Lil' Abner
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''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 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 ...
in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn by Al Capp (1909–1979), the strip ran for 43 years – from August 13, 1934, through November 13, 1977. The Sunday page debuted six months after the daily, on February 24, 1935. It was originally distributed by
United Feature Syndicate United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along ...
and, later by the
Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate Tribune Content Agency (TCA) is a syndication company owned by Tribune Publishing. TCA had previously been known as the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate (CTNYNS), Tribune Company Syndicate, and Tribune Media Se ...
. Comic strips typically dealt with northern urban experiences before Capp introduced Li'l Abner, the first strip based in the South. The comic strip had 60 million readers in over 900 American newspapers and 100 foreign papers in 28 countries. Capp "had a profound influence on the way the world viewed the American South."


Cast


Main characters

Li'l Abner Yokum: Abner's character was tall and perpetually 19 years old. He was portrayed as a naive, simpleminded, gullible and sweet-natured hillbilly. He lived in a ramshackle log cabin with his pint-sized parents. Capp derived the family name "Yokum" as a combination of ''
yokel Yokel is one of several derogatory terms referring to the stereotype of unsophisticated country people. The term is of uncertain etymology and is only attributed from the early 19th century. Yokels are depicted as straightforward, simple, naï ...
'' and ''
hokum Hokum is a particular song type of American blues music—a humorous song which uses extended analogies or euphemistic terms to make sexual innuendos. This trope goes back to early blues recordings and is used from time to time in modern Ameri ...
''. (Although it is also the approximate
Northern European The northern region of Europe has several definitions. A restrictive definition may describe Northern Europe as being roughly north of the southern coast of the Baltic Sea, which is about 54°N, or may be based on other geographical factors ...
pronunciation of the name " Joachim".) In Capp's satirical and often complex plots, Abner was a country bumpkin Candide—a paragon of innocence in a sardonically dark and cynical world. Abner had no visible means of support, although his character earned his livelihood as a "crescent cutter" for the Little Wonder
Privy Privy is an old-fashioned term for an outdoor toilet, often known as an outhouse and by many other names. Privy may also refer to: * Privy council, a body that advises the head of state * Privy mark, a small mark in the design of a coin * Privy Pur ...
Company and later "mattress tester" for the Stunned Ox Mattress Company. During World War II, the Abner character was drafted into the role as mascot emblem of the Patrol Boat Squadron 29. In one post-World War II storyline, Abner became a
US Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sig ...
bodyguard of Steve Cantor (a parody of Steve Canyon) against the evil bald female spy Jewell Brynner (a parody of actor
Yul Brynner Yuliy Borisovich Briner (russian: link=no, Юлий Борисович Бринер; July 11, 1920 – October 10, 1985), known professionally as Yul Brynner, was a Russian-born actor. He was best known for his portrayal of King Mongkut in th ...
). Early in the strip's history, Abner's primary goal in the storyline was evading the marital designs of Daisy Mae Scragg, the virtuous, voluptuous, barefoot Dogpatch damsel and scion of the Yokums' blood feud enemies — the Scraggs, who were her character's bloodthirsty kinfolk. For 18 years of the run of the strip, Abner slipped out of Daisy Mae's marital crosshairs time and time again. When Capp finally gave in to reader pressure and allowed the couple to tie the knot, it was a major media event. It even made the cover of ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' magazine on March 31, 1952 — illustrating an article by Capp titled "It's Hideously True!! The Creator of ''Li'l Abner'' Tells Why His Hero Is ''(SOB!)'' Wed!!" Daisy Mae Yokum (née Scragg): Beautiful Daisy Mae's character was hopelessly in love with Dogpatch's most prominent resident throughout the entire 43-year run of Al Capp's comic strip. During most of the epic, the impossibly dense Abner exhibited little romantic interest in her voluptuous charms (much of it visible daily thanks to her famous polka-dot peasant blouse and cropped skirt). In 1952, Abner reluctantly proposed to Daisy to emulate the engagement of his comic strip "ideel", ''Fearless Fosdick''. Fosdick's own wedding to longtime fiancée Prudence Pimpleton turned out to be a dream — but Abner and Daisy's ceremony, performed by Marryin' Sam, was permanent. Abner and Daisy Mae's nuptials were a major source of media attention, landing them on the aforementioned cover of ''
Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
'' magazine's March 31, 1952, issue. Once married, Abner became relatively domesticated. Like Mammy Yokum and the other "wimmenfolk" in Dogpatch, Daisy Mae did all the work, domestic and otherwise — while the menfolk generally did nothing whatsoever. Mammy Yokum: Born Pansy Hunks, Mammy was the scrawny, highly principled "sassiety" leader and bare knuckle "champeen" of the town of Dogpatch. She had married the inconsequential Pappy Yokum in 1902; they produced two strapping sons twice their own size. Mammy dominated the Yokum clan through the force of her personality, and dominated everyone else with her fearsome right uppercut (sometimes known as her "Goodnight, Irene" punch), which helped her uphold law, order and decency. She is consistently the toughest character throughout ''Li'l Abner.'' A superhuman dynamo, Mammy did all the household chores — and provided her charges with no fewer than eight meals a day of "po'k chops" and "tarnips" (as well as local Dogpatch delicacies like "candied catfish eyeballs" and "trashbean soup"). Her authority was unquestioned, and her characteristic phrase, "Ah has ''spoken!"'', signaled the end of all further discussion. Her most familiar phrase, however, is "Good is better than evil becuz it's ''nicer!"'' (Upon his retirement in 1977, Capp declared Mammy to be his personal favorite of all his characters.) Li'l Abner's mom is the only character in the Dogpatch universe capable of defeating him in hand-to-hand combat. Pappy Yokum: Born Lucifer Ornamental Yokum, pint-sized Pappy had the misfortune of being the patriarch in a family that didn't have one. Pappy was so lazy and ineffectual, he didn't even bathe himself. Mammy was regularly seen scrubbing Pappy in an outdoor oak tub ("Once a month, rain or shine"). Ironing Pappy's trousers fell under her wifely duties as well, although she didn't bother with preliminaries — like waiting for Pappy to remove them first. Pappy is dull-witted and gullible (in one storyline after he is conned by Marryin' Sam into buying Vanishing cream because he thinks it makes him ''invisible'' when he picks a fight with his nemesis Earthquake McGoon), but not completely without guile. He had an unfortunate predilection for snitching "preserved turnips" and smoking corn silk behind the woodshed — much to his chagrin when Mammy caught him. Pappy Yokum wasn't always feckless, however. After his lower wisdom teeth grew so long that they squeezed his cerebral Goodness Gland and emerged as forehead horns, he proved himself capable of evil. Mammy solved the problem with a tooth extraction and ended the episode with her most famous dictum. Honest Abe Yokum: Li'l Abner and Daisy Mae's little boy was born in 1953 "after a pregnancy that ambled on so long that readers began sending me medical books", wrote Capp. Initially known as "Mysterious Yokum" (there was even an
Ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considere ...
doll marketed under this name) due to a debate regarding his gender (he was stuck in a pants-shaped stovepipe for the first six weeks), he was renamed "Honest Abe" (after President
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
) to thwart his early tendency to steal. His first words were "po'k chop", and that remained his favorite food. Though his uncle Tiny was perpetually frozen at 15 "y'ars" old, Honest Abe gradually grew from infant to grade school age, and became a dead ringer for Washable Jones — the star of Capp's early " topper" strip. He would eventually acquire a couple of supporting character friends for his own semi-regularly featured adventures in the strip. In one storyline, he lives up to his nickname when during a nationwide search for a pair of socks sewn by
Betsy Ross Elizabeth Griscom Ross (née Griscom;Addie Guthrie Weaver, ''"The Story of Our Flag..."'', 2nd Edition, A. G. Weaver, publ., 1898, p. 73 January 1, 1752 – January 30, 1836), also known by her second and third married names, Ashburn an ...
; after finding that his father was the current owner and preparing to trade them for the reward (a handshake from the President of the United States), he confesses at the last second that they were not his to give. Tiny Yokum: "Tiny" was a misnomer; Li'l Abner's kid brother remained perpetually innocent and 15 "y'ars" old — despite the fact that he was an imposing, tall behemoth. Tiny was unknown to the strip until September 1954, when a relative who had been raising him reminded Mammy that she'd given birth to a second "chile" while visiting her 15 years earlier. (The relative explained that she would have dropped him off sooner, but waited until she happened to be in the neighborhood.) Capp introduced Tiny to fill the bachelor role played reliably for nearly two decades by Li'l Abner himself, until his fateful 1952 marriage threw the carefully orchestrated dynamic of the strip out of whack for a period. Pursued by local lovelies Hopeful Mudd and Boyless Bailey, Tiny was even dumber and more awkward than Abner, if that can be imagined. Tiny initially sported a bulbous nose like both of his parents, but eventually, (through a plot contrivance) he was given a nose job, and his shaggy blond hair was
buzz cut Lovelytheband (stylized in all lowercase) is an American indie pop band that formed in 2016 in Los Angeles, California, United States. The band consists of vocalist Mitchy Collins, guitarist Jordan Greenwald, and drummer Sam Price. The band is ...
to make him more appealing. Salomey: The Yokums' beloved pet pig. Cute, lovable and intelligent (arguably smarter than Abner, Tiny or Pappy), she was accepted as part of the family ("the youngest", as Mammy invariably introduces her). She is 100% "Hammus Alabammus" — an adorable species of pig, and the last female known in existence. A plump, juicy ''Hammus Alabammus'' is the rarest and most vital ingredient of "ecstasy sauce", an indescribably delicious gourmet delicacy. Consequently, Salomey is frequently targeted by unscrupulous sportsmen, hog breeders and gourmands (like J.R. Fangsley and Bounder J. Roundheels), as well as unsavory
wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...
s with improper intentions (such as Boar Scarloff and Porknoy). Her moniker was a pun on both
salami Salami ( ) is a cured sausage consisting of fermented and air-dried meat, typically pork. Historically, salami was popular among Southern, Eastern, and Central European peasants because it can be stored at room temperature for up to 45 days ...
and Salome.


