Barney Google in a special 100th-birthday series that lasted several weeks. Barney got lost in the funny papers trying to find Hootin' Holler and ended up visiting Dagwood, Popeye, Beetle Bailey, and more on his way to a birthday party that featured many characters from ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith'' who had not been seen in decades. And tribute panels to cartoonists Billy DeBeck and Fred Lasswell. In August 2021 Rose was awarded the Jack Davis Award for South East Cartoonist Of The Year by the South East Chapter Of The National Cartoonists Society. Rose created a special weeklong storyline in the comic strip which began on July 17, 2022 celebrating Spark Plug's 100th birthday.

Legacy

DeBeck, who had a gift for coining colorful terms, is credited with introducing several Jazz Age slang words and phrases into the English language—including "sweet mama", "horsefeathers", "heebie-jeebies", "hotsy-totsy", and "Who has seen the doodle bug?" Snuffy's

s "great balls o' fire" and "time's a-wastin'" remain popular to this day. In DeBeck's memory, the

in 1946 introduced the Billy DeBeck Award. (Eight years later, the name was changed to the

after

Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), known best as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadge ...

.) In 1963, Lasswell won both the NCS Humor Comic Strip Award and Reuben Award. That same year, he won the society's plaque for Best Humor Strip. In 1984, the society gave him its

Elzie Segar Elzie Crisler Segar (; December 8, 1894 – October 13, 1938), known by the pen name E. C. Segar, was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of Popeye, a pop culture character who first appeared in 1929 in Segar's comic strip ''Thimbl ...

Award (named after the creator of ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

; it was one of 20 included in the

Comic Strip Classics The Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative postage stamps was issued by the US Postal Service on October 1, 1995, to honor the centennial of the newspaper comic strip. Walker, Mort. ''Mort Walker's Private Scrapbook : celebrating a life of l ...

series of commemorative USPS postage stamps.

Licensing

Snuffy Smith makes a brief appearance in

Clifford D. Simak Clifford Donald Simak (; August 3, 1904 – April 25, 1988) was an American science fiction writer. He won three Hugo Awards and one Nebula Award. The Science Fiction Writers of America made him its third SFWA Grand Master, and the Horror Wr ...

's novel ''Out of Their Minds''.

Toys and merchandise

Spark Plug captured the nation's hearts and imagination during the 1920s, and became a merchandising bonanza for King Features and Billy DeBeck. "Spark Plug, I am happy to say, has caught on," wrote DeBeck in 1924. "All over the United States you find stuffed Spark Plugs and Spark Plug games and Spark Plug drums and Spark Plug balloons and Spark Plug tin pails. And there is a Spark Plug play on the road. The only thing that is lacking is a Spark Plug grand opera." (Source: ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith: 75 Years of an American Legend'', page 35). During the mid-1950s, the Louis Marx Toy Company sold four vinyl character figures, two-and-a-half-to-three inches tall, representing Snuffy Smith, Loweezie, Jug Haid and Sut Tattersail. (Illustrated at http://www.marxwildwest.com/cartoons%20-%20non-disney.html). In 1960, King Features made plans to have Snuffy Smith serving hot dogs and chili at Snuffy's Shantys icacross the country, the plan of a

Columbus, Georgia Columbus is a consolidated city-county located on the west-central border of the U.S. state of Georgia. Columbus lies on the Chattahoochee River directly across from Phenix City, Alabama. It is the county seat of Muscogee County, with which it ...

, franchiser who had hoped to have 700 shanties operating by 1970. In July 2004,

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops known ...

issued a limited-edition figure of Barney Google in a colorful collector tin as statue number 47 in their line of Classic Comic Character figures. In November 2021, Comics Kingdom began selling tee shirts in their online shop featuring Spark Plug's grandson, Li'l Sparky. In July 2022, Comics Kingdom began selling tee shirts in their online shop celebrating Spark Plug's 100th birthday.

Sheet music

* "Barney Google Foxtrot" by Billy Rose and Con Conrad (1923) Jerome H. Remick & Co. * "Come On, Spark Plug!" by Billy Rose and Con Conrad (1923) Waterson, Berlin & Snyder Co. * "Bug House Fables" by Clarence Gaskill (1923) M. Witmark & Sons * "So I Took the $50,000" by Jack Meskill and Al Gumble (1923) Jerome H. Remick & Co. * "O-K-M-N-X We're Twenty Million Strong" (or "The Brotherhood of Billy Goats") by Phil Baker, J. Russel Robinson and Sid Silvers (1928) Jerome H. Remick & Co. * "Time's a-Wastin' (The Original Yard Bird Song)" by Olsen and Johnson, Jay Levison and Ray Evans (1941) Broadcast Music, Inc.

Comic books

Barney Google and Snuffy Smith each had a spotty history in comic books, starting with the first issue of David McKay's ''

Ace Comics ''Ace Comics'' was a comic book series published by David McKay Publications between 1937 and 1949 — starting just before the Golden Age of Comic Books. The title reprinted syndicated newspaper strips owned by King Features Syndicate, follow ...

