Don Flowers (1908–1968) was an American cartoonist best known for his syndicated panel ''Glamor Girls''. Flowers was noted for his fluid ink work, prompting

Coulton Waugh Frederick Coulton Waugh (; 10 March 1896 – 23 May 1973) was a cartoonist, painter, teacher and author, best known for his illustration work on the comic strip ''Dickie Dare'' and his book ''The Comics'' (1947), the first major study of the fi ...

to write that Flowers displayed "about the finest line ever bequeathed to a cartoonist. It dances; it snaps gracefully back and forth; the touches related."

Biography

Early life and education

One of three children, Flowers was born in 1908 in

Custer City, Oklahoma Custer City is a town in Custer County, Oklahoma, United States. Custer City is northeast of Clinton and northwest of Weatherford along Oklahoma 33. The population was 375 at the 2010 census. Custer City was originally known as Graves, and a ...

, to Mabel Flowers and photographer W.A. Flowers. He dropped out of school at age 16 and spent five years working at ''

The Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and as ...

'' as a staff artist and photo retoucher.

Pigs and pin-ups

After a brief job with the ''

Chicago American The ''Chicago American'' was an afternoon newspaper published in Chicago, under various names until its dissolution in 1974. History The paper's first edition came out on July 4, 1900, as '' Hearst's Chicago American''. It became the ''Morning ...

'', Flowers moved to New York where he was a staff artist at the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

. He created his first syndicated feature, ''Puffy the Pig'', for

AP Newsfeatures AP Newsfeatures, aka AP Features, was the cartoon and comic strip division of Associated Press, which syndicated strips from 1930 to the early 1960s. History Origins In February 1930, I. M. Kendrick, executive assistant to AP president Kent ...

in 1930. The following year, he began drawing ''Oh, Diana!'' and introduced a pinup-style with ''Modest Maidens'', both for

. ''Modest Maidens'' brought him a weekly salary of $25, which tripled the following year. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the gals of ''Modest Maidens'' learned first aid, dug in

victory garden Victory gardens, also called war gardens or food gardens for defense, were vegetable, fruit, and herb gardens planted at private residences and public parks in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Germany during World War I ...

s, entertained GIs and served as wardens and lookouts.

From AP to King Features

''Modest Maidens'' became so successful that

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

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 ...

wanted the feature and offered Flowers double what he earned at AP. However, AP held the rights, so Flowers simply renamed his panel ''Glamor Girls'' and signed on with King Features. ''Oh, Diana!'' was continued by Bill Champs and Phil Berube after Flowers left AP for King Features in 1945. Virginia Clark was drawing ''Oh, Diana!'' in 1947. ''Modest Maidens'', was taken over by AP staff artist Jay Alan.Waugh, Coulton. ''The Comics''. Macmillan, 1947.
/ref> At its peak, ''Glamor Girls'' ran in 300 newspapers. Flowers continued to draw the ''Glamor Girls''

daily Daily or The Daily may refer to: Journalism * Daily newspaper, newspaper issued on five to seven day of most weeks * ''The Daily'' (podcast), a podcast by ''The New York Times'' * ''The Daily'' (News Corporation), a defunct US-based iPad new ...

and Sunday panels until his 1968 death from

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

Books

During the late 1940s, some 200 Flowers cartoons were published in an Avon paperback. The initial print run of 200,000 copies immediately sold out, followed by a second printing of 215,000 copies. Alex Chun collected Flowers' work for ''The Glamor Girls of Don Flowers'', published by

Fantagraphics Books Fantagraphics (previously Fantagraphics Books) is an American publisher of alternative comics, classic comic strip anthologies, manga, magazines, graphic novels, and the erotic Eros Comix imprint. History Founding Fantagraphics was found ...

in 2005 with a foreword by

Sergio Aragones Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

and an afterword by Don Flowers, Jr.

References

External links

"Don Flowers" by Don Flowers, Jr.

"Pinup art goes mainstream" by Molly Mullen (June 25, 2008)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flowers, Don American comic strip cartoonists 1908 births 1968 deaths