Supporting characters and villains

* Marryin' Sam: A traveling (by mule) preacher who specializes in $2 weddings. He also offered the $8 "ultra-deluxe speshul", a spectacular ceremony in which Sam officiates while being drawn and quartered by four rampaging jackasses. He cleans up once a year — during
Sadie Hawkins Day Sadie Hawkins Day is an American folk event and pseudo-holiday originated by Al Capp's classic hillbilly comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' (1934–1978). This inspired real-world Sadie Hawkins events, the premise of which is that women ask men for a dat ...
season, when slow-footed bachelors are dragged kicking and screaming to the altar by their prospective brides-to-be. Sam, whose face and figure were reportedly modeled after New York City mayor
Fiorello LaGuardia Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City from ...
, started out as a stock villain but gradually softened into a genial, opportunistic comic foil. He wasn't above chicanery to achieve his ends, and was warily viewed by Dogpatch menfolk as a traitor to his gender. Sam was prominently featured on the cover of ''Life'' in 1952 when he presided over the celebrated wedding of Li'l Abner and Daisy Mae. In the 1956 Broadway musical and 1959 film adaptation, Sam was played by rotund actor
Stubby Kaye Bernard Solomon Kotzin (November 11, 1918 – December 14, 1997), known as Stubby Kaye, was an American actor, comedian, vaudevillian, and singer, known for his appearances on Broadway and in film musicals. Kaye originated the roles of Nicely-Ni ...
. * Moonbeam McSwine: The unwashed but shapely form of languid, delectable Moonbeam was one of the iconic hallmarks of ''Li'l Abner'' — an unkempt, impossibly lazy, corncob pipe-smoking, flagrant (and ''fragrant)'', raven-haired, earthly (and ''earthy)'' woman. Beautiful Moonbeam preferred the company of pigs to suitors — much to the frustration of her equally lazy pappy, Moonshine McSwine. She was usually showcased luxuriating among the hogs, somewhat removed from the main action of the story, in a deliberate parody of glamour magazines and
pinup A pin-up model (known as a pin-up girl for a female and less commonly male pin-up for a male) is a model whose mass-produced pictures see widespread appeal as part of popular culture. Pin-up models were variously glamour models, fashion models ...
calendars of the day. Capp designed her in caricature of his wife Catherine (minus the dirt), who had also suggested Daisy Mae's name. In one comic, it is revealed that she bears a striking resemblance to a wealthy, well-dressed and well-washed woman named Gloria Van Welbuilt, a famous socialite. Despite her lazy nature and dirty appearance, she was generally portrayed as good-natured and kind as shown when she ran off to Dogpatch, carrying two shmoos under her arms to save them from going extinct, wondering if humanity would ever be good enough for them. She also consoled Abner to stop worrying about being a father. Moonbeam also seemed to have interests in romance as in some strips, she was seen flirting with and even kissing various male characters, including Abner. She once expressed the desire to have a family of her own and she actually discussed the matter of trapping a husband (if she got cleaned up) with Abner. In one strip, it was revealed that Moonbeam was in fact in love with Abner when they were children. In the same strip, it was shown that Moonbeam's disposition for filth was born out of a failure to understand the turn-ons of Abner when he was a child. Strangely she actually disliked hogs as a child, but after seeing Abner ignoring the openly romantic advances of a clean Daisy Mae, she dived right into a mud hole headfirst where some hogs were wallowing to earn his love, believing that if Abner didn't like clean girls he must have liked them dirty. Much to her disappointment, however, this, too, failed to capture his attention. Moonbeam was also unknowingly the star of a horror movie directed by Rock Pincus, head film director of a race known as the Pincushions, from planet Pincus 7. Unfortunately, this venture ended in tragedy for Rock when he was unknowingly grilled, put into a hot dog bun and devoured while he was still alive. * Hairless Joe and Lonesome Polecat: The proud purveyors of "Kickapoo Joy Juice" — a moonshine elixir of such stupefying potency that the fumes alone have been known to melt the rivets off battleships, possibly inspired by a real patent medicine named "Kickapoo Indian Sagwa" although it was produced in Connecticut. Concocted in a large wooden vat by the inseparable cave-dwelling buddies Lonesome Polecat (of the "Fried Dog"
Indian tribe In the United States, an American Indian tribe, Native American tribe, Alaska Native village, tribal nation, or similar concept is any extant or historical clan, tribe, band, nation, or other group or community of Native Americans in the Unit ...
, later known as the Polecats, "the one tribe who have never been conquered") and Hairless Joe (a hirsute, club-wielding, modern Cro-Magnon — who frequently made good on his oft-repeated threat, "Ah'll ''bash'' yore ''haid'' in!") The ingredients of the brew are both mysterious and all-encompassing (much like the contents of their cave, which has been known to harbor prehistoric monsters). When a batch "needs more body", the formidable pair simply goes out and clubs one (often a moose), and tosses it in. Over the years, the "recipe" has called for live grizzly bears, panthers, kerosene, horseshoes and anvils, among other ingredients. An officially licensed soft drink called Kickapoo Joy Juice is still produced by the
Monarch Beverage Company The Monarch Beverage Company Inc is a diversified, international beverage company based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company's CEO is Jacques Bombal. The company was founded in 1965 by Frank Armstrong. Monarch Beverage Company aimed to establish i ...
of
Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...
. Lonesome Polecat was also the official team
mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
of the Sioux City Soos (1940–1960), a former Minor League baseball franchise of
Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...
. * Joe Btfsplk: The world's worst
jinx A jinx (also jynx), in popular superstition and folklore, is a curse or the attribute of attracting bad or negative luck. The word ''"jynx"'' meaning the bird wryneck and sometimes a charm or spell has been in use in English since the seventeen ...
, Joe Btfsplk had a perpetually dark rain cloud over his head. Instantaneous bad luck befell anyone unfortunate enough to be in his vicinity. Though well-meaning and friendly, his reputation inevitably precedes him so Joe is a very lonely little man and thus associates himself with the Scraggs, except in World War II when Joe decided to do his patriotic duty and associate himself with Hirohito. He has an apparently unpronounceable name, but creator Al Capp "pronounced" Btfsplk by simply blowing a "raspberry", or Bronx cheer. Joe's personal storm cloud became one of the most iconic images in the strip. * Senator Jack S. Phogbound: His name was a thinly disguised variant on "jackass", as made plain in his deathless campaign slogan (see Dialogue and
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 ...
s). The senator was satirist Al Capp's parody of a blustering self-serving Southern politician. Before 1947, Phogbound had been known as Fogbound, but in that year Phogbound "blackmails his fellow Washington senators to appropriate two million dollars to establish Phogbound University", and its attendant brass statue of Phogbound, both reminiscent of self-aggrandizements by Huey Long; the name change allowed Capp to sharpen the joke by calling the university P.U. Phogbound is a corrupt, conspiratorial blowhard; he often wears a
coonskin cap A coonskin cap is a hat fashioned from the skin and fur of a raccoon. The original coonskin cap consisted of the entire skin of the raccoon including its head and tail. Beginning as traditional Native American headgear, coonskin caps became assoc ...
and carries an old fashioned flintlock rifle to impress his gullible constituents. In one sequence, Phogbound is unable to campaign in Dogpatch, so he sends his aides with an old, hot-air-filled gas bag that resembles him, and nobody noticed the difference. * Available Jones: Avaricious Dogpatch entrepreneur Available Jones was always available for a price. He had many sidelines, including minding babies ("Dry" for 5¢, "Other kinds" for 10¢). He provided anything from safety pins to battleships, but his most famous "provision" was his cousin, Stupefyin' Jones. * Stupefyin' Jones: A walking
aphrodisiac An aphrodisiac is a substance that increases sexual desire, sexual attraction, sexual pleasure, or sexual behavior. Substances range from a variety of plants, spices, foods, and synthetic chemicals. Natural aphrodisiacs like cannabis or cocai ...
, Stupefyin' was so drop-dead gorgeous that any male who glimpsed her froze petrified in his tracks and rooted to the spot. While she was generally favored by the males of Dogpatch, she could be deadly for a confirmed bachelor to encounter on
Sadie Hawkins Day Sadie Hawkins Day is an American folk event and pseudo-holiday originated by Al Capp's classic hillbilly comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' (1934–1978). This inspired real-world Sadie Hawkins events, the premise of which is that women ask men for a dat ...
. Statuesque actress
Julie Newmar Julie Newmar (born Julia Chalene Newmeyer, August 16, 1933) is an American actress, dancer, and singer, known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real-estate mogul. She won the Tony ...
became famous overnight for playing the small role in the 1956 ''Li'l Abner'' Broadway musical (and the 1959 film adaptation) without uttering a single line. * General Bullmoose: Created by Al Capp in June 1953, Bashington T. Bullmoose was the epitome of a mercenary, cold-blooded capitalist tyrant tycoon. Bullmoose's bombastic motto (see Dialogue and catchphrases) was adapted by Capp from a statement made by Charles E. Wilson, the former head of General Motors when it was America's largest corporation. In 1952, Wilson told a Senate subcommittee, "What is good for the country is good for General Motors, and vice-versa." Wilson later served as
United States Secretary of Defense The United States secretary of defense (SecDef) is the head of the United States Department of Defense, the executive department of the U.S. Armed Forces, and is a high ranking member of the federal cabinet. DoDD 5100.1: Enclosure 2: a The ...
under President
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
. Bullmoose had a simple boyhood dream: to possess all the money in the world – which he very nearly did, as Bullmoose Industries seemed to own or control all businesses in Dogpatch. He had a milquetoast son named Weakfish, and was sometimes accompanied by his delectable "secretary", Bim Bovak (whose name was a
pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...
on both "bimbo" and bombshell actress
Kim Novak Marilyn Pauline "Kim" Novak (born February 13, 1933) is an American retired film and television actress and painter. Novak began her career in 1954 after signing with Columbia Pictures and quickly became one of Hollywood's top box office stars, ...
). Li'l Abner became embroiled in many globetrotting adventures with the ruthless, reactionary billionaire over the years. Despite his adamantine exterior, General Bullmoose was still capable of a kind of capitalist gallantry. "Those Slobbovians .v.have done me out of a hundred thousand dollars!" he once exclaimed, after falling victim to a fraud. "Nearly an hour's income, bless 'em!" * Wolf Gal: An irredeemably
feral A feral () animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in some ...
Amazonian beauty who was raised by wolves and preferred to live among them; she lured unwary Dogpatchers to their doom to feed her ravenous pack. Wolf Gal was possibly, and even probably a
cannibal Cannibalism is the act of consuming another individual of the same species as food. Cannibalism is a common ecological interaction in the animal kingdom and has been recorded in more than 1,500 species. Human cannibalism is well documented, bo ...
, but the point was never stressed since she considered herself an animal, as did the rest of Dogpatch. One of Capp's more popular villains, Wolf Gal was briefly merchandised in the fifties with her own comic book, doll, handpuppet, and even a
latex Latex is an emulsion (stable dispersion) of polymer microparticles in water. Latexes are found in nature, but synthetic latexes are common as well. In nature, latex is found as a milky fluid found in 10% of all flowering plants (angiosperms ...
Halloween mask. * Earthquake McGoon: Billing himself as "the world's dirtiest wrassler", the bearded, bloated McGoon first appeared in ''Li'l Abner'' as a traveling exhibition wrestler in the late 1930s, and was reportedly partially based on real-life grappler
Man Mountain Dean Frank Simmons Leavitt (June 30, 1891 – May 29, 1953) was an American professional wrestler of the early 1900s, known by the ring name Man Mountain Dean. Early life Leavitt was born in New York City, the son of John McKenney Leavitt and Henriet ...
. He also has a look-alike cousin named Typhoon McGoon. McGoon became increasingly prominent in the ''Li'l Abner''
Cream of Wheat Cream of Wheat is an American brand of farina, a type of breakfast porridge mix made from wheat middlings. It looks similar to grits, but is smoother in texture since it is made with ground wheat kernels instead of ground corn. It was first ...
print ads of the 1940s, and later, with the early television exposure of gimmicky wrestlers such as
Gorgeous George George Raymond Wagner (March 23, 1915 – December 26, 1963) was an American professional wrestler known by his ring name Gorgeous George. In the United States, during the First Golden Age of Professional Wrestling in the 1940s–1950s, Gorgeous ...
. Earthquake is the nastiest resident of neighboring Skonk Hollow — a nightmarish, notoriously lawless community where no sane Dogpatcher dares set foot. The randy McGoon often attempted to walk Daisy Mae home "Skonk Hollow style", the lascivious implications of which are never made specific. * The ''(shudder!)'' Scraggs: Hulking, leering, gap-toothed twin miscreants Lem and Luke and their needlessly proud pappy, Romeo. Apelike and gleefully homicidal, the impossibly evil Scraggs were officially declared inhuman by an act of
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
, and passed the time by burning down orphanages just to have light to read by (although they quickly remembered that they were illiterate). Distant kinfolk of Daisy Mae, they carried on a blood feud with the Yokums throughout the run of the strip; in their first introduction after being run out of a Kentucky county at gunpoint, they tried to kill Li'l Abner but were beaten up by both Abner and Mammy Yokum. Mammy then banished the Scraggs to Skonk Hollow with a dividing line between Skonk Hollow and Dogpatch, with the understanding that although the Scraggs couldn't cross the line, any member of Dogpatch who did cross became their prey. A long-lost kid sister, named "*@!!*!"-Belle Scragg, briefly joined the clan in 1947. Fetchingly attired in a prison-striped
reform school A reform school was a penal institution, generally for teenagers mainly operating between 1830 and 1900. In the United Kingdom and its colonies reformatories commonly called reform schools were set up from 1854 onwards for youngsters who wer ...
miniskirt, "*@!!*!"-Belle was outwardly attractive but just as rotten as her siblings on the inside. Her censored first name was an expletive, compelling everyone who addressed her to apologize profusely afterward. * Nightmare Alice: Dogpatch's own "conjurin' woman", a hideous, cackling crone who practiced
Louisiana Voodoo Louisiana Voodoo (french: Vaudou louisianais, es, Vudú de Luisiana), also known as New Orleans Voodoo, is an African diasporic religion which originated in Louisiana, now in the southern United States. It arose through a process of syncreti ...
and
black magic Black magic, also known as dark magic, has traditionally referred to the use of supernatural powers or magic for evil and selfish purposes, specifically the seven magical arts prohibited by canon law, as expounded by Johannes Hartlieb in 14 ...
. Capp named her after the carnival-themed horror film, '' Nightmare Alley'' (1947). She employs
witchcraft Witchcraft traditionally means the use of magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually women who were believed to have ...
to "whomp up" ghosts and monsters to do her bidding. She was occasionally assisted by Doctor Babaloo, a
witch doctor A witch doctor (also spelled witch-doctor) was originally a type of healer who treated ailments believed to be caused by witchcraft. The term is now more commonly used to refer to healers, particularly in regions which use traditional healing ...
of the
Belgian Congo The Belgian Congo (french: Congo belge, ; nl, Belgisch-Congo) was a Belgian colony in Central Africa from 1908 until independence in 1960. The former colony adopted its present name, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in 1964. Colo ...
, as well as her demon-child niece Scary Lou, who specializes in vexing
voodoo doll The term Voodoo doll commonly describes an effigy into which pins are inserted. Such practices are found in various forms in the magical traditions of many cultures around the world. Despite its name, the dolls are not prominent in Haitian Vodo ...
s that resemble Li'l Abner. * Ole Man Mose: The mysterious Mose was reportedly hundreds of "y'ars" old, and lived like a hermit in a cave atop a mountain, obstinately refusing to "kick the bucket", which was conveniently positioned just outside his cave door. His wisdom is absolute ("Ole Man Mose — ''he knows!"''), and his sought-after annual Sadie Hawkins Day predictions — though frustratingly cryptic and infuriatingly misleading — are nonetheless 100% accurate. * Evil Eye Fleagle: Fleagle has a unique and terrifying skill: the
evil eye The Evil Eye ( grc, ὀφθαλμὸς βάσκανος; grc-koi, ὀφθαλμὸς πονηρός; el, (κακό) μάτι; he, עַיִן הָרָע, ; Romanian: ''Deochi''; it, malocchio; es, mal de ojo; pt, mau-olhado, olho gordo; ar ...
. An ordinary "whammy", as he called it, could stop a charging bull in its tracks. A "double whammy" could fell a skyscraper, leaving Fleagle exhausted. His dreaded "triple whammy" could melt a battleship, but would practically kill Fleagle in the process. The zoot suit-clad Fleagle was a native of
Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, and his burlesque New York accent was unmistakable — especially when addressing his "goil", the zaftig Shoiley. Fleagle was so popular, licensed plastic replicas of Fleagle's face were produced in the 1950s, to be worn like lapel pins. Battery-operated, the wearer could pull a string and produce a flashing light bulb "whammy". Fleagle was reportedly based on a real-life character, a Runyonesque local
boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...
trainer and hanger-on named Benjamin "Evil Eye" Finkle. Finkle and his famous "hex" were a ringside fixture in New York boxing circles during the 1930s/40s. Fleagle was vividly portrayed by character actor Al Nesor in the aforementioned stage play and film. * J. Roaringham Fatback: The bloated, self-styled "Pork King" was a greedy, gluttonous, unscrupulous business tycoon. Incensed to find that Dogpatch cast a shadow on his breakfast egg, he had the whole community moved to his convenience. * Gat Garson: Li'l Abner's '' doppelgänger'', a murderous racketeer with a predilection for Daisy Mae. * Aunt Bessie: Mammy's socialite kid sister, the Duchess of Bopshire, was the "white sheep" of the family. Bessie's string of marriages into
Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
and
Park Avenue Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
aristocracy left her a class-conscious, condescending snob. Her status-seeking crusades to make Abner over and marry him off into
high society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...
were always doomed to failure. Aunt Bessie virtually disappeared from the strip after Abner and Daisy Mae's marriage in 1952, apparently having conceded defeat in her attempt to remake Abner in her own image as a social climber. * Big Barnsmell: The lonely "inside man" at the "Skonk Works" — a dilapidated factory located on the remote outskirts of Dogpatch. Scores of locals are done in yearly by the toxic fumes of concentrated "skonk oil", which is brewed and barreled daily by Barnsmell and his cousin ("outside man" Barney Barnsmell) by grinding dead skunks and worn shoes into a smoldering
still A still is an apparatus used to distill liquid mixtures by heating to selectively boil and then cooling to condense the vapor. A still uses the same concepts as a basic distillation apparatus, but on a much larger scale. Stills have been use ...
, for some unspecified purpose. His job played havoc with his social life ("He has an air about him", as Dogpatchers tactfully put it), and the name of his famous facility entered the modern lexicon via the Lockheed
Skunk Works Skunk Works is an official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. It is responsible for a number of aircraft designs, beginning with the P-38 Lightning in 1 ...
project. * Soft-Hearted John: Dogpatch's impossibly mercenary, thoroughly blackhearted grocer, the ironically named Soft-Hearted John gleefully swindled and starved his clientele, and looked disturbingly satanic to boot. He had an idiot nephew who sometimes ran the store in his stead, aptly named Soft-Headed John. * Smilin' Zack: Cadaverous, outwardly peaceable mountaineer with a menacing grin and an even more menacing shotgun, and preferred things "quiet" to the point of silence. Zack's moniker was a take-off on another comic strip, ''
The Adventures of Smilin' Jack ''The Adventures of Smilin' Jack'' is an aviation comic strip that first appeared October 1, 1933, in the ''Chicago Tribune'' and ended April 1, 1973. After a run of 40 years, it was the longest-running aviation comic strip. The strip was created ...
'' by Zack Mosley. * Dr. Killmare: The local Dogpatch physician, who just happened to be a horse doctor. His name was a pun on the sunny '' Dr. Kildare'' of film, radio, and television fame. * Cap'n Eddie Ricketyback: Decrepit
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
aviator and proprietor/sole operator of the even more decrepit Dogpatch Airlines. Cap'n Eddie's name was a spoof of decorated World War I flying ace,
Eddie Rickenbacker Edward Vernon Rickenbacker or Eddie Rickenbacker (October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973) was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient.brass instrument, part of whose tubing needed to pass ''through'' the player's head. * Weakeyes Yokum: Before
Mister Magoo ''Mister Magoo'' is an American animated television series which was produced from November 7, 1960 to February 2, 1962. A single episode included five four-minute shorts and could either be aired together with bumpers as a single half-hour show, ...
there was Dogpatch's own Cousin Weakeyes, who would tragically mistake grizzly bears for romantically inclined "rich gals" in fur coats, and end a sequence by characteristically walking off a cliff. * Young Eddie McSkonk and U.S. Mule: Ancient, creaky, white-bearded Dogpatch postmaster and his hoary jackass mount. They were usually too feeble to handle the sacks of timeworn, cobweb-covered letters marked "Rush" at the Dogpatch Express Post Office. * J. Colossal McGenius: The brilliant marketing consultant and "idea man" who charged $10,000 per word for his sought-after business advice. McGenius was given to telling long-winded jokes with forgotten punch lines, as well as spells of hiccups and belches (borne of a regrettable fondness for gassy soft drinks like " Burpsi-Booma" and " Eleven Urp") which, at the aforementioned fee, usually bankrupted his unfortunate clients. He was aided by his lovely and meticulously efficient secretary, Miss Pennypacker. * Silent Yokum: Prudent Cousin Silent never utters a word unless it's absolutely, ''vitally'' important. Consequently, he hadn't spoken in 40 years. The arrival of Silent's grim visage in Dogpatch signaled earthshaking news on the horizon. Capp would milk readers' suspense by having Silent "warm up" his rusty, creaking jaw muscles for a few days, before the momentous pronouncement. * Happy Vermin: The "world's smartest cartoonist" — a caricature of Ham Fisher — who hired Li'l Abner to draw his comic strip for him in a dimly-lit closet. Instead of using Vermin's tired characters, Abner had inventively peopled the strip with hillbillies. A bighearted Vermin told his slaving assistant: "I'm proud of having created these characters!! They'll make millions for me!! And if they do — I'll get ''you'' a new light bulb!!" * Big Stanislouse; aka Big Julius: Stanislouse was a brutal gangster with a childish fondness for kiddie TV superheroes (like "Chickensouperman" and "Milton the Masked Martian"). Part of a virtual goon squad of comic mobsters that inhabited ''Li'l Abner'' and ''Fearless Fosdick'', the oafish Stanislouse alternated with other all-purpose underworld thugs, including "the Boys from the Syndicate" — Capp's euphemism for The Mob. * The Square-Eyes Family: Mammy's revelatory encounter with these unpopular Dogpatch outcasts first appeared in 1956 as a thinly-veiled appeal for racial tolerance. It was later issued as an educational comic book — called ''Mammy Yokum and the Great Dogpatch Mystery!'' — by the Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peo ...
. * Appassionata Von Climax: One of a series of predatory, sexually aggressive sirens who pursued Li'l Abner prior to his marriage, and even afterward, much to the consternation of Daisy Mae. Joining a long list of dishy '' femmes fatales'' and spoiled debutantes that included Gloria Van Welbilt, Moonlight Sonata, Mimi Van Pett and "The Tigress"; Appassionata was memorably portrayed by both Tina Louise (onstage) and
Stella Stevens Stella Stevens (born Estelle Eggleston; October 1, 1938) is a American former actress. She began her acting career in 1959 and starred in such popular films as '' Girls! Girls! Girls!'' (1962), '' The Nutty Professor'' (1963), ''The Courtship of ...
(on film). Capp always wondered how he ever got her suggestive name past the censors. * Tenderleif Ericson: Discovered frozen in the mud where her
Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
ship sank in 1047, Tenderleif was
Leif Ericson Leif Erikson, Leiv Eiriksson, or Leif Ericson, ; Modern Icelandic: ; Norwegian: ''Leiv Eiriksson'' also known as Leif the Lucky (), was a Norse explorer who is thought to have been the first European to have set foot on continental Nort ...
's beautiful, teenaged kid sister (complete with
breastplate A breastplate or chestplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. A breastplate is sometimes worn by mythological beings as a distinctive item of clothing. It is ...
armor Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...
, Viking helmet and burlesque
Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...
accent). As soon as she saw Li'l Abner, however, she started warming up and breathing hard. "She's seventeen y'ars old", explains Mammy, "and she hain't had a date fo' nine hunnerd y'ars!" * Princess Minihahaskirt: Decades before
Disney's The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
''
Pocahontas Pocahontas (, ; born Amonute, known as Matoaka, 1596 – March 1617) was a Native American woman, belonging to the Powhatan people, notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of ...
'', the sexiest cartoon Indian princesses could be found in ''Li'l Abner''. The most notable in a series of native maidens who enticed the normally stoic Lonesome Polecat, the list also included Minnie Mustache, Raving Dove, Little Turkey Wing and Princess Two Feathers. * Liddle Noodnik: A typically miserable resident of perpetually frozen
Lower Slobbovia Lower Slobbovia (also sometimes Outer, Inner, Central, Upper or Lowest Slobbovia) is a fictional country portrayed as underdeveloped, socially backward, remote, impoverished or unenlightened. First coined by Al Capp in 1946, the term has also been ...
, naked local waif Liddle Noodnik was usually employed to recite a farcical poem of greeting to visiting dignitaries, or sing the absurd Slobbovian
national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...
(see "setting and fictitious locales"). Like many terms in ''Li'l Abner'', Noodnik's name was derived from
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
. ''
Nudnik ''Nudnik'' was a Czechoslovak/Czech animated film series directed by Gene Deitch, produced by William Lawrence Snyder, and distributed by Paramount Studios. Twelve shorts were released during 1965 and 1967. The character's tagline is "Whatever ...
'' is a slang term for a bothersome person or pest. * Pantless Perkins: A very late addition to the strip, Capp introduced Honest Abe's brainy, ragamuffin pal Pantless Perkins in a series of kid-themed stories in the seventies, probably to compete with ''
Peanuts ''Peanuts'' is a syndicated daily and 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. ''Peanuts'' is among the most popular and infl ...
''. Pantless didn't own a single pair of trousers. He wore an over-length turtleneck sweater to hide the fact — much to his embarrassment. In one storyline, the nearest he ever got to a pair of pants was when he helps Honest Abe find a long-lost love of a millionaire in return for a pair of pants. Unfortunately, the prospective groom drops dead after tasting the terrible cooking of his bride-to-be, and Pantless remains so. * Rotten Ralphie: The kiddie version of Earthquake McGoon, Ralphie lived up to his name as the Dogpatch neighborhood bully. Exceedingly large for his age, Ralphie always wore a cowboy outfit that was several sizes too small. In one storyline, after Ralphie beats up every boy in Dogpatch at the same time, he himself is beaten up when Pantless Perkins and Honest Abe trick Ralphie into getting into a fight with the Scragg boys of Skonk Hollow. * Marcia Perkins: Innocent, outwardly normal teenager whose lips give off 451 °F of electromagnetic heat, frying the brain of any boy who kisses her. Declared a walking health hazard, Marcia wears a public warning sign ("Do Not Kiss This Girl, by Order of the Dept. of Health, Education and Welfare"). Her notoriety precedes her everywhere except Dogpatch, where she meets and falls for Tiny Yokum. * Bet-a-Million Bashby: Bashby amassed his colossal fortune by following one simple rule: Always bet on a sure thing, and always bet with a fool. He hadn't reckoned on fool's luck, however. All through the years Bashby bet on sure things, and all through the years Abner won. * The Widder Fruitful: Another iconic Dogpatch "regular", often glimpsed in passing or featured in crowd scenes. The ample, fertile widow invariably held three or four naked newborns under each arm, always carried backside forward, with a healthy brood of earlier offspring following in her wake. * Loverboynik: In 1954, Capp sent a letter to
Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...
addressing his intention to spoof him in ''Li'l Abner'' as "Liverachy". Liberace had his lawyers threaten to sue. Capp went ahead anyway, with a significant name change. Billed as the "Sweetheart of the Piano", Loverboynik is a blonde "dimpled darling" pianist and TV heartthrob. According to Capp, Liberace was "cut to the quick" when the parody appeared. Capp insisted that Loverboynik was ''not'' Liberace because Loverboynik "could play the piano rather decently and rarely wore black lace underwear." * Rock Hustler: Unscrupulous publicity agent-turned-marketing mogul. He masterminds an ad campaign promoting the miracle diet food "Mockaroni", carefully neglecting to disclose that it's both addictive and lethal. "The more you crave, the more you eat. The more you eat, the thinner you get — until you ''(shudder!)'' float away..." * Dumpington Van Lump: The bloated, almost catatonic heir to the Van Lump fortune, Dumpington can only utter one syllable ("Urp!") until he sets sight on Daisy Mae. A somewhat subhuman fiend, his favorite book is the disturbingly-titled ''How to Make Lampshades Out of Your Friends''. Capp chose the Dumpington sequence to illustrate his lesson on continuity storytelling in the ''Famous Artists Cartoon Course''. * Sam the Centaur: A "mythical critter" with a classic, chiseled profile and
Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...
-like blonde mane, Sam is a
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
centaur who occasionally roams the mountains of Dogpatch instead of the mountains of
Thessaly Thessaly ( el, Θεσσαλία, translit=Thessalía, ; ancient Thessalian: , ) is a traditional geographic and modern administrative region of Greece, comprising most of the ancient region of the same name. Before the Greek Dark Ages, The ...
. Available Jones, "th' most book-educated varmint in Dogpatch", pronounces: "He ''hain't'' real!" * Jubilation T. Cornpone: Dogpatch's founder and most famous son, memorialized by a town statue, is Confederate General Jubilation T. Cornpone — renowned for "Cornpone's Retreat", "Cornpone's Disaster", "Cornpone's Stupidity", "Cornpone's Misjudgment", "Cornpone's Hoomiliation" and "Cornpone's Final Mistake". Cornpone was such a disastrously incompetent military leader that he came to be considered an important asset of the opposing side. According to the stage play, the statue was commissioned by a grateful
Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
. Cornpone's only victories were posthumous — in one storyline, the General's statue is filled with Kickapoo Joy juice, which brings it to "life." It then goes on a rampage, beheading all the statues of
Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...
generals. As the U.S. Army can't destroy it, since it's a National Monument, Kickapoo Joy Juice is poured into a Union statue which results in both statues charging one another. When the smoke clears, the animated statues have annihilated each other. At Mammy Yokum's urging the statue pieces are put back together with glue. The hapless general is really best known for being the namesake of the rousing musical number (a "showstopper") in the popular ''
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 hillbilly, hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written a ...
'' musical, as sung by Marryin' Sam and chorus. * Jubilation T. Cornpone Jr: son of General Cornpone. A former "commander" army mules, he became Commander of all U.N. Forces against Invaders from Outer Space, despite being described as the most incompetent general of all time. It later emerged he was given the job because no other General would take it. Cornpone fell in love with big-eyed "Princess Pocahauntingeyes" and lived with her in the land above the Dogpatch via the "Trashbean stalk", although he is later henpecked into submission. * Romeo McHaystack: A would-be
Don Juan Don Juan (), also known as Don Giovanni ( Italian), is a legendary, fictional Spanish libertine who devotes his life to seducing women. Famous versions of the story include a 17th-century play, ''El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra'' ...
of Pineapple Junction, whose attempts at romancing women are frustrated because the Civic Improvement League tattooed a warning about him on his forehead. Discouraged, he suddenly decides to romance Dogpatch women when he discovers that atomic waste is suspended above the town, casting it permanently in darkness. * Sadie Hawkins: In the early days of Dogpatch, Sadie Hawkins was "the homeliest gal in them hills" who grew frantic waiting for suitors to come for her. Her father Hekzebiah Hawkins, a prominent Dogpatch resident, grew even more frantic about Sadie living at home for the rest of his life, and decreed the first annual
Sadie Hawkins Day Sadie Hawkins Day is an American folk event and pseudo-holiday originated by Al Capp's classic hillbilly comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' (1934–1978). This inspired real-world Sadie Hawkins events, the premise of which is that women ask men for a dat ...
, a foot race in which all the unmarried women pursued the town's bachelors with matrimony as the consequence. A pseudo-holiday entirely created in the strip, it's still frequently observed today in the form of Sadie Hawkins dances, to which it is customary for women to ask men and at which women approach (or chase after) men. * Lena the Hyena: A hideous Lower Slobbovian gal, referred to but initially unseen or only glimpsed from the neck down in ''Li'l Abner.'' Lena was so ugly that anyone who saw her was immediately driven insane. After weeks of teasing his readers by hiding Lena's face behind "censored" stickers and strategically placed dialogue balloons, Capp invited fans to draw Lena in a famous nationwide contest in 1946. Lena was ultimately revealed in the harrowing winning entry (as judged by Frank Sinatra,
Boris Karloff William Henry Pratt (23 November 1887 – 2 February 1969), better known by his stage name Boris Karloff (), was an English actor. His portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in the horror film '' Frankenstein'' (1931) (his 82nd film) established ...
and
Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...
) drawn by noted cartoonist
Basil Wolverton Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978)
at the
Communist radical and agitator, who sang revolutionary songs of
class warfare Class conflict, also referred to as class struggle and class warfare, is the political tension and economic antagonism that exists in society because of socio-economic competition among the social classes or between rich and poor. The forms ...
(with burlesque titles like " Molotov
Cocktails for Two "Cocktails for Two" is a song from the Big Band era, written by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow. The song debuted in the movie '' Murder at the Vanities'' (1934), where it was introduced by the Danish singer and actor Carl Brisson. Duke Ellingto ...
") while hypocritically traveling via
limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment. A very long wheelbase luxury sedan (with more than four doors) driven by a pr ...
and charging outrageous concert appearance fees to impoverished orphans. Joanie was Capp's parody of protest singer/songwriter
Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
. The character caused a storm of controversy in 1966, and many newspapers would only run
censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
versions of the strips. Baez took Capp's implicit satire to heart, however, as she would admit years later in her autobiography: "Mr Capp confused me considerably. I'm sorry he's not alive to read this, it would make him chuckle" (from ''And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir'', 1987). * S.W.I.N.E.: Capp used ''Li'l Abner'' to satirize current events, fads, and ephemeral popular culture (such as zoot suits in "Zoot Suit Yokum", 1943). Beginning in the mid-1960s, the strip became a forum for Capp's increasingly
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
political views. Capp, who lived in
Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston ...
, just a stone's throw from Harvard, satirized campus radicals, militant student political groups and hippies during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
protest era. The
Youth International Party The Youth International Party (YIP), whose members were commonly called Yippies, was an American youth-oriented radical and countercultural revolutionary offshoot of the free speech and anti-war movements of the late 1960s. It was founded o ...
(YIP) and
Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s, and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships ...
(SDS) emerged in ''Li'l Abner'' as S.W.I.N.E. (Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything). * Al Capp claimed that he always strove to give incidental characters in ''Li'l Abner'' names that would render all further description unnecessary. In that spirit, the following list of recurring semi-regulars (and a few one-shots) are unreferenced: Tobacco Rhoda, Joan L. Sullivan, Hamfat Gooch, Global McBlimp, Concertino Constipato, Jinx Rasputinburg, J. Sweetbody Goodpants, Reactionary J. Repugnant, B. Fowler McNest, Fleabrain, Stubborn P. Tolliver, Idiot J. Tolliver, Battling McNoodnik, Mayor Dan'l Dawgmeat, Slobberlips McJab, One-Fault Jones, Swami Riva, Olman Riva, Sir Orble Gasse-Payne, Black Rufe, Mickey Looney, "Ironpants" Bailey, Henry Cabbage Cod, Flash Boredom, Priceless and Liceless, Hopeless and Soapless, Disgustin' Jones, Skelton McCloset, Hawg McCall, "Good old" Bedly Damp, and a host of others.