'' (1937). They appeared in their own comics as well—three issues from

Dell Comics Dell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1974. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium.Evanier, Mark"Wh ...

in the 1940s, four from Toby Press in the 1950s, one from Gold Key Comics in the 1960s, and six from Charlton Comics in the 1970s. In December, 2015, ''Snuffy Smith'' returned to comic books. John Rose wrote and illustrated the comic book story "Hopalong Jughaid" for Charlton Spotlight #9.

Book collections and reprints

(All titles by Billy Debeck unless otherwise noted) * ''Barney Google and His Faithful Nag Spark Plug'' (1923) Cupples & Leon Co. * ''Barney Google and Spark Plug #2'' (1924) Cupples & Leon Co. * ''Barney Google and Spark Plug #3'' (1925) Cupples & Leon Co. * ''Barney Google and Spark Plug #4'' (1926) Cupples & Leon Co. * ''Barney Google'' (1935)

Big Little Book The Big Little Books, first published during 1932 by the Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin, were small, compact books designed with a captioned illustration opposite each page of text. Other publishers, notably Saalfield, adopted t ...

#1083 Saalfield * ''Barney Google: 1919–1920'' (1977) Hyperion Press * ''The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics'' (1977)

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Press/ Harry Abrams (Bill Blackbeard, ed.) * ''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith: 75 Years of an American Legend'' (1994) Kitchen Sink Press (Brian Walker, ed.) * ''Barney Google: Gambling, Horse Races and High-Toned Women!'' (2010) Yoe! Books (imprint of IDW) * ''The Bodacious Best of Snuffy Smith'' (2013)

Lulu.com Lulu Press, Inc., doing business under trade name Lulu, is an online print-on-demand, self-publishing, and distribution platform. By 2014, it had issued approximately two million titles. The company's founder is Red Hat co-founder Bob Young. Lu ...

(John Rose) * ''Balls Of Fire! More Snuffy Smith Comics'' (2016)

(John Rose) * ''Snuffy Smith In His Sunday Best'' (2018)

(John Rose) * ''Barney Google'' (2019) IDW Publishing (Library of American Comics), (Foreword by John Rose, Introduction by Brian Walker) . Reprints daily strips originally published May 31, 1926 - December 7, 1926 and October 7, 1927 - April 6, 1928.

Film and television

Live-action – 1920s

Beginning in 1928, Barney Hellum portrayed Barney Google in a series of silent live-action short films for F.B.O. Pictures, also featuring Philip Davis as Sunshine. * ''Horsefeathers'' (1928) * ''OKMNX'' (1928) (or ''Barney Google's Welcome Home'') * ''T-Bone Handicap'' (1928) * ''Money Balks'' (1928) * ''The Beef-Steaks'' (1928) * ''Runnin' Through the Rye'' (1929) * ''Sunshine's Dark Moment'' (1929) * ''Neigh, Neigh, Spark Plug'' (1929) * ''A Horse on Barney'' (1929) * ''Just a Stall'' (1929) * ''The Pace That Thrills'' (1929) * ''Slide, Sparky, Slide'' (1929)

Live-action – 1940s

Two low-budget, live-action

B-movie A B movie or B film is a low-budget commercial motion picture. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified films intended for distribution as the less-publicized bottom half of a double featur ...

features based on the strip were produced at

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

in 1942: '' Private Snuffy Smith'' (or ''Snuffy Smith, Yardbird'') and ''

Hillbilly Blitzkrieg ''Hillbilly Blitzkrieg'' is a 1942 American comedy film directed by Roy Mack that was a sequel to ''Private Snuffy Smith''. The film is also known as ''Enemy Round-Up'' (American TV title). Plot Nazi spies mistake Snuffy Smith's moonshine for ...

''. Diminutive actor Bud Duncan portrayed Snuffy in both films, with

Cliff Nazarro Clifford Nazarro (January 31, 1904 – February 18, 1961) was an American double-talk Double-talk is a form of speech in which inappropriate, invented, or nonsense words are interpolated into normal speech to give the appearance of knowledg ...

appearing as Barney in ''Hillbilly Blitzkrieg''.Barney Google
at

Archived
from the original on August 27, 2015. (Both films also feature former

Keystone Cop The Keystone Cops (often spelled "Keystone Kops") are fictional, humorously incompetent policemen featured in silent film Slapstick film, slapstick comedies produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Studios, Keystone Film Company between 1912 and ...

Edgar Kennedy and future Mouseketeer Jimmie Dodd in supporting roles.)

Animation – 1930s

animated cartoon Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anima ...

''Barney Google'' series in the mid-1930s was produced by the

Charles Mintz Charles Bear Mintz (November 5, 1889 – December 30, 1939)''Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014''. Social Security Administration. was an American film producer and distributor who assumed control over Margaret J. Winkler's Winkler Pictu ...

