Walter Harrison Cady (1877–1970) was an American

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and author, best known for his ''Peter Rabbit'' comic strip which he wrote and drew for 28 years.

Biography

Early life and career

Cady was born in Gardner,

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, to a town selectman, Edwin Cady, who ran a local general store. His father fostered a love of nature and encouraged his art skills. Cady entered an apprenticeship with a local painter, Parker Perkins. His first publication came as early as 1894: an illustration in a supplement to ''

Harper's Young People ''Harper's Young People'' was an American children's magazine between 1879 and 1899. The first issue appeared in the fall of 1879. It was published by Harper & Brothers. It was Harper's fourth magazine to be established, after ''Harper's Magazine' ...

'' (signed Walter H. Cady). Harrison was 18 when his father was killed in Boston. He moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and within a year found work as an illustrator with the ''

Brooklyn Eagle :''This article covers both the historical newspaper (1841–1955, 1960–1963), as well as an unrelated new Brooklyn Daily Eagle starting 1996 published currently'' The ''Brooklyn Eagle'' (originally joint name ''The Brooklyn Eagle'' and ''King ...

'' newspaper. His salary of $10 a week made it possible for him to support his mother; the two lived in a

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

cold-water flat A cold water flat is an apartment that has no running hot water. In most developed countries, current building codes make cold water flats illegal, but they used to be common in such cities as Detroit, Chicago and New York City until the mid-twe ...

. He stayed at the ''Brooklyn Eagle'' for four years, while also freelancing to other publications. Cady's first published comic strip was ''Jolly Jumpers'', which ran from 1912 to 1914 via the Publishers Press syndicate. His income increased considerably after ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for growth, reaction to stimuli, metabolism, energ ...

'' editor

John Ames Mitchell John Ames Mitchell (January 17, 1845 – June 29, 1918) was an American publisher, architect, artist and novelist. He was co-founder, editor, and publisher of the original ''Life'' magazine, in which he was a contributing artist, and the au ...

signed Cady as staff artist and cartoonist. This led to a long career as a newspaper and magazine illustrator, as well as numerous

children's books A child (plural, : children) is a human being between the stages of childbirth, birth and puberty, or between the Development of the human body, developmental period of infancy and puberty. The legal definition of ''child'' generally refers ...

, featuring both fantastic and realistic animal illustrations. Cady's ''Peter Rabbit'' comic strip, which was based on

Thornton Burgess Thornton Waldo Burgess (January 17, 1874 – June 5, 1965) was an American conservationist and author of children's stories. He was sometimes known as the Bedtime Story-Man, after his newspaper column ''Bedtime Stories''. By the time he retir ...

Peter Cottontail Peter Cottontail is a name temporarily assumed by a fictional rabbit named Peter Rabbit in the works of Thornton Burgess, an author from Sandwich, Massachusetts In 1910, when Burgess began his ''Old Mother West Wind'' series, the cast of anim ...

stories (as opposed to

Beatrix Potter Helen Beatrix Potter (, 28 July 186622 December 1943) was an English writer, illustrator, natural scientist, and conservationist. She is best known for her children's books featuring animals, such as ''The Tale of Peter Rabbit'', which was he ...

's version) was launched by the

New York Herald Tribune Syndicate The New York Herald Tribune Syndicate was the syndication service of the ''New York Herald Tribune''. Syndicating comic strips and newspaper columns, it operated from c. 1914 to 1966. The syndicate's most notable strips were ''Mr. and Mrs.'', ''Ou ...

on August 15, 1920. He continued to write and draw the strip for almost three decades. Cady had a long association with Burgess, illustrating the writer's books, including ''Happy Jack'', and his daily newspaper column, ''Bedtime Stories''. Their partnership spanned five decades, beginning with ''Baby Possum Has a Scare'' (c. 1912), ''The Adventures of Reddy Fox'' (1913), and ''Buster Bear Invites Old Mr. Toad to Dine'' (c. 1914). The series continued into the 1950s with ''At Paddy the Beaver's Pond'' (1950), followed by the reprint ''The Animal World of Thornton Burgess'' (1962). After his escalating success through the 1920s, Cady and his wife Melinna decided to take an extended vacation. Touring Europe for two months in 1931, they visited London, Paris, Avignon, Brussels, Arles, Amsterdam, Rome, and Venice. In a letter to Harrison's mother, Melinna detailed their adventures: Mother West Wind Where Stories frontispiece - Project Gutenberg eText 17250

Mother West Wind Where Stories frontispiece - Project Gutenberg eText 17250

Cady was very prolific, illustrating over 70 years for such publications as '' St. Nicholas Magazine'', ''

Boys' Life ''Scout Life'' (formerly ''Boys' Life'') is the monthly magazine of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Its target readers are boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 18. The magazine‘s headquarters are in Irving, Texas. ''Scout Life'' is pu ...

'', ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'', ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

'', ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...

'' and ''

Country Gentleman ''The Country Gentleman'' (1852–1955) was an American agricultural magazine founded in 1852 in Albany, New York, by Luther Tucker.Frank Luther Mott (1938A History of American Magazines 1850–1865"The Country Gentleman", page 432, Harvard Unive ...

''. He illustrated the ''

Queen Silver-Bell ''Queen Silver-Bell'' is the first in a series of four children's books by Frances Hodgson Burnett with illustrations by Harrison Cady Walter Harrison Cady (1877–1970) was an American illustrator and author, best known for his ''Peter Rabbit ...

'' series by

Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (24 November 1849 – 29 October 1924) was a British-American novelist and playwright. She is best known for the three children's novels ''Little Lord Fauntleroy'' (published in 1885–1886), '' A Little ...

. In addition to his extensive illustrating of others' books, Cady also authored several books with his own illustrations, including his Butternut Hill series (1929), ''Johnny Funny-Bunny's Picnic Party'' (1928) and ''Spring Moving Day'' (1928). When he retired in 1948,

Vincent Fago Vincenzo Francisco Gennaro Di Fago (; November 28, 1914 – June 13, 2002),Vincent F. Fago
at the Unite ...

took over the ''Peter Rabbit'' strip.Markstein, Don
"Peter Rabbit,"
''Don Markstein's Toonpedia''. Accessed Dec. 6, 2017. Avon published Cady's ''Peter Rabbit Comics'' in 1947.

Museum

His work is on display at the

Thornton W. Burgess Museum Thornton W. Burgess Museum was a museum in East Sandwich, Massachusetts dedicated to the conservationist and children's book author Thornton W. Burgess (1874–1965). It was founded in 1974. The museum was based in a Colonial architecture, Colon ...

Sandwich, Massachusetts Sandwich is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, and is the oldest town on Cape Cod. The town motto is ''Post tot Naufracia Portus'', "after so many shipwrecks, a haven". The population was 20,259 at the 2020 census. History Cape Cod wa ...

Bibliography

Alphabetical list of Thornton Burgess books illustrated by Harrison Cady

References

External links

Archives of American Art: Harrison Cady
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cady, Harrison 1877 births 1970 deaths American children's writers American comic strip cartoonists American comics artists American illustrators People from Gardner, Massachusetts

Biography

Early life and career

Museum

Bibliography

References

Further reading

External links