''Fearless Fosdick''

''Li'l Abner'' also featured a comic strip-within-the-strip: ''
Fearless Fosdick ''Fearless Fosdick'' is a long-running parody of Chester Gould's ''Dick Tracy''. It appeared intermittently as a strip-within-a-strip, in Al Capp's satirical hillbilly comic strip, ''Li'l Abner'' (1934–1977). Li'l Abner's "ideel" Fearless Fosd ...
'' was a parody of
Chester Gould Chester Gould (; November 20, 1900 – May 11, 1985) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of the '' Dick Tracy'' comic strip, which he wrote and drew from 1931 to 1977, incorporating numerous colorful and monstrous villains. ...
's plainclothes detective, '' Dick Tracy''. It first appeared in 1942 and proved so popular that it ran intermittently in ''Li'l Abner'' over the next 35 years. Gould was also personally parodied in the series as cartoonist Lester Gooch — the diminutive, much-harassed and occasionally deranged "creator" of ''Fearless Fosdick''. The style of the ''Fosdick'' sequences closely mimicked ''Tracy'', including the urban setting, the outrageous villains, the galloping mortality rate, the crosshatched shadows, and the lettering style — even Gould's familiar signature was parodied in ''Fearless Fosdick''. Fosdick battled a succession of archenemies with absurdly unlikely names like Rattop, Anyface, Bombface, Boldfinger, the Atom Bum, the Chippendale Chair, and Sidney the Crooked Parrot, as well as his own criminal mastermind father, "Fearful" Fosdick (aka "The Original"). The razor-jawed title character (Li'l Abner's "ideel") was perpetually ventilated by flying bullets until he resembled a slice of Swiss cheese. The impervious Fosdick considered the gaping, smoking holes "mere scratches", however, and always reported back in one piece to his corrupt superior "The Chief" for duty the next day. Besides being fearless, Fosdick was "pure, underpaid and purposeful", according to his creator. He also had notoriously bad aim — often leaving a trail of
collateral damage Collateral damage is any death, injury, or other damage inflicted that is an incidental result of an activity. Originally coined by military operations, it is now also used in non-military contexts. Since the development of precision guided ...
(in the form of bullet-riddled pedestrians) in his wake. "When Fosdick is after a lawbreaker, there is no escape for the miscreant", Capp wrote in 1956. "There is, however, a fighting chance to escape for hundreds of innocent bystanders who happen to be in the neighborhood — but ''only'' a fighting chance. Fosdick's duty, as he sees it, is not so much to maintain safety as to destroy crime, and it's too much to ask any law-enforcement officer to do both, I suppose." Fosdick lived in squalor at the dilapidated boarding house run by his mercenary landlady, Mrs. Flintnose. He never married his own long-suffering fiancée Prudence Pimpleton (despite an engagement of 17 years), but Fosdick was directly responsible for the unwitting marriage of his biggest fan, Li'l Abner, to Daisy Mae in 1952. The bumbling detective became the star of his own
NBC-TV The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
puppet show that same year. Fosdick also achieved considerable exposure as the long-running advertising spokesman for Wildroot Cream-Oil, a popular men's hair product of the postwar period.


Setting and fictitious locales

Although ostensibly set in the Kentucky mountains, situations often took the characters to different destinations — including New York City, Washington, D.C., Hollywood, the South American Amazon, tropical islands, the Moon, Mars, etc. — as well as some purely fanciful worlds of Capp's imagination:


Dogpatch

Exceeding every burlesque stereotype of Appalachia, the impoverished backwater of
Dogpatch Dogpatch was the fictional setting of cartoonist Al Capp's classic comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' (1934–1977). ''Li'l Abner'' comic strip The inhabitants of Dogpatch were mostly lazy hillbillies, who usually wanted nothing to do with progress. ...
consisted mostly of hopelessly ramshackle log cabins, "tarnip" fields, pine trees and "hawg" wallows. Most Dogpatchers were shiftless and ignorant; the remainder were scoundrels and thieves. The menfolk were too lazy to work, yet Dogpatch gals were desperate enough to chase them (see
Sadie Hawkins Day Sadie Hawkins Day is an American folk event and pseudo-holiday originated by Al Capp's classic hillbilly comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' (1934–1978). This inspired real-world Sadie Hawkins events, the premise of which is that women ask men for a dat ...
). Those who farmed their turnip fields watched "turnip termites" swarm by the billions every year, locust-like, to devour Dogpatch's only crop (along with their homes, their livestock and all their clothing). The local geography was fluid and vividly complex; Capp continually changed it to suit either his whims or the current storyline. Natural landmarks included (at various times) Teeterin' Rock, Onneccessary Mountain, Bottomless Canyon, and Kissin' Rock (handy to Suicide Cliff). Local attractions that reappeared in the strip included the West Po'k Chop Railroad; the "Skonk Works", a dilapidated factory located on the remote outskirts of Dogpatch; and the General Jubilation T. Cornpone memorial statue. In one storyline Dogpatch's "Cannonball Express" train, after 1,563 tries, finally delivers its "cargo" to Dogpatch citizens on October 12, 1946, Receiving a 13-year stack of newspapers, Li'l Abner's family realizes that the Great Depression is on and that banks should close; they race to take their money out of the bank before realizing they have no money to begin with. Other news is the inauguration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as president on March 4, 1933 (although Mammy Yokum thinks the President is Teddy Roosevelt), and a picture of Germany's "new leader"
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
who claims to love peace while reviewing 20,000 new planes (April 21, 1933). In the midst of the Great Depression, the hardscrabble residents of lowly Dogpatch allowed suffering Americans to laugh at yokels even worse off than themselves. In Al Capp's own words, Dogpatch was "an average stone-age community nestled in a bleak valley, between two cheap and uninteresting hills somewhere." Early in the continuity Capp a few times referred to Dogpatch being in
Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia ...
, but he was careful afterward to keep its location generic, probably to avoid cancellations from offended Kentucky newspapers. From then on, he referred to it as Dogpatch, USA, and did not give any specific location as to exactly where it was supposed to be located. Humorously enough, many states tried to claim ownership to the little town (Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, etc.), yet Capp would not budge. He left it at Dogpatch USA so there would be no headaches and problems. Like the Coconino County depicted in
George Herriman George Joseph Herriman III (August 22, 1880 – April 25, 1944) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip '' Krazy Kat'' (1913–1944). More influential than popular, ''Krazy Kat'' had an appreciative audience ...
's '' Krazy Kat'' and the
Okefenokee Swamp The Okefenokee Swamp is a shallow, 438,000-acre (177,000 ha), peat-filled wetland straddling the Georgia–Florida line in the United States. A majority of the swamp is protected by the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and the Okefenokee ...
of
Walt Kelly Walter Crawford Kelly Jr. (August 25, 1913 – October 18, 1973), commonly known as Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip '' Pogo''. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contr ...
's '' Pogo'', and, most recently and famously, ''
The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
"Springfield", Dogpatch's distinctive cartoon landscape became as identified with the strip as any of its characters. Later, Capp licensed and was part-owner of an $35 million
theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
called
Dogpatch USA Dogpatch USA was a theme park located in northwest Arkansas along State Highway 7 between the cities of Harrison and Jasper, an area known today as Marble Falls. It was based on the comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', created by cartoonist Al Capp ...
near
Harrison, Arkansas Harrison is a city and the county seat of Boone County, Arkansas, United States. It is named after General Marcus LaRue Harrison, a surveyor who laid out the city along Crooked Creek at Stifler Springs. According to 2019 Census Bureau estima ...
.


Lower Slobbovia

As utterly wretched as existence was in Dogpatch, there was one place even worse. Frigid, faraway
Lower Slobbovia Lower Slobbovia (also sometimes Outer, Inner, Central, Upper or Lowest Slobbovia) is a fictional country portrayed as underdeveloped, socially backward, remote, impoverished or unenlightened. First coined by Al Capp in 1946, the term has also been ...
was fashioned as a pointedly political satire of backward nations and foreign diplomacy, and remains a contemporary reference. Its hapless residents were perpetually waist-deep in several feet of snow, and icicles hung from almost every frostbitten nose. The favorite dish of the starving natives was raw polar bear (and vice versa). Lower Slobbovians spoke with burlesque pidgin-Russian accents; the miserable frozen wasteland of Capp's invention abounded in incongruous
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
humor. Slobbovia is an iceberg, which (as real icebergs do) continually capsizes as its lower portions melt. This dunks Upper Slobbovia into Lower Slobbovia, and raises the latter into the former—a classic example of a literal revolution. Lower Slobbovia and Dogpatch are both comic examples of modern dystopian satire. Conceptually based on
Siberia Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
, or perhaps specifically on
Birobidzhan Birobidzhan ( rus, Биробиджа́н, p=bʲɪrəbʲɪˈdʐan; yi, ביראָבידזשאַן, ''Birobidzhan'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia, locat ...
, Capp's icy hellhole made its first appearance in ''Li'l Abner'' in April 1946. Ruled by Good King Nogoodnik (sometimes known as King Stubbornovsky the Last), the Slobbovian politicians were even more corrupt than their Dogpatch counterparts. Their monetary unit was the "rasbucknik", of which one was worth nothing and a large quantity was worth a lot less, due to the trouble of carrying them around. The local children were read harrowing tales from "Ice-sop's Fables", which were parodies of classic
Aesop Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to m ...
, but with a darkly sardonic bent (and titles like "Coldilocks and the Three Bares").


Other fictional locales

Other fictional locales included Skonk Hollow, El Passionato, Kigmyland, the Republic of Crumbumbo, Lo Kunning, Faminostan, Planets Pincus Number 2 and 7, Pineapple Junction and, most notably, the Valley of the Shmoon.