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

Studio. Mintz made only four ''Barney Google'' cartoons, all released theatrically through

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. * ''Tetched in the Head'' (1935) * ''Patch Mah Britches'' (1935) * ''Spark Plug'' (1936) * ''Major Google'' (1936)

Animation – 1940s

''Spree for All'' (1946) is an animated

Noveltoon ''Noveltoons'' is a series of cartoons produced by Paramount Pictures' Famous Studios from 1943 to the end of the studio during 1967. The series was known for bringing to life characters from Harvey Comics, such as Casper the Friendly Ghost, Wendy ...

produced by

Famous Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contro ...

, distributed through

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

. It was produced in color, but currently only exists in a black and white print.

Animation – 1960s

In 1962,

released 50 six-minute ''Snuffy Smith'' cartoons for television, produced by

Paramount Cartoon Studios Famous Studios (renamed Paramount Cartoon Studios in 1956) was the first animation division of the film studio Paramount Pictures from 1942 to 1967. Famous was founded as a successor company to Fleischer Studios, after Paramount seized contro ...

in New York. All 50 episodes are available on the, "Advantage Collection, Cartoon Mega Pack" DVD set. The opening credits included a catchy

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at so ...

that was specifically composed for the cartoon: :''Uh-uh-oh! Great balls o' fire, I'm bodacious!'' :''Uh-uh-oh! Great balls o' fire, I'm a fright!'' :''Uh-uh-oh! Great balls o' fire, goodness gracious!'' :''I'm chop-chop-chop-chop-choppin' with all o' my might—YEA!'' Other King Features properties, such as '' Beetle Bailey'' and ''

Krazy Kat ''Krazy Kat'' (also known as ''Krazy & Ignatz'' in some reprints and compilations) is an US, American newspaper comic strip, by cartoonist George Herriman, which ran from 1913 to 1944. It first appeared in the ''New York Journal-American, New Yor ...

'', also appeared as rotating segments under the collective title: ''King Features Trilogy''. The series was widely shown in TV syndication (although ''Snuffy's Song'', ''The Hat'', ''The Method and Maw'', and ''Take Me to Your Gen'rul'' were released theatrically), with prolific voice actor Paul Frees providing the voices of both Snuffy and Barney. Ge Ge Pearson also doubled as Loweezy and Jughaid. A number of episodes feature animation by famed animator Jim Tyer.“Snuffy Smith” by Jim Tyer
All shorts directed by Seymour Kneitel except where indicated. 1962 * ''Snuffy's Song'' (Part 1 of a 30-minute special) * ''The Hat'' (Part 3 of a 30-minute special) * ''The Method and Maw'' (Part 2 of a 30-minute special) * ''Take Me to Your Gen'rul'' 1963 * ''Snuffy's Turf Luck'' (First short produced, made in 1961) (directed by Jack Kinney) * ''Pie in the Sky'' * ''The Berkeley Squares'' * ''The Shipwreckers'' * ''The Master'' (First short with Snuffy's dog, Bullet) * ''Barney Deals the Cars'' * ''Snuffy Runs the Gamut'' * ''The Tourist Trap'' * ''Rip Van Snuffy'' (First short with Jughaid) * ''Snuffy Goes to College'' * ''Snuffy's Brush with Fame'' * ''Give a Jail a Break'' * ''Glove Thy Neighbor'' * ''Snuffy's Fair Lady'' 1964 * ''Just Plain Kinfolk'' * ''Off Their Rockers'' * ''Snuffy Hits the Road'' * ''My Kingdom for a Horse'' * ''The Country Club Smiths'' * ''Jughaid's Jumping Frog'' * ''Turkey Shoot'' * ''The Work Pill'' * ''Jughaid for President'' * ''Loweezy Makes a Match'' * ''Fishin' Fools'' * ''Little Red Jughaid'' * ''Jughaid the Magician'' * ''A Hoss Kin Dream'' * ''It's Better to Give'' * ''Springtime and Spark Plug'' * ''There's No Feud Like an Old Feud'' * ''A Hauntin' fer a House'' * ''Feudin' and a-Fussin' '' * ''Barney's Blarney'' * ''Do Do That Judo'' * ''Farm of the Future'' * ''Gettin' Snuffy's Goat'' * ''Barney's Winter Carnival'' * ''Keeping Up with the Joneses'' * ''The Big Bear Hunt'' (First short with Bizzy Buzz Buzz, and the last to have Jughaid) * ''Ain't It the Tooth'' * ''Bizzy Nappers'' * ''The Buzz in Snuffy's Bonnet'' * ''Settin' and a-Frettin' '' (Bizzy Buzz Buzz introduces herself to the audience, implying that this was the first produced short she appeared in) * ''Beauty and the Beat'' (Last short with Barney Google) * ''Smoke Screams'' (Has a cameo from Smokey the Bear)

References

External links

Archived
from the original on July 23, 2017.
''Barney Google and Snuffy Smith''
at

Comics Kingdom King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...

NCS Awards

Snuffy Smith and Barney Google at IMDB
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