''Foxy Grandpa'' was an American

gag-a-day A gag-a-day comic strip is the style of writing comic cartoons such that every installment of a strip delivers a complete joke or some other kind of artistic statement. It is opposed to story or continuity strips, which rely on the development of ...

newspaper comic strip featuring an eponymous character, created by cartoonist Carl E. Schultze drawing under the name of "Bunny." The strip lasted from 1900 to circa 1918, and was at first hugely popular, with stage and silent film adaptations, as well as a party game license. Between 1901 and 1917, ''Foxy Grandpa'' was published in books — more than 30 volumes from four different publishers. It was revived as a

typeset Typesetting is the composition of text by means of arranging physical ''type'' (or ''sort'') in mechanical systems or ''glyphs'' in digital systems representing '' characters'' (letters and other symbols).Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random H ...

strip in the 1920s and 1930s.

Publication history

''Foxy Grandpa'' made its first appearance on January 7, 1900. The strip initially ran in the '' New York Herald'', but it moved to the ''

New York American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

'' on February 16, 1902. In 1912, the strip began being distributed by the C. J. Mar Syndicate, lasting until 1918. The typeset ''Foxy Grandpa's Stories'', distributed by International Features Service, Inc., began April 2, 1923. Foxy Grandpa was the narrator, appearing in a one-panel cartoon at the top of each column. This feature lasted well into the 1930s. In 1929, the strip appeared in America's early comic book ''

The Funnies ''The Funnies'' was the name of two American publications from Dell Publishing (Dell Comics), the first of these a seminal 1920s precursor of comic books, and the second a standard 1930s comic book. ''The Funnies'' (1929–1930) In 1929, George ...

''.

Characters and story

The strip revolved around Foxy Grandpa, an elderly gentleman, with two mischievous grandsons (Chub and Bunt) who constantly try to trick him. Foxy Grandpa, however, always managed to get the better of the two boys, combining brains with a perverse sense of humor, while demonstrating skills at acrobatics, illustration and construction of various small devices. The comic was drawn in text comic style, with the text and dialogue written underneath the images.

In other media

The strip was adapted to Broadway shows and early silent films (with Foxy Grandpa played by stage performer

Joseph Hart Joseph Hart (1711/12 – 24 May 1768) was a Calvinist minister in London. His works include ''Hart's Hymns'', a much-loved hymn book amongst evangelical Christians throughout its lifetime of over 200 years, which includes the well-known hy ...

Selchow and Righter Selchow and Righter was a 19th- and 20th-century game manufacturer best known for the games ''Parcheesi'' and ''Scrabble''. It was based in Bay Shore, New York. It dates back to 1867 when it was founded as E. G. Selchow & Co. In 1880, to reflec ...

licensed ''Foxy Grandpa'' for the Foxy Grandpa Hat Party Game (similar to Pin the Tail on the Donkey) after 1900. Early Silent Films -Foxy Grandpa and Polly in a Little Hilarity. Copyright American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. 23 May 1902. H18034 -Foxy Grandpa Shows the Boys a Trick or Two with the Tramp. Copyright American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. 23 May 1902. H18033 -Foxy Grandpa Tells the Boys a Funny Story. Copyright American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. 23 May 1902. H18039 -Foxy Grandpa Thumb Book Copyright American Mutoscope & Biograph Co. 19 Oct 1903. H36862Motion Pictures 1984-1912 Identified from the Records of the United States Copyright Office by Howard Lamarr Walls. Copyright Office: Library of Congress. 1953. In April 1923, a Foxy Grandpa radio program began broadcasting over WCAE, Pittsburgh, PA.

In popular culture

*In the 1938 film ''Crashing Hollywood'' the squirrelly Movie mogul Hugo Wells is called "Foxy Grandpa". *In the 1944 film '' Murder My Sweet'' detective

Phillip Marlowe Philip Marlowe () is a fictional character created by Raymond Chandler, who was characteristic of the hardboiled crime fiction genre. The hardboiled crime fiction genre originated in the 1920s, notably in ''Black Mask'' magazine, in which Dashiel ...

refers to the villainous Jules Amthor as "Foxy Grandpa". *In the '' Pogo'' strip for Sunday, April 8, 1951, Rackety Coon Chile and Alabaster Alligator are less than thrilled with a story being told to them by Albert and wonder if they might be able to move to another strip. Alabaster suggests "Foxey icGrandpa". *In the 2002 ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' (or simply ''SpongeBob'') is an American animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It chronicles the adventures of the title character ...

'' episode "One Krabs Trash," "Foxy Grandpa" is written on a trucker hat offered to

by his boss, Mr. Krabs.

References

External links

{{Commons category
"Ink-Slinger Profiles: Carl Schultze,"
''Stripper's Guide''
Barnacle Press: ''Foxy Grandpa''Library of Congress Archive: ''Foxy Grandpa'' Media
1900 comics debuts 1939 comics endings American comics adapted into films American comics characters American comic strips Comics adapted into plays Fictional tricksters Films based on comic strips Gag-a-day comics Text comics