Mythic creatures

''Li'l Abner'' featured a whole menagerie of
allegorical As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...
animals over the years — each one was designed to satirically showcase another disturbing aspect of
human nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...
. They included: *
Shmoo The shmoo (plural: shmoos, also shmoon) is a fictional cartoon creature created by Al Capp (1909–1979); the character first appeared in the comic strip '' Li'l Abner'' on August 31, 1948. The popular character has gone on to influence pop cu ...
s, introduced in 1948, were fabulous creatures that bred exponentially, consumed nothing, and eagerly provided everything that humankind could wish for. Besides producing both milk (bottled, grade A) and eggs (neatly packaged), they tasted like pork when roasted, chicken when fried, and steak when broiled. Ironically, the shmoo's generous nature and incredible usefulness made it a threat to capitalism, to
western society Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...
and perhaps to civilization itself. * Kigmies — Masochistic, aboriginal creatures who loved to be kicked, thereby satisfying all human aggression, up to a point, after which they went on a rampage of retaliation. (The Kigmy story was originally fashioned as a
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...
for racial and religious oppression. Capp's surviving preliminary sketches of the kigmies make this apparent, as detailed in the introductory notes to ''Li'l Abner Dailies 1949: Volume 15'', Kitchen Sink Press, 1992). * The Bald Iggle — A cute little wide-eyed, guileless creature whose soulful gaze compelled everyone to involuntarily tell the truth — including lawyers, politicians, fishermen, advertisers, husbands, wives and used car salesmen. The Iggle was officially declared a public menace by the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...
("The life it ruins may be your own!"), and ultimately hunted down, confiscated and exterminated. * Nogoodniks — or ''bad'' shmoos. Nogoodniks were a "sickly shade of green", had "li'l red eyes, sharp yaller teeth, an' a dirty look," and were the sworn enemies of "hoomanity". Frequently sporting 5 o'clock shadows, eye patches, scars, fangs and other ruffian attributes — they devoured "good" shmoos, and wreaked havoc on Dogpatch. They are finally defeated when they get subjected to George Jessel's recording of
Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 1930s, W ...
's "Wagon Wheels", a sound so excruciating that it kills them instantly. (Similar plot devices were used in the 1978 '' Attack of the Killer Tomatoes'' and 1996 ''
Mars Attacks! ''Mars Attacks!'' is a 1996 American science fiction comedy film directed by Tim Burton, who also co-produced it with Larry J. Franco. The screenplay by Jonathan Gems was based on the Topps trading card series of the same name. The film featu ...
''.) * Shminfants — Modified baby shmoos, which looked like human babies but were eternally young, came in a variety of different "colors", and never needed changing. * Shtoonks — Imported from the Slobbovian embassy, Shtoonks were mean-spirited, sharp-toothed, hairy, flying creatures which were "not only sneaky, smelly and surly, but — yak! yak! — just try to eat one!!" Shtoonks had only one useful trait: they loved human misery so much that they actually enjoyed bringing bad news. They temporarily replaced
postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the f ...
by delivering bills and other bad news for free. * Mimikniks — Obsessive Slobbovian songbirds who sing like anyone they have ever heard. (Those who have heard Maria Callas are valued. Those who have heard George Jessel are shot.) The only song they know the words to is '' Short'nin' Bread'', however, due to the fact that there was only one record in Lower Slobbovia. * The Money Ha-Ha — An alien creature from "Planet Pincus No. 2", with ears shaped like taxi horns. It laid U.S. currency in place of eggs. * Turnip Termites — Looking like a cross between a
locust Locusts (derived from the Vulgar Latin ''locusta'', meaning grasshopper) are various species of short-horned grasshoppers in the family Acrididae that have a swarming phase. These insects are usually solitary, but under certain circumstanc ...
and a
piranha A piranha or piraña (, , or ; or , ) is one of a number of freshwater fish in the family Serrasalmidae, or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, fl ...
, billions of these insatiable pests swarm once a year to their ancient feeding ground, Dogpatch. * Shminks — Valued for making "shmink coats". They can ''only'' be captured by braining them with a kitchen door. * Pincushions — Alien beings from "Planet Pincus No. 7". Like the earlier Moon Critters, they looked like flying sausages with pinwheels on their posteriors. * Abominable Snow-Hams — Delectable but intelligent and sensitive beings, presenting Tiny Yokum with an ethical dilemma: if eating one constitutes cannibalism. * The Slobbovian Amp-Eater — This luminous beast consumed electric currents; a walking
energy crisis An energy crisis or energy shortage is any significant bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In literature, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, in particular, those that supply n ...
. * Bashful Bulganiks — Timid birds that are so skittish they can not be seen by human eyes, and are thus
theoretical A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...
. * Stunflowers — Murderous, thoroughly malevolent anthropomorphic houseplants; anyone trying to pick their seeds ends up falling into Bottomless Canyon forever. * Fatoceroses — The ''only'' defense against a stampede of these bloated
pachyderms Pachydermata (meaning 'thick skin', from the Greek grc, παχύς, pachys, thick, label=none, and grc, δέρμα, derma, skin, label=none) is an obsolete order of mammals described by Gottlieb Storr, Georges Cuvier, and others, at one time re ...
is a steaming plate of lethally addictive "Mockaroni". * Bitingales — Small, fiendish devil birds whose hellish bite causes unbearable heat — for 24 years. * The Slobbovian King Crab — A huge
crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group can ...
that only eats Slobbovian kings. Later supplemented by a marsupial called the Kingaroo, "which only eats lobboviankings" * The Flapaloo — A scrawny, prehistoric bird that lays 1,000 eggs per minute. The eggs, when dissolved, turn water into gasoline. The
Oil industry The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry or the oil patch, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The larges ...
captures the last one in existence, and mercilessly wrings its neck. * Gobbleglops — Looking like a cross between a hog and a teddy bear, these insatiable creatures eat rubbish (or as Mammy calls it, "glop"). They cannot be touched, as they are red-hot, living incinerators; waste goes in and nothing comes out. Mammy leads them to America's major polluted cities, where they obligingly devour all the garbage. But when the glop runs out — they begin to consume everything (and ''everyone'') else in sight. * Shmeagles — The world's most amorous creatures, they pursue their females at the
speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit ...
— sometimes even faster. * Hammus Alabammus — Faux Latin designation for an adorable (and delectable) species of swine, with a "zoot snoot" and a "drape shape". The only known femalein existence resides with the Yokums — their beloved pet, Salomey.


Dialogue and catchphrases

Al Capp, a native northeasterner, wrote all the final dialogue in ''Li'l Abner'' using his approximation of a mock- southern
dialect The term dialect (from Latin , , from the Ancient Greek word , 'discourse', from , 'through' and , 'I speak') can refer to either of two distinctly different types of linguistic phenomena: One usage refers to a variety of a language that is a ...
(including
phonetic Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign. Linguists who specialize in studying the physical properties of speech are phoneticians. ...
sounds, eye dialect (nonstandard spelling for speech to draw attention to pronunciation), nonstop "creative" spelling and deliberate
malapropisms A malapropism (also called a malaprop, acyrologia, or Dogberryism) is the mistaken use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes humorous utterance. An example is the statement attributed to ...
). He constantly interspersed
boldface In typography, emphasis is the strengthening of words in a text with a font in a different style from the rest of the text, to highlight them. It is the equivalent of prosody stress in speech. Methods and use The most common methods in W ...
type, and included prompt words in parentheses (''chuckle!, sob!, gasp!, shudder!, smack!, drool!, cackle!, snort!, gulp!, blush!, ugh!,'' etc.) as asides, to bolster the effect of the printed speech balloons. Almost every line was followed by ''two'' exclamation marks for added emphasis. Outside Dogpatch, characters used a variety of stock
Vaudevillian Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
dialects.
Mobsters A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from '' mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization a ...
and criminal-types invariably spoke slangy Brooklynese, and residents of Lower Slobbovia spoke pidgin-Russian, with a smattering of
Yinglish Yiddish words used in the English language include both words that have been assimilated into Englishused by both Yiddish and English speakersand many that have not. An English sentence that uses either may be described by some as Yinglish (or H ...
. Comic dialects were also devised for offbeat British characters — like H'Inspector Blugstone of Scotland Yard (who had a
Cockney Cockney is an accent and dialect of English, mainly spoken in London and its environs, particularly by working-class and lower middle-class Londoners. The term "Cockney" has traditionally been used to describe a person from the East End, or ...
accent) and Sir Cecil Cesspool (whose speech was a clipped, uppercrust King's English). Various Asian,
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, Native American and European characters spoke in a wide range of specific, broadly caricatured dialects as well. Capp has credited his inspiration for vividly stylized language to early literary influences like
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 ...
, Mark Twain and
Damon Runyon Alfred Damon Runyon (October 4, 1880 – December 10, 1946) was an American newspaperman and short-story writer. He was best known for his short stories celebrating the world of Broadway in New York City that grew out of the Prohibition era. To N ...
, as well as Old-time radio and the Burlesque stage. 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 Toonopedi ...
commented that Capp's "use of language was both unique and universally appealing; and his clean, bold cartooning style provided a perfect vehicle for his creations." The following is a partial list of characteristic expressions that reappeared often in ''Li'l Abner:'' * "Natcherly!" * "Amoozin' but confoozin'!" * "Yo' big, sloppy ''beast!!"'' (also, "Yo' mizzable ''skonk!!"'') * "Ef Ah had mah druthers, Ah'd druther..." * "As any fool kin plainly see!" (Response: "''Ah'' sees!") * "What's good for General Bullmoose is good for ''everybody!"'' (Variant from the movie: "...good for the USA!") * "Thar's no Jack S. like ''our'' Jack S!" * "Oh, happy day!" * "Th' ideel o' ev'ry one hunnerd percent, red-blooded American boy!" * "Ah'll ''bash'' yore ''haid'' in!!" * "Wal, fry mah hide!" (also, "Wal, cuss mah bones!") Pappy Yokum utters this tagline when, thinking he is dreaming, actually commands a bottle genie to do his bidding. Awakening, he exclaims the phrase. "A wish is a wish," says the genie. The next comic frame says: HIDE FRIED * "Ah has ''spoken!"'' * "Good is better than evil becuz it's ''nicer!"'' * "It hain't ''hoomin'', thass whut it hain't!"


Toppers and alternate strips

''Li'l Abner'' had several toppers on the Sunday page, including * ''Washable Jones'' (February 24 – June 9, 1935) * ''Advice fo' Chillun'', aka ''Advice fo' Gals'', ''Advice fo' Parents'', ''Advice fo' Yo' All'' and other titles (June 23, 1935 – Aug 15, 1943) * ''Small Change'', aka ''Small Fry'' (May 31, 1942 – 1944) The Sunday page debuted six months into the run of the strip. The first topper was ''Washable Jones'', a weekly continuity about a four-year-old hillbilly boy who goes fishing and accidentally hooks a ghost, which he pulls from the water. After four months of fantasy adventure, Capp ended the strip with Washable's mother waking him up; the story was a dream. After this, Capp simply expanded ''Li'l Abner'' by another row, and filled the rest of the space with a page-wide title panel and a small panel called ''Advice fo' Chillun''. Washable Jones later appeared in the strip in a Shmoo-related storyline in 1949, and he appeared with the Shmoos in two one-shot comics – ''Al Capp's Shmoo in Washable Jones' Travels'' (1950, a premium for
Oxydol Oxydol is a brand of laundry detergent sold in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It was created in 1914 by Thomas Hedley Co. of Newcastle upon Tyne and purchased by Procter & Gamble in 1927. It was P&G's first laundry soap. In t ...
laundry detergent) and ''Washable Jones and the Shmoo'' #1 (1953, published by the Capp-owned publisher Toby Press). Al Capp also wrote two other daily comic strips: * '' Abbie an' Slats'', drawn by Raeburn van Buren (Capp wrote the strip from July 12, 1937, through 1945: writing of the strip was continued by Capp's brother Elliot Caplin until the strip's demise on January 30, 1971) * ''
Long Sam ''Long Sam'' is an American comic strip created by Al Capp, writer-artist of ''Li'l Abner'', and illustrated by Bob Lubbers. It was syndicated by United Feature Syndicate from May 31, 1954, to December 29, 1962. The strip was initially written ...
'', drawn by Bob Lubbers (Capp wrote the strip from May 31, 1954, through sometime in 1955; writing of the strip was continued by Elliot Caplin for a time, and then by Lubbers until the strip ended on December 29, 1962)


Licensing, advertising and promotion

Al Capp was a master of the arts of marketing and
promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
. Publicity campaigns were devised to boost circulation and increase public visibility of ''Li'l Abner'', often coordinating with national magazines, radio and television. In 1946 Capp persuaded six of the most popular radio personalities (Frank Sinatra, Kate Smith, Danny Kaye,
Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in Bob Hope filmography, more than 70 short and ...
,
Fred Waring Fredrick Malcolm Waring Sr. (June 9, 1900 – July 29, 1984) was an American musician, bandleader, and radio and television personality, sometimes referred to as "America's Singing Master" and "The Man Who Taught America How to Sing". He was also ...
and
Smilin' Jack Smith Jack Ward Smith (November 16, 1913 – July 3, 2006), known as Smilin' Jack Smith, was an American crooner, radio host and actor. Born in Seattle, Washington, United States, by 1933 Smith was in a singing trio, The Three Ambassadors. In 1939, ...
) to broadcast a song he'd written for Daisy Mae: ''(Li'l Abner) Don't Marry That Girl!!'' Other promotional tie-ins included the Lena the Hyena Contest (1946), the Name the Shmoo Contest (1949), the Nancy O. Contest (1951), the Roger the Lodger Contest (1964) and many others. Capp also excelled at product endorsement, and ''Li'l Abner'' characters were often featured in mid-century American
advertising campaign An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and conc ...
s. Dogpatch characters pitched consumer products as varied as Grape-Nuts cereal, Kraft caramels, Ivory soap,
Oxydol Oxydol is a brand of laundry detergent sold in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It was created in 1914 by Thomas Hedley Co. of Newcastle upon Tyne and purchased by Procter & Gamble in 1927. It was P&G's first laundry soap. In t ...
, Duz and Dreft detergents, Fruit of the Loom,
Orange Crush Crush is a brand of carbonated soft drinks owned and marketed internationally by Keurig Dr Pepper, originally created as an orange soda, Orange Crush. Crush competes with Coca-Cola's Fanta. It was created in 1911 by beverage and extract chemi ...
, Nestlé's cocoa, Cheney neckties, Pedigree pencils, Strunk chainsaws, U.S. Royal tires, Head & Shoulders shampoo and
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...
light bulbs. There were even Dogpatch-themed family restaurants called "Li'l Abner's" in
Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
,
Morton Grove, Illinois Morton Grove is a village in Cook County, Illinois. Per the 2020 census, the population was 25,297. The village is named after former United States Vice President Levi Parsons Morton, who helped finance the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railr ...
, and
Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region ...
. Capp himself appeared in numerous print ads. A lifelong chain-smoker, he happily plugged
Chesterfield cigarettes Chesterfield is a brand of cigarette, named after Chesterfield County, Virginia. The brand is owned by conglomerate Altria and produced by its subsidiary Philip Morris USA. History A blend of Turkish and Virginia tobacco, Chesterfields were int ...
; he appeared in Schaeffer fountain pen ads with his friends
Milton Caniff Milton Arthur Paul Caniff (; February 28, 1907 – April 3, 1988) was an American cartoonist famous for the ''Terry and the Pirates'' and ''Steve Canyon'' comic strips. Biography Caniff was born in Hillsboro, Ohio. He was an Eagle Scout and a r ...
and
Walt Kelly Walter Crawford Kelly Jr. (August 25, 1913 – October 18, 1973), commonly known as Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip '' Pogo''. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contr ...
; pitched the Famous Artists School (in which he had a financial interest) along with Caniff, Rube Goldberg,
Virgil Partch Virgil Franklin Partch (October 17, 1916 – August 10, 1984), who generally signed his work Vip,Virgil F ...
, Willard Mullin and Whitney Darrow, Jr; and, though a professed teetotaler, he personally endorsed
Rheingold Beer Rheingold Brewery was a New York state brewery which sold Rheingold Beer from 1883 to 1976. The brewery held 35% of the state's beer market at its peak. The company was sold by the founding Jewish American Liebmann family in 1963. According t ...
, among other products. * Cream of Wheat: Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, Li'l Abner was the spokesman for
Cream of Wheat Cream of Wheat is an American brand of farina, a type of breakfast porridge mix made from wheat middlings. It looks similar to grits, but is smoother in texture since it is made with ground wheat kernels instead of ground corn. It was first ...
cereal in a long-running series of comic strip-format ads that appeared in national magazines including ''Life'', ''
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 Hous ...
'', and '' Ladies' Home Journal''. The ads usually featured Daisy Mae calling for "halp" against a threatening menace — in the person of Earthquake McGoon or, just as often, a gorilla, grizzly bear, rampaging moose, "Injun" attack, or some natural disaster like an avalanche, fire or flood. Abner is dispatched to rescue her, but not before enjoying a "dee-lishus" enriched bowl of hot Cream of Wheat which, the reader is assured, is "ready in just 5 minutes!" * Wildroot Cream-Oil: ''Fearless Fosdick'' was licensed for use in an advertising campaign for Wildroot Cream-Oil, a popular men's hair tonic. Fosdick's iconic profile on tin signs and advertising displays became a prominent fixture in barbershops across America — advising readers to "Get Wildroot Cream-Oil, Charlie!" A series of ads appeared in newspapers, magazines and comic books featuring Fosdick's farcical battles with "Anyface" — a murderous master of disguise. (Anyface was ''always'' given away by his telltale
dandruff Dandruff is a skin condition that mainly affects the scalp. Symptoms include flaking and sometimes mild itchiness. It can result in social or self-esteem problems. A more severe form of the condition, which includes inflammation of the skin, ...
and messy hair, however.) * Toys and licensed merchandise: Dogpatch characters were heavily licensed throughout the 1940s and 1950s: the main cast was produced as a set of six hand puppets and dolls by Baby Barry Toys in 1957. A 10-figure set of carnival chalkware statues of Dogpatch characters was manufactured by Artrix Products in 1951, and Topstone introduced a line of 16 rubber Halloween masks prior to 1960. Licensing would reach an apex, however, with the unexpected postwar merchandising phenomenon that followed Capp's introduction of the Shmoo. As in the strip, shmoos suddenly appeared to be everywhere in 1948 and 1949. A garment factory in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
turned out a whole line of shmoo apparel — including "Shmooveralls". Shmoo dolls, clocks, watches, jewelry, earmuffs, wallpaper, fishing lures, air fresheners, soap, ice cream, balloons, ashtrays, comic books, records, sheet music, toys, games, Halloween masks, salt and pepper shakers, decals, pinbacks, tumblers, coin banks, greeting cards, planters, neckties, suspenders, belts, curtains, fountain pens, and other shmoo paraphernalia were produced. In a single year, shmoo merchandise generated over $25 million in sales. Close to a hundred licensed shmoo products from 75 different manufacturers were produced, some of which sold five million units each. More recently, Dark Horse Comics issued four figures of Abner, Daisy Mae, Fosdick and the Shmoo in 2000 as part of their line of Classic Comic Characters — statues #8, 9, 17 and 31, respectively. * Kickapoo Joy Juice: The lethal brew known as Kickapoo Joy Juice, featured in the strip and characterized as moonshine or bootleg liquor (it could also remove hair, paint and tattoos) has been a licensed brand in real-life since 1965. The National
NuGrape NuGrape is a brand of grape-flavored soda pop. The NuGrape brand was created in 1906, first bottled in 1921, and by April 1933, The National NuGrape Company was founded in Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of ...
Company first produced the beverage, which was acquired in 1968 by the
Moxie Moxie is a brand of carbonated beverage that is among the first mass-produced soft drinks in the United States. It was created around 1876 by Augustin Thompson as a patent medicine called "Moxie Nerve Food" and was produced in Lowell, Mass ...
Company, and eventually the
Monarch Beverage Company The Monarch Beverage Company Inc is a diversified, international beverage company based in Atlanta, Georgia. The company's CEO is Jacques Bombal. The company was founded in 1965 by Frank Armstrong. Monarch Beverage Company aimed to establish i ...
of Atlanta, Georgia. As with Mountain Dew, another euphemism for moonshine, the actual product is a soft drink. To this day, the label features Capp's characters Hairless Joe and Lonesome Polecat. Distribution currently includes the United States, Canada, Singapore, Bangladesh, China,
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
, Malaysia,
Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 million, ...
, Brunei,
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. * Dogpatch USA: In 1968, an $35 million
theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
called
Dogpatch USA Dogpatch USA was a theme park located in northwest Arkansas along State Highway 7 between the cities of Harrison and Jasper, an area known today as Marble Falls. It was based on the comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', created by cartoonist Al Capp ...
opened at
Marble Falls, Arkansas Marble Falls (known as Marble City from 1840 to 1883, Willcockson from 1883 to 1934 and Dogpatch from 1966 to 1997) is an unincorporated community in Newton County, Arkansas, United States. It lies along Arkansas's National Scenic 7 Byway between ...
, based on Capp's work and with his support. The gift shops sold "hillbilly" souvenirs like corncob pipes and moonshine jugs. In addition to the newly constructed rides and attractions, many of the buildings in the park were authentic 19th-century log structures purchased by general manager James H. Schermerhorn. The logs in each building were numbered, cataloged, disassembled and reassembled at the park. Dogpatch USA was a popular attraction during the 1970s, but was closed in 1993 due to mismanagement and financial difficulties. Several attempts have been made to reopen the park but at present it lies abandoned. As of late 2005, the area once devoted to a live-action facsimile of Dogpatch (including a lifesize statue in the town square of Dogpatch "founder" Jubilation T. Cornpone) has been heavily stripped by vandals and souvenir hunters, and is today slowly being reclaimed by the surrounding Arkansas wilderness. It was announced that Dogpatch will reopen as Heritage USA in October 2018.


Awards and recognition

Fans of the strip ranged from novelist John Steinbeck, who called Capp "very possibly the best writer in the world today" in 1953, and even earnestly recommended him for the Nobel Prize in literature — to media critic and theorist Marshall McLuhan, who considered Capp "the only robust satirical force in American life." John Updike, calling Li'l Abner a "hillbilly Candide", added that the strip's "richness of social and philosophical commentary approached the Voltairean." Capp has been compared, at various times, to Fyodor Dostoevsky,
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whigs, then for the Tories), poet, and Anglican cleric who became Dean of St Patrick's Cathedral, Dubl ...
, Lawrence Sterne, and Rabelais. ''Journalism Quarterly'' and ''Time'' have both called him "the Mark Twain of cartoonists". Charlie Chaplin,
William F. Buckley William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American public intellectual, conservative author and political commentator. In 1955, he founded ''National Review'', the magazine that stim ...
, Al Hirschfeld,
Harpo Marx Arthur "Harpo" Marx (born Adolph Marx; November 23, 1888 – September 28, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, mime artist, and harpist, and the second-oldest of the Marx Brothers. In contrast to the mainly verbal comedy of his brothers Grou ...
,
Russ Meyer Russell Albion Meyer (March 21, 1922 – September 18, 2004) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, and editor. He is known primarily for writing and directing a series of successful sexploitation films that fea ...
,
John Kenneth Galbraith John Kenneth Galbraith (October 15, 1908 – April 29, 2006), also known as Ken Galbraith, was a Canadian-American economist, diplomat, public official, and intellectual. His books on economic topics were bestsellers from the 1950s through t ...
,
Ralph Bakshi Ralph Bakshi (born October 29, 1938) is an American animator and filmmaker. In the 1970s, he established an alternative to mainstream animation through independent and adult-oriented productions. Between 1972 and 1992, he directed nine theatric ...
,
Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer / songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before ...
,
Hugh Downs Hugh Malcolm Downs (February 14, 1921July 1, 2020) was an American radio and television broadcaster, announcer and programmer; television host; news anchor; TV producer; author; game show host; talk show sidekick; and music composer. A regular t ...
,
Gene Shalit Eugene Shalit (born March 25, 1926) is an American retired journalist, television personality, Film criticism, film and Literary criticism, book critic and author. After starting to work part-time on NBC's ''Today (American TV program), The Toda ...
,
Frank Cho Frank Cho, born Duk Hyun Cho, (born 1971) is a Korean-American comic strip and comic book writer and illustrator, known for his series ''Liberty Meadows'', as well as for books such as ''Shanna the She-Devil'', ''Mighty Avengers'' and ''Hulk'' for ...
,
Daniel Clowes Daniel Gillespie Clowes (; born April 14, 1961) is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in '' Eightball'', a solo anthology comic book series. An ''Eightball'' issue typi ...
and (reportedly) even Queen Elizabeth have confessed to being fans of ''Li'l Abner''. In his seminal book ''
Understanding Media ''Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man'' is a 1964 book by Marshall McLuhan, in which the author proposes that the media, not the content that they carry, should be the focus of study. He suggests that the medium affects the society in whi ...
'', Marshall McLuhan considered ''Li'l Abner's'' Dogpatch "a paradigm of the human situation". Comparing Capp to other contemporary humorists, McLuhan once wrote: "
Arno The Arno is a river in the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the most important river of central Italy after the Tiber. Source and route The river originates on Monte Falterona in the Casentino area of the Apennines, and initially takes a ...
, Nash, and Thurber are brittle, wistful little ''précieux'' beside Capp!" In his essay "The Decline of the Comics", (''
Canadian Forum The ''Canadian Forum'' was a literary, cultural and political publication and Canada's longest running continually published political magazine (1920–2000). History and profile ''Canadian Forum'' was founded on 14 May 1920 at the University of T ...
'', January 1954) literary critic Hugh MacLean classified American comic strips into four types: daily gag, adventure, soap opera, and "an almost lost comic ideal: the disinterested comment on life's pattern and meaning." In the fourth type, according to MacLean, there were only two: ''Pogo'' and ''Li'l Abner''. In 2002 the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...
'', in a review of ''The Short Life and Happy Times of the Shmoo'', noted: "The wry, ornery, brilliantly perceptive satirist will go down as one of the Great American Humorists." In ''America's Great Comic Strip Artists'' (1997), comics historian Richard Marschall analyzed the overtly misanthropic
subtext Subtext is any content of a creative work, which is not announced explicitly (by characters or author), but is implicit, or becomes something understood by the audience. Subtext has been used historically to imply controversial subjects without ...
of ''Li'l Abner:'' ''Li'l Abner'' was also the subject of the first book-length, scholarly assessment of a comic strip ever published. ''Li'l Abner: A Study in American Satire'' by
Arthur Asa Berger Arthur Asa Berger (born 1933) is Professor Emeritus in Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts at San Francisco State University. Early life and education He received a "Catholic" education in his public high school despite the fact that he i ...
(Twayne, 1969) contained serious analyses of Capp's narrative technique, his use of dialogue, self-caricature and grotesquerie, the strip's overall place in American satire, and the significance of social criticism and the graphic image. "One of the few strips ever taken seriously by students of American culture," wrote Professor Berger, "''Li'l Abner'' is worth studying...because of Capp's imagination and artistry, and because of the strip's very obvious social relevance." It was reprinted by the
University Press of Mississippi The University Press of Mississippi, founded in 1970, is a publisher that is sponsored by the eight state universities in Mississippi. Universities *Alcorn State University *Delta State University * Jackson State University *Mississippi State U ...
in 1994. Al Capp's life and career are the subjects of a new life-sized
mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...
commemorating his 100th birthday, displayed in downtown
Amesbury, Massachusetts Amesbury is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States, located on the left bank of the Merrimack River near its mouth, upstream from Salisbury and across the river from Newburyport and West Newbury. The population was 17,366 at the 202 ...
. According to the ''
Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
'' (as reported on May 18, 2010), the town has renamed its amphitheater in the artist's honor, and is looking to develop an Al Capp Museum. Capp is also the subject of an upcoming
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...
''
American Masters ''American Masters'' is a PBS television series which produces biographies on enduring writers, musicians, visual and performing artists, dramatists, filmmakers, and those who have left an indelible impression on the cultural landscape of the ...
'' documentary produced by his granddaughter, independent filmmaker Caitlin Manning. * National Cartoonists Society
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 ...
(1947) for "Cartoonist of the Year". *
Inkpot Award The Inkpot Award is an honor bestowed annually since 1974 by Comic-Con International. It is given to professionals in the fields of comic books, comic strips, animation, science fiction, and related areas of popular culture, at CCI's annual conv ...
(1978) bestowed by Comic-Con International. * National Cartoonists Society Elzie Segar Award (1979) for a "unique and outstanding contribution to the profession of cartooning." * Al Capp, an inductee into the National Cartoon Museum (formerly the International Museum of Cartoon Art), is one of only 31 artists honored by inclusion into their Hall of Fame. * Al Capp was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame in 2004. * "Neither the strip's shifting political leanings nor the slide of its final few years had any bearing on its status as a classic; and in 1995, it was recognized as such by the U.S. Postal Service.''Li'l Abner''
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on October 26, 2015.
''Li'l Abner'' was one of 20 American comic strips included in the Comic Strip Classics series of USPS
commemorative stamp A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike defi ...
s.


Influence and legacy


Sadie Hawkins Day

An American folk event,
Sadie Hawkins Day Sadie Hawkins Day is an American folk event and pseudo-holiday originated by Al Capp's classic hillbilly comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' (1934–1978). This inspired real-world Sadie Hawkins events, the premise of which is that women ask men for a dat ...
is a pseudo-holiday entirely created within the strip. It made its debut in ''Li'l Abner'' on November 15, 1937. Capp originally created it as a comic plot device, but in 1939, only two years after its inauguration, a double-page spread in ''Life'' proclaimed, "On Sadie Hawkins Day Girls Chase Boys in 201 Colleges". By the early 1940s the comic strip event had swept the nation's imagination and acquired a life of its own. By 1952, the event was reportedly celebrated at 40,000 known venues. It became a woman-empowering rite at high schools and college campuses, long before the modern feminist movement gained prominence. Outside the comic strip, the practical basis of a Sadie Hawkins dance is simply one of gender role-reversal. Women and girls take the initiative in inviting the man or boy of their choice out on a date — almost unheard of before 1937 — typically to a dance attended by other bachelors and their assertive dates. When Capp created the event, it wasn't his intention to have it occur annually on a specific date, because it inhibited his freewheeling plotting. However, due to its enormous popularity and the numerous fan letters he received, Capp made it a tradition in the strip every November, lasting four decades. In many localities, the tradition continues. Al Capp ended his comic strip with the final gesture of setting a date for
Sadie Hawkins Day Sadie Hawkins Day is an American folk event and pseudo-holiday originated by Al Capp's classic hillbilly comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' (1934–1978). This inspired real-world Sadie Hawkins events, the premise of which is that women ask men for a dat ...
. In his November 5, 1977 strip, Li'l Abner and Daisy Mae make a final visit to Capp, and Daisy insisted the Capp settle on a date. Capp suggests November 26, and Daisy rewarded him with a kiss.


Additions to the language

Sadie Hawkins Day and Sadie Hawkins dance are two of several terms attributed to Al Capp that have entered the English language. Others include double whammy,
skunk works Skunk Works is an official pseudonym for Lockheed Martin's Advanced Development Programs (ADP), formerly called Lockheed Advanced Development Projects. It is responsible for a number of aircraft designs, beginning with the P-38 Lightning in 1 ...
and
Lower Slobbovia Lower Slobbovia (also sometimes Outer, Inner, Central, Upper or Lowest Slobbovia) is a fictional country portrayed as underdeveloped, socially backward, remote, impoverished or unenlightened. First coined by Al Capp in 1946, the term has also been ...
. The term ''
shmoo The shmoo (plural: shmoos, also shmoon) is a fictional cartoon creature created by Al Capp (1909–1979); the character first appeared in the comic strip '' Li'l Abner'' on August 31, 1948. The popular character has gone on to influence pop cu ...
'' has also entered the lexicon — used in defining highly technical concepts in no fewer than ''four'' separate fields of science. * In
socioeconomics Socioeconomics (also known as social economics) is the social science that studies how economic activity affects and is shaped by social processes. In general it analyzes how modern societies progress, stagnate, or regress because of their loca ...
, a "shmoo" refers to any generic kind of good that reproduces itself (as opposed to " widgets" which require resources and active production). * In microbiology, "shmooing" is the biological term used for the "budding" process in
yeast Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constit ...
reproduction. The cellular bulge produced by a haploid yeast cell towards a cell of the opposite mating type during the
mating of yeast The yeast ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' is a simple single-celled eukaryote with both a diploid and haploid mode of existence. The mating of yeast only occurs between haploids, which can be either the a or α (alpha) mating type and thus displ ...
is referred to as a "shmoo", due to its structural resemblance to the cartoon character. * In the field of
particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...
, "shmoo" refers to a high-energy survey instrument – as utilized at the
Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
for the
Cygnus X-3 Cygnus X-3 is a high-mass X-ray binary ( HMXB), one of the stronger binary X-ray sources in the sky. It is often considered to be a microquasar, and it is believed to be a compact object in a binary system which is pulling in a strea ...
Sky Survey performed at the LAMPF ( Los Alamos Meson Physics Facility) grounds. Over one hundred white "shmoo" detectors were at one time sprinkled around the accelerator beamstop area and adjacent mesa to capture subatomic
cosmic ray Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...
particles emitted from the constellation Cygnus. The detectors housed scintillators and
photomultiplier A photomultiplier is a device that converts incident photons into an electrical signal. Kinds of photomultiplier include: * Photomultiplier tube, a vacuum tube converting incident photons into an electric signal. Photomultiplier tubes (PMTs for sh ...
s in an array that gave the detector its distinctive shmoo shape. * In electrical engineering, a
shmoo plot In electrical engineering, a shmoo plot is a graphical display of the response of a component or system varying over a range of conditions or inputs. Origin The origin of the shmoo plot is unclear. It is referenced in a 1966 IEEE paper. Another ...
is the technical term used for the graphic pattern of test circuits. (The term is also used as a verb: to "shmoo" means to run the test.) Capp has also been credited with popularizing many terms, such as "natcherly", schmooze, druthers, and nogoodnik, neatnik, etc. (In his book ''
The American Language ''The American Language; An Inquiry into the Development of English in the United States'', first published in 1919, is H. L. Mencken's book about the English language as spoken in the United States. Origins and concept Mencken was inspired by ...
'', H.L. Mencken credits the postwar mania for adding " -nik" to the ends of adjectives to create nouns as beginning — not with beatnik or Sputnik, but earlier — in the pages of ''Li'l Abner''.)


Franchise ownership and creators' rights

In the late 1940s, newspaper syndicates typically owned the
copyrights A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
, trademarks and
licensing A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
rights to comic strips. "Capp was an aggressive and fearless businessman," according to publisher
Denis Kitchen Denis Kitchen (born August 27, 1946) is an American underground cartoonist, publisher, author, agent, and the founder of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Early life Kitchen grew up in Wisconsin, attending William Horlick High School, Racine, ...
. "Nearly all comic strips, even today, are owned and controlled by syndicates, ''not'' the strips' creators. And virtually all cartoonists remain content with their diluted share of any merchandising revenue their syndicates arrange. When the starving and broke Capp first sold ''Li'l Abner'' in 1934, he gladly accepted the syndicate's standard onerous contract. But in 1947 Capp sued United Feature Syndicate for $14 million, publicly embarrassed UFS in ''Li'l Abner'', and wrested ownership and control of his creation the following year." In October 1947, Li'l Abner met Rockwell P. Squeezeblood, head of the abusive and corrupt Squeezeblood Syndicate, a thinly veiled dig at UFS. The resulting sequence, "Jack Jawbreaker Fights Crime!!", was a devastating satire of
Jerry Siegel Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996) Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/ Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, i ...
and
Joe Shuster Joseph Shuster (; July 10, 1914 – July 30, 1992), professionally known simply as Joe Shuster, was a Canadian-American comic book artist best known for co-creating the DC Comics character Superman, with Jerry Siegel, in ''Action Comics'' #1 (c ...
's notorious exploitation by
DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...
over '' Superman'' (see above excerpt). It was later reprinted in ''The World of Li'l Abner'' (1953). In 1964, Capp left United Features and took ''Li'l Abner'' to the
Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate Tribune Content Agency (TCA) is a syndication company owned by Tribune Publishing. TCA had previously been known as the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate (CTNYNS), Tribune Company Syndicate, and Tribune Media Se ...
.


Integration of women in the NCS

Al Capp was an outspoken pioneer in favor of diversifying the National Cartoonists Society by admitting women cartoonists. The NCS had originally disallowed female members into its ranks. In 1949, when the all-male club refused membership to
Hilda Terry Hilda is one of several female given names derived from the name ''Hild'', formed from Old Norse , meaning 'battle'. Hild, a Nordic-German Bellona, was a Valkyrie who conveyed fallen warriors to Valhalla. Warfare was often called Hild's Game. The ...
, creator of the comic strip '' Teena'', Capp temporarily resigned in protest. "Capp had always advocated a more activist agenda for the Society, and he had begun in December 1949 to make his case in the Newsletter as well as at the meetings," wrote comics historian
R. C. Harvey Robert C. Harvey (May 31, 1937 – July 7, 2022) was an American author, critic and cartoonist. He wrote a number of books on the history and theory of cartooning, with special focus on the comic strip. He also worked as a freelance cartoonist. ...
. According to Tom Roberts, author of ''
Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist who was best known for creating the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently adapted into many ...
: His Life and Art'' (2007), Capp authored a stirring monologue that was instrumental in changing the restrictive rules the following year. Hilda Terry was the first woman cartoonist to break the gender barrier when the NCS finally permitted female members in 1950.


Social commentary in comic strips

Through ''Li'l Abner'', the American comic strip achieved unprecedented relevance in the postwar years, attracting new readers who were more intellectual, more informed on current events, and less likely to read the comics (according to
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 ...
, author of ''The Comics'', 1947). "When ''Li'l Abner'' made its debut in 1934, the vast majority of comic strips were designed chiefly to amuse or thrill their readers. Capp turned that world upside-down by routinely injecting politics and
social commentary Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...
into ''Li'l Abner''," wrote comics historian
Rick Marschall Richard "Rick" Marschall (born February 3, 1949) Miller, John Jackson"Comics Industry Birthdays" ''Comics Buyer's Guide'', June 10, 2005. Accessed January 10, 2011. . is a writer/editor and comic strip historian, described by ''Bostonia'' magazine ...
in ''America's Great Comic Strip Artists'' (1989). With adult readers far outnumbering juveniles, ''Li'l Abner'' forever cleared away the concept that humor strips were solely the domain of adolescents and children. ''Li'l Abner'' provided a whole new template for contemporary satire and personal expression in comics, paving the way for '' Pogo'', '' Feiffer'', ''
Doonesbury ''Doonesbury'' is a comic strip by American cartoonist Garry Trudeau that chronicles the adventures and lives of an array of characters of various ages, professions, and backgrounds, from the President of the United States to the title character, ...
'' and '' MAD''.


''Mad''

''Fearless Fosdick'' and other ''Li'l Abner'' comic strip parodies, such as "Jack Jawbreaker!" (1947) and "Little Fanny Gooney" (1952), were almost certainly an inspiration to
Harvey Kurtzman Harvey Kurtzman (; October 3, 1924 – February 21, 1993) was an American cartoonist and editor. His best-known work includes writing and editing the parodic comic book '' Mad'' from 1952 until 1956, and writing the ''Little Ann ...
when he created his irreverent '' Mad'', which began in 1952 as a comic book that specifically parodied other comics in the same subversive manner. By the time
EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950 ...
published ''Mad #1'', Capp had been doing ''Fearless Fosdick'' for nearly a decade. Similarities between ''Li'l Abner'' and the early ''Mad'' include the incongruous use of mock-
Yiddish Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
slang terms, the nose-thumbing disdain for pop culture icons, the rampant black humor, the dearth of sentiment and the broad visual styling. Even the trademark comic "signs" that clutter the backgrounds of
Will Elder William Elder (born Wolf William Eisenberg; September 22, 1921 – May 15, 2008) was an American illustrator and comic book artist who worked in numerous areas of commercial art but is best known for a frantically funny cartoon style that helped ...
's panels had a precedent in ''Li'l Abner'', in the residence of Dogpatch ''entrepreneur'' Available Jones, though they're also reminiscent of Bill Holman's '' Smokey Stover''. Tellingly, Kurtzman resisted doing feature parodies of either ''Li'l Abner'' or ''Dick Tracy'' in the comic book ''Mad'', despite their prominence.


Parodies and imitations

Al Capp once told one of his assistants that he knew ''Li'l Abner'' had finally "arrived" when it was first pirated as a pornographic Tijuana bible parody in the mid-1930s. ''Li'l Abner'' was also parodied in 1954 (as "Li'l Melvin" by "Ol' Hatt") in the pages of
EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-1950 ...
' humor comic, ''
Panic Panic is a sudden sensation of fear, which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reactio ...
'', edited by
Al Feldstein Albert Bernard Feldstein ( ; October 24, 1925 – April 29, 2014) was an American writer, editor, and artist, best known for his work at EC Comics and, from 1956 to 1985, as the editor of the satirical magazine '' Mad''. After retiring from ''Mad' ...
. Kurtzman eventually ''did'' spoof ''Li'l Abner'' (as "Li'l Ab'r") in 1957, in his short-lived humor magazine, ''
Trump Trump most commonly refers to: * Donald Trump (born 1946), 45th president of the United States (2017–2021) * Trump (card games), any playing card given an ad-hoc high rank Trump may also refer to: Businesses and organizations * Donald J. T ...
''. Both the ''Trump'' and ''Panic'' parodies were drawn by EC legend, Will Elder. In 1947,
Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner (March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) was no ...
's ''
The Spirit The Spirit is a fictional masked crimefighter created by cartoonist Will Eisner. He first appeared June 2, 1940, as the main feature of a 16-page, tabloid-sized, newsprint comic book insert distributed in the Sunday edition of Register and Trib ...
'' satirized the comic strip business in general, as a denizen of Central City tries to murder cartoonist "Al Slapp", creator of "Li'l Adam". Capp was also caricatured as an ill-mannered, boozy cartoonist (Capp was a teetotaler in real life) named "Hal Rapp" in the comic strip ''
Mary Worth ''Mary Worth'' is an American newspaper comic strip that has had an eight-decade run from 1938. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, this soap opera-style strip influenced several that followed. It was created by writer Allen Saunders and ar ...
'' by Allen Saunders and
Ken Ernst Kenneth Frederic Ernst (1918 – August 6, 1985) was a US comic book and comic strip artist. He is most notable for his work on the popular and long-running comic strip ''Mary Worth'' from 1942 to 1985.''Contemporary Graphic Artists'' By Gale Res ...
. Supposedly done in retaliation for Capp's "Mary Worm" parody in ''Li'l Abner'' (1956), a media-fed "feud" commenced briefly between the rival strips. It all turned out to be a collaborative hoax, however — cooked up by Capp and his longtime pal Saunders as an elaborate
publicity stunt In marketing, a publicity stunt is a planned event designed to attract the public's attention to the event's organizers or their cause. Publicity stunts can be professionally organized, or set up by amateurs. Such events are frequently utilize ...
. ''Li'l Abners success also sparked a handful of comic strip imitators. ''Jasper Jooks'' by Jess "Baldy" Benton (1948–'49), ''Ozark Ike'' (1945–'53) and ''Cotton Woods'' (1955–'58), both by Ray Gotto, were clearly inspired by Capp's strip. Boody Rogers' ''Babe'' was a peculiar series of comic books about a beautiful hillbilly girl who lived with her kin in the
Ozarks The Ozarks, also known as the Ozark Mountains, Ozark Highlands or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U.S. states of Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and the extreme southeastern corner of Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant port ...
— with many similarities to ''Li'l Abner''. A derivative hillbilly feature called ''Looie Lazybones'', an out-and-out imitation (drawn by a young
Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He i ...
) ran in several issues of Standard's '' Thrilling Comics'' in the late 1940s. Charlton published the short-lived ''Hillbilly Comics'' by Art Gates in 1955, featuring "Gumbo Galahad", who was a dead ringer for Li'l Abner, as was ''Pokey Oakey'' by Don Dean, which ran in MLJ's '' Top-Notch Laugh'' and ''
Pep Comics ''Pep Comics'' is the name of an American comic book anthology series published by the Archie Comics predecessor MLJ Magazines Inc. (commonly known as MLJ Comics) during the 1930s and 1940s period known as the Golden Age of Comic Books. The titl ...
''. Later, many fans and critics saw
Paul Henning Paul William Henning (September 16, 1911 – March 25, 2005) was an American TV producer and screenwriter. Most famous for creating the television sitcom ''The Beverly Hillbillies'', he was also crucial in developing the "rural" comedies ''Pett ...
's popular TV sitcom, ''
The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family f ...
'' (1962–'71) as owing much of its inspiration to ''Li'l Abner'', prompting
Alvin Toffler Alvin Eugene Toffler (October 4, 1928 – June 27, 2016) was an American writer, futurist, and businessman known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, with emphasis on t ...
to ask Capp about the similarities in a 1965 ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'' interview.


Popularity and production

''Li'l Abner'' made its debut on August 13, 1934, in eight North American newspapers, including the ''
New York Mirror The ''New-York Mirror'' was a weekly newspaper published in New York City from 1823 to 1842, succeeded by ''The New Mirror'' in 1843 and 1844. Its producers then launched a daily newspaper named ''The Evening Mirror'', which published from 1844 ...
.'' Initially owned and syndicated through
United Feature Syndicate United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along ...
, a division of the
E.W. Scripps Company The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...
, it was an immediate success. According to publisher Denis Kitchen, Capp's "hapless Dogpatchers hit a nerve in Depression-era America. Within three years ''Abner's'' circulation climbed to 253 newspapers, reaching over 15,000,000 readers. Before long he was in hundreds more, with a total readership exceeding 60,000,000." At its peak, the strip was read daily by 70 million Americans (when the U.S. population was only 180 million), with a circulation of more than 900 newspapers in North America and Europe. During the extended peak of the strip, the workload grew to include advertising, merchandising, promotional work, comic book adaptations, public service material and other specialty work — in addition to the regular six dailies and one Sunday strip per week. Capp had a platoon of assistants in later years, who worked under his direct supervision. They included Andy Amato, Harvey Curtis, Walter Johnson and, notably, a young
Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He i ...
, who penciled the Sunday continuity from studio roughs from 1954 to the end of 1961 — before his fame as a fantasy artist. Sensitive to his own experience working on '' Joe Palooka'', Capp frequently drew attention to his assistants in interviews and publicity pieces. A 1950 cover story in ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...
'' even included photos of two of his employees, whose roles in the production were detailed by Capp. Ironically, this highly irregular policy has led to the misconception that his strip was "ghosted" by other hands. The production of ''Li'l Abner'' has been well documented, however. In point of fact, Capp maintained creative control over every stage of production for virtually the entire run of the strip. Capp himself originated the stories, wrote the dialogue, designed the major characters, rough penciled the preliminary staging and action of each panel, oversaw the finished pencils, and drew and inked the faces and hands of the characters. "He had ''the touch,''" Frazetta said of Capp in 2008. "He knew how to take an otherwise ordinary drawing and really make it ''pop''. I'll never knock his talent." ''Li'l Abner'' lasted until November 13, 1977, when Capp retired with an apology to his fans for the recently declining quality of the strip, which he said had been the best he could manage due to advancing illness. "If you have any sense of humor about your strip — and I had a sense of humor about mine — you knew that for three or four years ''Abner'' was wrong. Oh hell, it's like a fighter retiring. I stayed on longer than I should have," he admitted. "When he retired ''Li'l Abner'', newspapers ran expansive articles and television commentators talked about the passing of an era. ''
People A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of prope ...
'' magazine ran a substantial feature, and even the comics-free ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' devoted nearly a full page to the event," according to publisher Denis Kitchen. Capp, a lifelong chain smoker, died from emphysema two years later at age 70, at his home in South Hampton, New Hampshire, on November 5, 1979. In 1988 and 1989 many newspapers ran reruns of ''Li'l Abner'' episodes, mostly from the 1940s run, distributed by
Newspaper Enterprise Association The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) is an editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1902. The oldest syndicate still in operation, the NEA was originally a secondary news ...
and Capp Enterprises. Following the 1989 revival of the '' Pogo'' comic strip, a revival of ''Li'l Abner'' was also planned in 1990. Drawn by cartoonist Steve Stiles, the new ''Abner'' was approved by Capp's widow, and brother
Elliott Caplin Elliot Caplin (December 25, 1913 - February 20, 2000) was a comic strip writer best known as the co-creator (with Stan Drake) of ''The Heart of Juliet Jones''. His name is sometimes spelled with one extra letter: Elliott A. Caplin. He was the yo ...
, but Al Capp's daughter, Julie Capp, objected at the last minute and permission was withdrawn.


''Li'l Abner'' in other media


Radio and recordings

With
John Hodiak John Hodiak ( ; April 16, 1914 – October 19, 1955) was an American actor who worked in radio, stage and film. Early life Hodiak was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Anna (Pogorzelec) and Walter Hodiak. He was of Ukrainian and ...
in the title role, the ''Li'l Abner''
radio serial Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
ran weekdays on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
from Chicago, from November 20, 1939, to December 6, 1940. Rounding out the cast were soap opera star Laurette Fillbrandt as Daisy Mae, Hazel Dopheide as Mammy Yokum, and Clarence Hartzell (who was also a prominent actor on ''
Vic and Sade ''Vic and Sade'' was an American radio program created and written by Paul Rhymer. It was regularly broadcast on radio from 1932 to 1944, then intermittently until 1946, and was briefly adapted to television in 1949 and again in 1957. During it ...
'') as Pappy.
Durward Kirby Homer Durward Kirby (August 24, 1911 – March 15, 2000), sometimes misspelled Durwood Kirby, was an American television host and announcer. He is best remembered for ''The Garry Moore Show'' in the 1950s and ''Candid Camera'', which he ...
was the announcer. The radio show was not written by Al Capp — but by Charles Gussman. However, Gussman consulted closely with Capp on the storylines. (A familiar radio personality, Capp was frequently heard on the NBC broadcast series, ''
Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...
.'' He also briefly filled-in for radio journalist Drew Pearson, participated in a March 2, 1948 '' America's Town Meeting of the Air'' debate on ABC, and hosted his own syndicated, 500-station radio show.) * ''The Shmoo Sings'' with Earl Rogers — 78 rpm (1948) Allegro * ''The Shmoo Club'' b/w ''The Shmoo Is Clean, the Shmoo Is Neat'' — 45 rpm (1949) Music You Enjoy, Inc. * ''The Snuggable, Huggable Shmoo'' b/w ''The Shmoo Doesn't Cost a Cent'' — 45 rpm (1949) Music You Enjoy, Inc. * ''Shmoo Lesson'' b/w ''A Shmoo Can Do Most Anything'' — 45 rpm (1949) Music You Enjoy, Inc. * ''Li'l Abner Goes to Town'' — 78 rpm (1950) Capp-Tone Comic Record * ''Li'l Abner'' (Original Cast Recording) — LP (1956) Columbia * ''Li'l Abner'' (Motion Picture Soundtrack) — LP (1959) Columbia * ''An Interview with Al Capp'' — EP (1959) Smithsonian Folkways * ''Li'l Abner fo' Chillun'' — LP (c. 1960) 20th FOX * ''Al Capp on Campus'' — LP (1969) Jubilee Selections from the ''Li'l Abner'' musical score have been recorded by everyone from
Percy Faith Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listeni ...
and
Mario Lanza Mario Lanza (, ; born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza ; January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor and actor. He was a Hollywood film star popular in the late 1940s and the 1950s. Lanza began studying to be a professional singer at ...
to André Previn and
Shelly Manne Sheldon "Shelly" Manne (June 11, 1920 – September 26, 1984) was an American jazz drummer. Most frequently associated with West Coast jazz, he was known for his versatility and also played in a number of other styles, including Dixieland, sw ...
. Over the years, ''Li'l Abner'' characters have inspired diverse compositions in pop,
jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
,
country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while ...
and even
rock 'n' roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...
: * ''The Kickapoo Joy Juice Jolt'' (1946) from ''The Li'l Abner Suite'', was composed for The
Alvino Rey Alvin McBurney (July 1, 1908 – February 24, 2004), known by his stage name Alvino Rey, was an American jazz guitarist and bandleader. Career Alvin McBurney was born in Oakland, California, United States, but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. Early i ...
Orchestra by Bud Estes. * ''Kickapoo Joy Juice'', composed by Duke Ellington, was recorded live at Carnegie Hall in December, 1947. * ''Lonesome Polecat'', written by Johnny Mercer & Gene de Paul for the musical ''
Seven Brides for Seven Brothers ''Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' is a 1954 American musical film, directed by Stanley Donen, with music by Gene de Paul, lyrics by Johnny Mercer, and choreography by Michael Kidd. The screenplay, by Albert Hackett, Frances Goodrich, and Do ...
'' (1954), was later recorded by
Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music. He started his career as a songwriter for Connie ...
and the
McGuire Sisters The McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. The group was composed of three sisters: * Ruby Christine McGuire (July 30, 1926 – December 28, 2018) * Dorothy "Dottie" McGuire (February 13, 1928 – September 7, 2012) * Ph ...
. * ''Fearless Fosdick'', composed by Bill Holman, was recorded live in 1954 by
Vic Lewis Victor Lewis MBE (29 July 1919 – 9 February 2009) was a British jazz guitarist and bandleader. He also enjoyed success as an artists' agent and manager. Biography He was born in London, England. Lewis began playing the guitar at the age ...
and his Orchestra, featuring
Tubby Hayes Edward Brian "Tubby" Hayes (30 January 1935 – 8 June 1973) was an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, best known for his tenor saxophone playing in groups with fellow sax player Ronnie Scott and with trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar. Early life ...
. * ''Daisy Mae'', written and recorded by
Ernest Tubb Ernest Dale Tubb (February 9, 1914 – September 6, 1984), nicknamed the Texas Troubadour, was an American singer and songwriter and one of the pioneers of country music. His biggest career hit song, " Walking the Floor Over You" (1941), ...
, appeared on the
Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...
album ''The Daddy of 'Em All'' (1957). * ''Kickapoo Joy Juice'' (1962) written by Jack Greenback, Mel Larson & Jerry Marcellino, was recorded by
The Rivingtons The Rivingtons were a 1960s doo-wop band, known for their 1962 novelty hit " Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". The members were lead vocalist Carl White (June 21, 1932 - January 7, 1980), tenor Al Frazier (d. November 13, 2005), baritone Sonny Harris, and ba ...
. * ''Sadie Hawkins Dance'' (2001) written by
Matt Thiessen Matthew Arnold Thiessen (born August 12, 1980) is a Canadian-American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer known for being co-founder, lead singer, guitarist, pianist, and primary songwriter for the Christian rock band Relient K. Wit ...
, was recorded by Relient K. * ''Fearless Fosdick's Tune'', composed and recorded by Umberto Fiorentino, appeared on the Brave Art/Columbia-Sony CD ''Things to Come'' (2002).


Sheet music

* ''Li'l Abner'' — by Ben Oakland, Milton Berle & Milton Drake (1940) Leo Feist Publishers * ''Sadie Hawkins Day'' — by Don Raye & Hughie Prince (1940) Leeds Music Corp. * ''The USA by Day and the
RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...
by Night'' — by Hal Block & Bob Musel (1944) Paramount Music Corp. * ''(Li'l Abner) Don't Marry That Girl!!'' — by Al Capp &
Sam H. Stept Samuel Howard Stept (aka Sammy Stept; 18 September 1897 – 1 December 1964) was an American songwriter who wrote for Broadway, Hollywood and the big bands. He became known simply as Sam Stept or Sam H. Stept – he rarely used his full middle n ...
(1946) Barton Music Corp. * ''The Shmoo Song'' — by John Jacob Loeb & Jule Styne (1948) Harvey Music Corp. * ''Shmoo Songs'' — by
Gerald Marks Gerald Marks (October 13, 1900 – January 27, 1997) was an American composer from Saginaw, Michigan. He was best known for the song " All of Me" which he co-wrote with Seymour Simons and has been recorded about 2,000 times. He also wrote the s ...
(1949) Bristol Music Corp. * ''The Kigmy Song'' — by Joe Rosenfield & Fay Tishman (1949) Town and Country Music Co. * ''I'm Lonesome and Disgusted!!!'' — by "Irving Vermyn" l Capp, Bob Lubbers & Dave Lambert(1956) General Music Publishing Co. * ''Namely You'' — by Johnny Mercer & Gene de Paul (1956) Commander Publications * ''Love in a Home'' — by Johnny Mercer & Gene de Paul (1956) Commander Publications * ''If I Had My Druthers'' — by Johnny Mercer & Gene de Paul (1956) Commander Publications * ''Jubilation T. Cornpone'' — by Johnny Mercer & Gene de Paul (1956) Commander Publications


Comic books and reprints

* ''Tip Top Comics'' (1936–1948) anthology (
United Feature Syndicate United Feature Syndicate (UFS) is a large American editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States and established in 1919. Originally part of E. W. Scripps Company, it was part of United Media (along ...
) * ''Comics on Parade'' (1945–1946) anthology (UFS) * ''Sparkler Comics'' (1946–1948) anthology (UFS) * ''Li'l Abner'' (1947) 9 issues (
Harvey Comics Harvey Comics (also known as Harvey World Famous Comics, Harvey Publications, Harvey Comics Entertainment, Harvey Hits, Harvey Illustrated Humor, and Harvey Picture Magazines) was an American comic book publisher, founded in New York City by A ...
) * ''Li'l Abner'' (1948) 3 issues (Super Publishing) * ''Tip Topper Comics'' (1949–1954) anthology (UFS) * ''Al Capp's Li'l Abner'' (1949–1955) 28 issues (Toby) * ''Al Capp's Shmoo Comics'' (1949–1950) 5 issues (Toby) * ''Al Capp's Dogpatch'' (1949) 4 issues (Toby) * ''Al Capp's Li'l Abner in The Mystery o' the Cave'' (1950) (
Oxydol Oxydol is a brand of laundry detergent sold in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. It was created in 1914 by Thomas Hedley Co. of Newcastle upon Tyne and purchased by Procter & Gamble in 1927. It was P&G's first laundry soap. In t ...
premium) * ''Al Capp's Daisy Mae in Ham Sangwidges'' (1950) (Oxydol premium) * ''Al Capp's Shmoo in Washable Jones' Travels'' (1950) (Oxydol premium) * ''Al Capp's Wolf Gal'' (1951–1952) 2 issues (Toby) * ''Washable Jones and the Shmoo'' (1953) (Toby) * ''Party Time with Coke'' (1958) monthly digest featuring ''Al Capp's Boys 'n' Gals'' (
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlant ...
premium) No comprehensive reprint of the series had been attempted until
Kitchen Sink Press Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in hard ...
began publishing the ''Li'l Abner Dailies'' in hardcover and paperback, one year per volume, in 1988. The demise of KSP in 1999 stopped the reprint series at Volume 27 (1961). More recently,
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 know ...
reprinted the limited series ''Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years,'' in four full-color volumes covering the Sunday pages from 1954 to 1961. They also released an archive hardcover reprint of the complete ''Shmoo Comics'' in 2009, followed by a second Shmoo volume of complete newspaper strips in 2011. At the San Diego Comic Con in July 2009, IDW and
The Library of American Comics Library of American Comics (abbreviated as LoAC) is an American publisher of classic American comic strips collections and comic history books, founded by Dean Mullaney and Bruce Canwell in 2007. History Background Dean Mullaney, the founder ...
announced the upcoming publication of ''Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies and Color Sundays: Vol. 1 (1934–1936)''. The comprehensive series titled '' Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies & Color Sundays'', is planned to be a reprinting of the complete 43-year history of ''Li'l Abner'' spanning a projected 20 volumes, began on April 7, 2010.


Public service works

Capp provided specialty artwork for civic groups, government agencies and charitable or non-profit organizations, spanning several decades. The following titles are all single-issue, educational comic books and pamphlets produced for various
public services A public service is any service intended to address specific needs pertaining to the aggregate members of a community. Public services are available to people within a government jurisdiction as provided directly through public sector agencies ...
: * ''Al Capp by Li'l Abner'' — public service giveaway issued by the
Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...
(1946) * ''Yo' Bets Yo' Life!'' — public service giveaway issued by the
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
(circa 1950) * ''Li'l Abner Joins the Navy'' — public service giveaway issued by the Dept. of the Navy (1950) * ''Fearless Fosdick and the Case of the Red Feather'' — public service giveaway issued by Red Feather Services, a forerunner of
United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...
(1951) * ''The Youth You Supervise'' — public service giveaway issued by the
U.S. Department of Labor The United States Department of Labor (DOL) is one of the United States federal executive departments, executive departments of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. It is responsible for the administration of fede ...
(1956) * ''Mammy Yokum and the Great Dogpatch Mystery!'' — public service giveaway issued by the Anti-Defamation League of
B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peo ...
(1956) * ''Operation: Survival!'' — public service giveaway issued by the Dept. of Civil Defense (1957) * ''Natural Disasters!'' — public service giveaway issued by the Dept. of Civil Defense (1957) * ''
Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story ''Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story'' is a 16-page comic book about Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, and the Montgomery bus boycott published in 1957 by the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR USA). It advocates the principles of nonvio ...
'' — public service giveaway issued by The Fellowship of Reconciliation (1958)Love, David A
"Egyptians draw inspiration from Civil Rights Movement comic book."
''
The Grio TheGrio, styled as thegrio, is an American television network and website with news, opinion, entertainment and video content geared toward Black Americans. The website originally launched in June 2009 as a division of NBC News, it became a di ...
'' (February 2, 2011).
* ''Li'l Abner and the Creatures from Drop-Outer Space'' — public service giveaway issued by the
Job Corps Job Corps is a program administered by the United States Department of Labor that offers free education and vocational training to young men and women ages 16 to 24. Mission and purpose Job Corps' mission is to help young people ages 16 throug ...
(1965) In addition, Dogpatch characters were used in national campaigns for the
U.S. Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and t ...
, the Cancer Foundation, the March of Dimes, the National Heart Fund, the Sister Kenny Foundation, the
Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded ...
, Community Chest, the National Reading Council, Minnesota Tuberculosis and Health Association, Christmas Seals, the National Amputation Foundation and
Disabled American Veterans The Disabled American Veterans (DAV) is an organization created in 1920 by World War I veterans for disabled military veterans of the United States Armed Forces that helps them and their families through various means. It was issued a federal ch ...
, among others.


Animation and puppetry

Beginning in 1944, ''Li'l Abner'' was adapted into a series of color theatrical
cartoons A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
by Screen Gems for
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 ...
, directed by Sid Marcus, Bob Wickersham and Howard Swift. The five titles were: ''Amoozin But Confoozin'', ''Sadie Hawkins Day'', ''A Peekoolyar Sitcheeyshun'', ''Porkuliar Piggy'' and ''Kickapoo Juice''. Al Capp was reportedly not pleased with the results, and the series was discontinued after five shorts. The character was voiced by Frank Graham. Evil-Eye Fleegle and his "whammy" make an animated cameo appearance in the U.S. Armed Forces Special Weapons Project
training film A training film is a form of educational film – a short subject documentary movie, that provides an introduction to a topic. Both narrative documentary and dramatisation styles may be used, sometimes both in the same production. While most ...
, ''Self Preservation in an Atomic Attack'' (1950). Lena the Hyena makes a brief animated appearance in ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American live-action/animated comedy mystery film directed by Robert Zemeckis, produced by Frank Marshall and Robert Watts, and loosely adapted by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman from Gary K. Wolf's 19 ...
'' (1988). In 1952, ''Fearless Fosdick'' proved popular enough to be incorporated into a short-lived TV series. The ambitious
puppet show Puppetry is a form of theatre or performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, often resembling some type of human or animal figure, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. Such a performan ...
was created and directed by puppeteer Mary Chase, written by Everett Crosby and voiced by John Griggs, Gilbert Mack and
Jean Carson Jean Leete Carson (February 28, 1923 – November 2, 2005) was an American stage, film and television actress best known for her work on the classic 1960s sitcom ''The Andy Griffith Show'' as one of the " fun girls". Early life Carson was bor ...
. ''Fearless Fosdick'' premiered on Sunday afternoons on NBC; 13 episodes featuring the Mary Chase
marionettes A marionette (; french: marionnette, ) is a puppet controlled from above using wires or strings depending on regional variations. A marionette's puppeteer is called a marionettist. Marionettes are operated with the puppeteer hidden or revealed ...
were produced. The storylines and villains were mostly separate from the comic strip and unique to the show. Among the original TV characters were "Mr. Ditto", "Harris Tweed" (a disembodied suit of clothes), "Swenn Golly" (a
Svengali Svengali () is a character in the novel ''Trilby'' which was first published in 1894 by George du Maurier. Svengali is a man who seduces, dominates and exploits Trilby, a young half-Irish girl, and makes her into a famous singer. Definition ...
-like mesmerist), counterfeiters "Max Millions" and "Minton Mooney", "Frank N. Stein", "Batula", "Match Head" (a
pyromaniac Pyromania is an impulse control disorder in which individuals repeatedly fail to resist impulses to deliberately start fires, to relieve some tension or for instant gratification. The term ''pyromania'' comes from the Greek word (''pyr'', 'f ...
), "Sen-Sen O'Toole", "Shmoozer" and "Herman the Ape Man".
Shmoo The shmoo (plural: shmoos, also shmoon) is a fictional cartoon creature created by Al Capp (1909–1979); the character first appeared in the comic strip '' Li'l Abner'' on August 31, 1948. The popular character has gone on to influence pop cu ...
s were originally meant to be included in the 1956 Broadway ''
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 hillbilly, hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written a ...
'' musical, employing stage puppetry. The idea was reportedly abandoned in the development stage by the producers, however, for reasons of practicality. After Capp's death, the Shmoo was used in two Hanna-Barbera produced Saturday morning cartoon series for TV. First in the 1979 '' The New Shmoo'' (later incorporated into ''Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo''), and again from 1980 to 1981 in the '' Flintstone Comedy Show'', in the ''Bedrock Cops'' segments.


Stage, film and television

The first ''Li'l Abner'' movie was made at
RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...
in 1940, starring
Jeff York Jeff York (March 23, 1912 – October 11, 1995) was an American film and television actor who began his career in the late 1930s using his given name, Granville Owen Scofield. He was also sometimes credited as Jeff Yorke. Career York served in ...
(credited as Granville Owen),
Martha O'Driscoll Martha O'Driscoll (March 4, 1922 – November 3, 1998) was an American film actress from 1937 until 1947. She retired from the screen in 1947 after marrying her second husband, Arthur I. Appleton, president of Appleton Electric Company in Chic ...
, Mona Ray and Johnnie Morris. Although it lacks the political satire and Broadway polish of the 1959 version, this film gives a fairly accurate portrayal of the various Dogpatch characters up until that time. Of particular note is the appearance of Buster Keaton as Lonesome Polecat, and a title song with lyrics by Milton Berle. Other familiar
silent comedy Silent comedy is a style of film, related to but distinct from mime, invented to bring comedy into the medium of film in the silent film era (1900s–1920s) before a synchronized soundtrack which could include talking was technologically ava ...
veterans in the cast include
Bud Jamison William Edward "Bud" Jamison (February 15, 1894 – September 30, 1944)Okuda, Ted, and Edward Watz. 1999. The Columbia Comedy Shorts: Two-reel Hollywood Film Comedies 1933–1958'. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland. . was an American film actor. ...
,
Lucien Littlefield Lucien Littlefield (August 16, 1895 – June 4, 1960) was an American actor who achieved a long career from silent films to the television era. He was noted for his versatility, playing a wide range of roles and already portraying old men befor ...
,
Johnny Arthur Johnny Arthur (born John Lennox Arthur Williams; May 20, 1883 – December 31, 1951) was an American stage and motion picture actor. Early years Born in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, Arthur was a veteran of twenty-five years on stage before he made ...
,
Mickey Daniels Richard Daniels Jr. (October 11, 1914 – August 20, 1970) known professionally as Mickey Daniels, was an American actor. Signed by Hal Roach in 1921, he was, along with Joe Cobb, Jackie Condon, Jackie Davis, Mary Kornman, and Ernie Morrison, ...
, and ex-
Keystone Cops The Keystone Cops (often spelled "Keystone Kops") are fictional, humorously incompetent policemen featured in silent film slapstick comedies produced by Mack Sennett for his Keystone Film Company between 1912 and 1917. History The idea for th ...
Chester Conklin Chester Cooper Conklin (January 11, 1886 – October 11, 1971) was an early American film comedian who started at Keystone Studios as one of Mack Sennett’s Keystone Cops, often paired with Mack Swain. He appeared in a series of films with Ma ...
,
Edgar Kennedy Edgar Livingston Kennedy (April 26, 1890 – November 9, 1948) was an American comedic character actor who appeared in at least 500 films during the silent and sound eras. Professionally, he was known as "Slow Burn", owing to his ability to por ...
and
Al St. John Al St. John (also credited as Al Saint John and "Fuzzy" St. John; September 10, 1892 – January 21, 1963) was an early American motion-picture comedian. He was a nephew of silent film star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, with whom he often performed on ...
. The story concerns Daisy Mae's efforts to catch Li'l Abner on Sadie Hawkins Day. Since this movie predates their comic strip marriage, Abner makes a last-minute escape (natcherly!) A much more successful
musical comedy Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
adaptation of the strip, also entitled ''Li'l Abner'', opened on Broadway at the St. James Theater on November 15, 1956, and had a long run of 693 performances, followed by a nationwide tour. Among the actors originally considered for the title role were
Dick Shawn Dick Shawn (born Richard Schulefand, December 1, 1923 – April 17, 1987) was an American actor and comedian. He played a wide variety of supporting roles and was a prolific character actor. During the 1960s, he played small roles in madcap comed ...
and
Andy Griffith Andy Samuel Griffith (June 1, 1926 – July 3, 2012) was an American actor, comedian, television producer, southern gospel singer and writer whose career spanned seven decades in music and television. Known for his Southern drawl, his character ...
. The
stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movement ...
, with music and lyrics by Gene de Paul and Johnny Mercer, was adapted into a
Technicolor Technicolor is a series of Color motion picture film, color motion picture processes, the first version dating back to 1916, and followed by improved versions over several decades. Definitive Technicolor movies using three black and white films ...
motion picture at
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
in 1959 by producer Norman Panama and director
Melvin Frank Melvin Frank (13 August 1913 – 13 October 1988) was an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. He is known for his partnership with Norman Panama and their work on films such as '' Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House'' (1948), ...
, with an original score by Nelson Riddle. Starring Peter Palmer, Leslie Parrish,
Julie Newmar Julie Newmar (born Julia Chalene Newmeyer, August 16, 1933) is an American actress, dancer, and singer, known for a variety of stage, screen, and television roles. She is also a writer, lingerie designer, and real-estate mogul. She won the Tony ...
,
Stella Stevens Stella Stevens (born Estelle Eggleston; October 1, 1938) is a American former actress. She began her acting career in 1959 and starred in such popular films as '' Girls! Girls! Girls!'' (1962), '' The Nutty Professor'' (1963), ''The Courtship of ...
,
Stubby Kaye Bernard Solomon Kotzin (November 11, 1918 – December 14, 1997), known as Stubby Kaye, was an American actor, comedian, vaudevillian, and singer, known for his appearances on Broadway and in film musicals. Kaye originated the roles of Nicely-Ni ...
,
Billie Hayes Billie Armstrong Brosch (August 5, 1924 – April 29, 2021), known professionally as Billie Hayes, was an American television, film, and stage actress, best known for her comic portrayals of Witchiepoo and Li'l Abner's Mammy Yokum. Early ye ...
, Howard St. John, Joe E. Marks, Carmen Alvarez, William Lanteau and Bern Hoffman, with cameos by Jerry Lewis, Robert Strauss, Ted Thurston, Alan Carney,
Valerie Harper Valerie Kathryn Harper (August 22, 1939 – August 30, 2019) was an American actress. She began her career as a dancer on Broadway, making her debut as a replacement in the musical ''Li'l Abner''. She is best remembered for her role as Rho ...
and
Donna Douglas Donna Douglas (born Doris Ione Smith; September 26, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American actress and singer, known for her role as Elly May Clampett on ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' (1962–1971). Following her acting career, Douglas becam ...
. Three members of the original Broadway cast did ''not'' appear in the film version:
Charlotte Rae Charlotte Rae Lubotsky (April 22, 1926 – August 5, 2018) was an American character actress and singer whose career spanned six decades. Rae was known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms ''Diff'rent Strokes'' and its spin-off, '' ...
(who was replaced by Billie Hayes early in the stage production),
Edie Adams Edie Adams (born Edith Elizabeth Enke; April 16, 1927 – October 15, 2008) was an American comedian, actress, singer and businesswoman. She earned the Tony Award and was nominated for an Emmy Award. Adams was well known for her impersonations ...
(who was pregnant during the filming) and Tina Louise. The musical has since become a perennial favorite of high school and amateur productions, due to its popular appeal and modest production requirements. ''Li'l Abner'' never sold as a TV series despite several attempts (including an unsold pilot that aired once on NBC on September 5, 1967), but Al Capp was a familiar face on television for twenty years. No other cartoonist to date has come close to Capp's televised exposure. Capp appeared as a regular on '' The Author Meets the Critics''. He was also a periodic panelist on ABC and NBC's ''Who Said That?'' Capp has appeared as himself on ''
The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the '' CBS Sunday Night M ...
'',
Sid Caesar Isaac Sidney Caesar (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2014) was an American comic actor, comedian and writer. With a career spanning 60 years, he was best known for two pioneering 1950s live television series: ''Your Show of Shows'' (1950 ...
's ''
Your Show of Shows ''Your Show of Shows'' is a live 90-minute variety show that was broadcast weekly in the United States on NBC from February 25, 1950, through June 5, 1954, featuring Sid Caesar and Imogene Coca. Other featured performers were Carl Reiner, Howa ...
'', ''
The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It ...
'', ''
The Red Skelton Show ''The Red Skelton Show'' is an American television comedy/variety show that aired from 1951 to 1971. In the decade prior to hosting the show, Richard "Red" Skelton had a successful career as a radio and motion pictures star. Although his televi ...
'', ''
The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series ran from October 1, 1962 to March 29, 1963 on NBC, May 10, 1965 to July 4, 1969 in first-run syndication, from August 18, 1969 to February 11, 1972 ...
'', ''
The Mike Douglas Show ''The Mike Douglas Show'' was an American daytime television talk show that was hosted by Mike Douglas. It began as a local program in Cleveland before being carried on other stations owned by Westinghouse Broadcasting. The show went into natio ...
'', and on '' This Is Your Life'' on February 12, 1961, with host
Ralph Edwards Ralph Livingstone Edwards (June 13, 1913DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 86-87. – November 16, 2005) was an American radio ...
and honoree Peter Palmer. He hosted at least ''five'' television programs between 1952 and 1972 — three different talk shows called ''The Al Capp Show'' (twice), ''Al Capp'', ''Al Capp's America'' (a live "chalk talk", with Capp providing a barbed commentary while sketching cartoons), and a game show called ''Anyone Can Win''. In addition, Capp was a frequent celebrity guest. His appearances on NBC's ''
The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...
'' spanned three emcees;
Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...
, Jack Paar and Johnny Carson.


Filmography


Comic strip adaptations

Animation * ''Kickapoo Juice'' (1944) Columbia * ''Amoozin' but Confoozin (1944) Columbia * ''A Pee-kool-yar Sit-chee-ay-shun'' (1944) Columbia * ''Porkuliar Piggy'' (1944) Columbia * ''Sadie Hawkins Day'' (1944) Columbia TV Animation *'' The New Shmoo'' 1980 (Hanna-Barbera) Live-action The Lost City (2022) A Ride for Cinderella (1937) Li'l Abner Tail of Two Kitties (1999) * ''
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 hillbilly, hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written a ...
'' (1940)
RKO Radio Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, was an American film production and distribution company, one of the "Big Five" film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orph ...
* ''Fearless Fosdick'' (1952)
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
(series) 13 episodes * ''
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 hillbilly, hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written a ...
'' (1959)
Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...
* ''Li'l Abner'' (5 September 1967) NBC (unsold television pilot with
Sammy Jackson Sammy Jackson (August 18, 1937 – April 26, 1995) was an American actor, known particularly for his roles reflecting rural life, and a country music disc jockey, although he also played pop-standards during 1983 at Los Angeles's KMPC. He als ...
and
Judy Canova Judy Canova (November 20, 1913 – August 5, 1983),Although one source gives her birth date as November 20, 1916, (DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland ...
) * ''Li'l Abner'' (26 April 1971) ABC (TV special) * ''Li'l Abner in Dogpatch Today'' (9 November 1978) NBC (TV special)


Beyond the comic strip

* "ABNER" was the name given to the first codebreaking computer used by the
National Security Agency The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collect ...
. According to longtime NSA computer expert
Samuel Simon Snyder Samuel Simon Snyder (August 18, 1911 – December 28, 2007) was a cryptographer for the United States Government. His pioneering work in early computers led directly to the development of the computer as we know it, and laid the foundation for ...
, "We chose the name from Li'l Abner Yokum, the comic strip character who was a big brute, but not very smart, because we believed that computers, which can be big and do brute-force operations, aren't very bright either. They can only follow simple instructions but can't think for themselves." ABNER was originally given only 15 simple programs, later doubled to 30. Nevertheless, when it was secretly completed in April 1952 it was the "most sophisticated computer of its time." * The 1989 film ''I Want to Go Home'' (''Je Veux Rentrer a la Maison,'' screenplay by
Jules Feiffer Jules Ralph Feiffer (born January 26, 1929)''Comics Buyer's Guide'' #1650; February 2009; Page 107 is an American cartoonist and author, who was considered the most widely read satirist in the country. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1986 as North- ...
) has a scene where the main character, a retired cartoonist played by
Adolph Green Adolph Green (December 2, 1914 – October 23, 2002) was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved film musicals, particularly as part of Ar ...
, makes an unexpectedly emotional appeal for Al Capp and his legacy. * The original Dogpatch is a historical part of San Francisco dating back to the 1860s that escaped the earthquake and fire of 1906. * Later in the 20th century,
U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
and
Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...
units in
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam a ...
called their housing compounds "Dogpatches", due to the primitive living conditions. * Li'l Abner, Daisy Mae, Wolf Gal, Earthquake McGoon, Lonesome Polecat, Hairless Joe, Sadie Hawkins, Silent Yokum and Fearless Fosdick all found their way onto the painted noses of
bomber aircraft A bomber is a military combat aircraft designed to attack ground and naval targets by dropping air-to-ground weaponry (such as bombs), launching torpedoes, or deploying air-launched cruise missiles. The first use of bombs dropped from an airc ...
during World War II and the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, as did Kickapoo Joy Juice, Lena the Hyena and the Shmoo. Moonbeam McSwine was immortalized as the
P-51D Mustang Over twenty variants of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter were produced from 1940, when it first flew, to after World War II, some of which were employed also in the Korean War and in several other conflicts. Allison-engined Mustangs NA ...
USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
bomber escort The escort fighter was a concept for a fighter aircraft designed to escort bombers to and from their targets. An escort fighter needed range long enough to reach the target, loiter over it for the duration of the raid to defend the bombers, and ...
fighter flown by ace pilot Capt. William T. Whisner, still operable and appearing in aviator air shows as of 2008. During the Second World War, the
RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
418 Search and Rescue Operational Training Squadron 418 Search and Rescue Operational Training Squadron is a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force, formed during World War II. History 418 Squadron RCAF was Canada's highest-scoring squadron in World War II, in terms of both air-to-air and air-to-gr ...
obtained permission to put the Dogpatch characters on their de Havilland Mosquito
fighter-bombers A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, ...
and post-war, their Mitchell bombers. * Al Capp always claimed to have effectively created the
miniskirt A miniskirt (sometimes hyphenated as mini-skirt, separated as mini skirt, or sometimes shortened to simply mini) is a skirt with its hemline well above the knees, generally at mid-thigh level, normally no longer than below the buttocks; and a ...
, when he first put one on Daisy Mae in 1934. * ''Li'l Abner'' was
censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
for the first, but not the last time in September 1947, and was pulled from papers by
Scripps-Howard The E. W. Scripps Company is an American broadcasting company founded in 1878 as a chain of daily newspapers by Edward Willis "E. W." Scripps and his sister, Ellen Browning Scripps. It was also formerly a media conglomerate. The company is he ...
. The controversy, as reported in ''Time'', centered on Capp's portrayal of the
US Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
. Said Edward Leech of Scripps, "We don't think it is good editing or sound citizenship to picture the Senate as an assemblage of freaks and crooks... boobs and undesirables." * Li'l Abner has one odd design quirk that has puzzled readers for decades: the part in his hair always faces the viewer, no matter which direction Abner is facing. In response to the question "Which side does Abner part his hair on?", Capp would answer, "Both." Capp claimed that he found the right "look" for Li'l Abner with
Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...
's character Dave Tolliver in '' The Trail of the Lonesome Pine'' (1936). Fonda later commented, "He's never told me, but I was told he has said that." *
Joan Baez Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more ...
took Al Capp to court in 1967 over Joanie Phoanie. She did not ask for damages; it was instead a bid to force a public retraction. The judge decided in Capp's favor, however. Declaring that satire was also protected
free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recog ...
, he refused to order Capp to cease and desist. In recent years, Baez has admitted to being more amused by the parody — even including an excerpt in her memoirs (''And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir'', published in 1987). "I wish I could have laughed at this at the time," she wrote in a caption under one of the strips. * "I didn't start this Mammy Yokum did." was the reply Ralph Kramden told his wife Alice (concerning a comment made by Ralph's mother in-law) in Episode #2 ''Funny Money'' of ''
The Honeymooners ''The Honeymooners'' is an American television sitcom which originally aired from 1955 to 1956, created by and starring Jackie Gleason, and based on a recurring comedy sketch of the same name that had been part of Gleason's variety show. It fo ...
''. * In 1960,
Dixieland Dixieland jazz, also referred to as traditional jazz, hot jazz, or simply Dixieland, is a style of jazz based on the music that developed in New Orleans at the start of the 20th century. The 1917 recordings by the Original Dixieland Jass Band ...
trombonist
Turk Murphy Melvin Edward Alton "Turk" Murphy (December 16, 1915 – May 30, 1987) was an American trombonist and bandleader, who played traditional and Dixieland jazz. Biography He was born in Palermo, California, United States. Murphy served in the Nav ...
christened his San Francisco jazz club "Earthquake McGoon's", in honor of the perennial Dogpatch villain. * In 1968, the first year of operation,
Dogpatch USA Dogpatch USA was a theme park located in northwest Arkansas along State Highway 7 between the cities of Harrison and Jasper, an area known today as Marble Falls. It was based on the comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', created by cartoonist Al Capp ...
had 300,000 visitors. Admission was $1.50 for adults, and half price for children. Al Capp's son Colin Capp worked at the park that year, and met and married Vicki Cox, the actress portraying Moonbeam McSwine. Capp had previously spoofed the idea of a theme park based on his characters in ''Li'l Abner'', in a 1955
Disneyland Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
parody called "Hal Yappland". * Al Capp designed the statue of Josiah Flintabattey Flonatin ("Flinty") that graces the city of
Flin Flon Flin Flon (pop. 5,185 in 2016 census; 4,982 in Manitoba and 203 in Saskatchewan) is a mining city, located on a correction line on the border of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan, with the majority of the city located within M ...
, Manitoba. The town's name is taken from the lead character in a 1905
dime novel The dime novel is a form of late 19th-century and early 20th-century U.S. popular fiction issued in series of inexpensive paperbound editions. The term ''dime novel'' has been used as a catchall term for several different but related forms, r ...
, ''
The Sunless City ''The Sunless City: From the Papers and Diaries of the Late Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin'' (or simply ''The Sunless City'') is a dime novel written by J. E. Preston Muddock in 1905. The novel is about a prospector named Josiah Flintabbaty Flonat ...
'' by J. E. Preston Muddock. Capp donated his time and talent to create the image. The character is of such importance to the identity of the city that the local Chamber of Commerce commissioned the minting of a $3.00 coin, which was considered legal tender within the city during the year following its issue. The Chamber had the
fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...
sculpture moved to its present location at the Flin Flon Tourist Park in 1962. * "Natcherly", Capp's bastardization of "naturally", turns up occasionally in popular culture — even without a specifically rural theme. It can be found in ''
West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play '' Romeo and Juliet'', the story is set in the mid ...
'', for instance, in Stephen Sondheim's original lyrics to "Gee, Officer Krupke" (1957). *
Mell Lazarus Melvin Lazarus (May 3, 1927 – May 24, 2016) was an American cartoonist, best known as the creator of two comic strips, ''Miss Peach'' (1957–2002) and ''Momma'' (1970–2016). Additionally, he wrote two novels. For his comic strip ''Pauline M ...
, creator of ''
Miss Peach ''Miss Peach'' was a syndicated comic strip created by American cartoonist Mell Lazarus. It ran for 45 years, from February 4, 1957, to September 8, 2002. Format and style The daily strips often contained only a single panel. The format wa ...
'' and '' Momma'', wrote a comic novel in 1963 titled ''The Boss Is Crazy, Too.'' It was partly inspired by his apprenticeship days working for Al Capp and his brother Elliot Caplin at
Toby Press Toby Press was an American comic-book company that published from 1949 to 1955. Founded by Elliott Caplin, brother of cartoonist Al Capp and himself an established comic strip writer, the company published reprints of Capp's '' Li'l Abner'' s ...
, which published ''Shmoo Comics'' in the late 1940s. In a seminar at the Charles Schulz Museum on November 8, 2008, Lazarus called his experience at Toby "the five funniest years of my life." Lazarus went on to cite Capp as one of the "four essentials" in the field of newspaper cartoonists — along with Walt Kelly, Charles Schulz and Milton Caniff. * Utah governor
Gary Herbert Gary Richard Herbert (born May 7, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 17th Governor of Utah from 2009 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he chaired the National Governors Association during the 2015–2016 cycle. Herbert wo ...
controversially referred to himself as "Available Jones", the Dogpatch entrepreneur who does anything for a price, at a private meeting with lobbyists April 27, 2016 to raise funds for his re-election campaign.


References


Further reading

Since his death in 1979, Al Capp and his work have been the subject of more than 40 books, including three biographies. Underground cartoonist and ''Li'l Abner'' expert
Denis Kitchen Denis Kitchen (born August 27, 1946) is an American underground cartoonist, publisher, author, agent, and the founder of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund. Early life Kitchen grew up in Wisconsin, attending William Horlick High School, Racine, ...
has published, co-published, edited, or otherwise served as a consultant on nearly all of them. Kitchen is currently compiling a monograph on the life and career of Al Capp. * Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner in New York'' (1936)
Whitman Publishing Whitman Publishing is an American book publishing company which started as a subsidiary of the Western Printing & Lithographing Company of Racine, Wisconsin. In about 1915, Western began printing and binding a line of juvenile books for the Hammi ...
* Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner Among the Millionaires'' (1939) Whitman Publishing * Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner and Sadie Hawkins Day'' (1940)
Saalfield Publishing The Saalfield Publishing Company published children's books and other products from 1900 to 1977. It was once one of the largest publishers of children's materials in the world. The company was founded in 1900 in Akron, Ohio, by Arthur J. Saalfi ...
* Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner and the Ratfields'' (1940) Saalfield Publishing * Sheridan, Martin, ''Comics and Their Creators'' (1942) R.T. Hale & Co. (1977)
Hyperion Press Hyperion Press was an American publishing company, based in Westport, Connecticut. In the 1970s, it published science fiction and science fiction studies including reissues of several books first published by World Publ. Co. of Cleveland and cla ...
* Waugh, Coulton, ''The Comics'' (1947)
Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publ ...
* Capp, Al, ''Newsweek Magazine'' (November 24, 1947) "Li'l Abner's Mad Capp" * Capp, Al, ''
Saturday Review of Literature ''Saturday Review'', previously ''The Saturday Review of Literature'', was an American weekly magazine established in 1924. Norman Cousins was the editor from 1940 to 1971. Under Norman Cousins, it was described as "a compendium of reportage, ess ...
'' (March 20, 1948) "The Case for the Comics" * Capp, Al, ''The Life and Times of the Shmoo'' (1948)
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...
* Capp, Al, ''The Nation'' (March 21, 1949) "There Is a Real Shmoo" * Capp, Al, ''Cosmopolitan Magazine'' (June 1949) "I Don't Like Shmoos" * Capp, Al, ''Atlantic Monthly'' (April 1950) "I Remember Monster" * Capp, Al, ''Time Magazine'' (November 6, 1950) "Die Monstersinger" * Capp, Al, ''Life Magazine'' (March 31, 1952) "It's Hideously True!!..." * Capp, Al, ''Real Magazine'' (December 1952) "The REAL Powers in America" * Capp, Al, ''The World of Li'l Abner'' (1953) Farrar, Straus & Young * Leifer, Fred, ''The Li'l Abner Official Square Dance Handbook'' (1953) A.S. Barnes * Mikes, George, ''Eight Humorists'' (1954) Allen Wingate (1977) Arden Library * Lehrer, Tom, ''The Tom Lehrer Song Book'', introduction by Al Capp (1954)
Crown Publishers The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded int ...
* Capp, Al, ''Al Capp's Fearless Fosdick: His Life and Deaths'' (1956) Simon & Schuster * Capp, Al, ''Al Capp's Bald Iggle: The Life it Ruins May Be Your Own'' (1956) Simon & Schuster * Capp, Al, et al. ''Famous Artists Cartoon Course'' — 3 volumes (1956) Famous Artists School * Capp, Al, ''Life Magazine'' (January 14, 1957) "The Dogpatch Saga: Al Capp's Own Story" * Brodbeck, Arthur J, et al. "How to Read Li'l Abner Intelligently" from ''Mass Culture: Popular Arts in America,'' pp. 218–224 (1957) Free Press * Capp, Al, ''The Return of the Shmoo'' (1959) Simon & Schuster * Hart, Johnny, ''Back to B.C.'', introduction by Al Capp (1961)
Fawcett Publications Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Fawcett, Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett (1885–1940). It kicked off with the publication of the bawdy humor magazine ''Captai ...
* Lazarus, Mell, ''Miss Peach'', introduction by Al Capp (1962)
Pyramid Books Jove Books, formerly known as Pyramid Books, is an American paperback and eBook publishing imprint, founded as an independent paperback house in 1949 by Almat Magazine Publishers (Alfred R. Plaine and Matthew Huttner). The company was sold to ...
* Gross, Milt, ''He Done Her Wrong'', introduction by Al Capp (1963 Ed.)
Dell Books Dell Publishing Company, Inc. is an American publisher of books, magazines and comic books, that was founded in 1921 by George T. Delacorte Jr. with $10,000 (approx. $145,000 in 2021), two employees and one magazine title, ''I Confess'', and so ...
* White, David Manning, and Robert H. Abel, eds. ''The Funnies: An American Idiom'' (1963) Free Press * White, David Manning, ed. ''From Dogpatch to Slobbovia: The (Gasp!) World of Li'l Abner'' (1964) Beacon Press * Capp, Al, ''Life International Magazine'' (June 14, 1965) "My Life as an Immortal Myth" * Toffler, Alvin, ''Playboy Magazine'' (December 1965) interview with Al Capp, pp. 89–100 * Moger, Art, et al. ''Chutzpah Is'', introduction by Al Capp (1966) Colony Publishers * Berger, Arthur Asa, ''Li'l Abner: A Study in American Satire'' (1969) Twayne Publishers (1994) Univ. Press of Mississippi * Sugar, Andy, ''Saga Magazine'' (December 1969) "On the Campus Firing Line with Al Capp" * Gray, Harold, ''Arf! The Life and Hard Times of Little Orphan Annie'', introduction by Al Capp (1970) Arlington House * Moger, Art, ''Some of My Best Friends are People'', introduction by Al Capp (1970) Directors Press * Capp, Al, ''The Hardhat's Bedtime Story Book'' (1971)
Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...
* Robinson, Jerry, ''The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art'' (1974) G.P. Putnam's Sons * Horn, Maurice, ''The World Encyclopedia of Comics'' (1976)
Chelsea House Infobase Publishing is an American publisher of reference book titles and textbooks geared towards the North American library, secondary school, and university-level curriculum markets. Infobase operates a number of prominent imprints, includi ...
(1982) Avon * Blackbeard, Bill, ed. ''The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics'' (1977) Smithsonian Inst. Press/
Harry Abrams Abrams, formerly Harry N. Abrams, Inc. (HNA), is an American publisher of art and illustrated books, children's books, and stationery. The enterprise is a subsidiary of the French publisher La Martinière Groupe. Run by President and CEO Michae ...
* Marschall, Rick, ''Cartoonist PROfiles'' #37 (March 1978) interview with Al Capp * Capp, Al, ''The Best of Li'l Abner'' (1978)
Holt, Rinehart & Winston Holt McDougal is an American publishing company, a division of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, that specializes in textbooks for use in high schools. The Holt name is derived from that of U.S. publisher Henry Holt (1840–1926), co-founder of the ...
* Lardner, Ring, ''You Know Me Al: The Comic Strip Adventures of Jack Keefe'', introduction by Al Capp (1979)
Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Harcourt () was an American publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with editorial/sales/marketing/rights offices in New York City a ...
* Van Buren, Raeburn, ''Abbie an' Slats'' — 2 volumes (1983) Ken Pierce Books * Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner: Reuben Award Winner Series Book 1'' (1985) Blackthorne * Marschall, Rick, '' Nemo, the Classic Comics Library'' #18, pp. 3–32 (April 1986) * Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner Dailies'' — 27 volumes (1988–1999)
Kitchen Sink Press Kitchen Sink Press was a comic book publishing company founded by Denis Kitchen in 1970. Kitchen Sink Press was a pioneering publisher of underground comics, and was also responsible for numerous republications of classic comic strips in hard ...
* Marschall, Rick, ''America's Great Comic Strip Artists'' (1989)
Abbeville Press Abbeville Publishing Group is an independent book publishing company specializing in fine art and illustrated books. Based in New York City, Abbeville publishes approximately 40 titles each year and has a catalogue of over 700 titles on art, ar ...
* Capp, Al, ''Fearless Fosdick'' (1990) Kitchen Sink * Capp, Al, ''My Well-Balanced Life on a Wooden Leg'' (1991) John Daniel & Co. * Capp, Al, ''Fearless Fosdick: The Hole Story'' (1992) Kitchen Sink * Goldstein, Kalman, "Al Capp and Walt Kelly: Pioneers of Political and Social Satire in the Comics" from '' Journal of Popular Culture;'' Vol. 25, Issue 4 (Spring 1992) * Caplin, Elliot, ''Al Capp Remembered'' (1994)
Bowling Green State University Bowling Green State University (BGSU) is a public research university in Bowling Green, Ohio. The main academic and residential campus is south of Toledo, Ohio. The university has nationally recognized programs and research facilities in the ...
* Theroux, Alexander, ''The Enigma of Al Capp'' (1999) Fantagraphics Books * Lubbers, Bob, ''Glamour International #26: The Good Girl Art of Bob Lubbers'' (May 2001) * Capp, Al, ''The Short Life and Happy Times of the Shmoo'' (2002)
Overlook Press The Overlook Press is an American publishing house based in New York, New York, that considers itself "a home for distinguished books that had been 'overlooked' by larger houses". History and operations It was formed in 1971 by Peter Mayer, wh ...
* Capp, Al, ''Al Capp's Li'l Abner: The Frazetta Years'' — 4 volumes (2003–2004)
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 know ...
* Al Capp Studios, ''Al Capp's Complete Shmoo: The Comic Books'' (2008) Dark Horse * Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies and Color Sundays Vol. 1: 1934–1936'' (2010) IDW Publishing * Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies and Color Sundays Vol. 2: 1937–1938'' (2010) IDW * Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies and Color Sundays Vol. 3: 1939–1940'' (2011) IDW * Capp, Al, ''Al Capp's Complete Shmoo Vol. 2: The Newspaper Strips'' (2011) Dark Horse * Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies and Color Sundays Vol. 4: 1941–1942'' (2012) IDW * Inge, M. Thomas, "Li'l Abner, Snuffy and Friends" from ''Comics and the U.S. South'', pp. 3–27 (2012) Univ. Press of Mississippi * Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner: The Complete Dailies and Color Sundays Vol. 5: 1943–1944'' (2012) IDW * Kitchen, Denis, and Michael Schumacher, ''Al Capp: A Life to the Contrary'' (2013) Bloomsbury Publishing


External links


Official ''Li'l Abner'' website


* ttp://animationresources.org/?p=558 Animation Resources: Li'l Abner part I
Animation Resources: Li'l Abner part II

Animation Resources: Li'l Abner part III

Animation Resources: Li'l Abner part IV

Animation Resources: Li'l Abner part V

"Al Capp Deserves a Tribute" (''Newburyport News'', 28 Sept. 2009)

NCS Spotlight on: Al Capp
{{Portal bar, Comics Comic strips set in the United States Kentucky in fiction American comic strips 1934 comics debuts 1977 comics endings Works about Appalachia Fictional hillbillies Humor comics Satirical comics Fantasy comics Li'l Abner characters Characters created by Al Capp Comics adapted into animated series American comics adapted into films Comics adapted into radio series 1939 radio programme debuts 1940 radio programme endings American comedy radio programs NBC radio programs Radio programs based on comic strips Comics adapted into plays Columbia cartoons series and characters American satire American political satire Screen Gems film series