''Bringing Up Father'' is an American

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

created by

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

George McManus George McManus (January 23, 1884 – October 22, 1954) was an American cartoonist best known as the creator of Irish immigrant Jiggs and his wife Maggie, the main characters of his syndicated comic strip, ''Bringing Up Father''. Biography ...

. Distributed by

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

, it ran for 87 years, from January 2, 1913, to May 28, 2000. The strip was later titled ''Jiggs and Maggie'' (or ''Maggie and Jiggs''), after its two main characters. According to McManus, he introduced these same characters in other strips as early as November 1911.

Characters and story

The humor centers on an immigrant Irishman named Jiggs, a former

hod carrier A brick hod is a three-sided box for carrying bricks or other building materials, often mortar. It bears a long handle and is carried over the shoulder. A hod is usually long enough to accept 4 bricks on their side. However, by arranging the br ...

who came into wealth in the United States by winning a million dollars in a sweepstakes. Now

nouveau-riche ''Nouveau riche'' (; ) is a term used, usually in a derogatory way, to describe those whose wealth has been acquired within their own generation, rather than by familial inheritance. The equivalent English term is the "new rich" or "new money" ( ...

, he still longs to revert to his former

working class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colou ...

habits and lifestyle. His constant attempts to sneak out with his old gang of boisterous, rough-edged pals, eat corned beef and cabbage (known regionally as "

Jiggs dinner Jiggs dinner, also called boiled dinner or cooked dinner, is a traditional meal commonly prepared and eaten on Sundays in Newfoundland. Corned beef and cabbage was the favorite meal of Jiggs, the central character in the popular, long-running c ...

"), and hang out at the local tavern were often thwarted by Maggie, his formidable, social-climbing (and rolling-pin wielding) harridan of a wife, their lovely young daughter Nora, and infrequently their lazy son Ethelbert, later known as Sonny. Also a character presented in the strip (portrayed as a miserly borrower) was named, fittingly, Titus Canby. The strip deals with " lace-curtain Irish", with Maggie as the middle-class Irish American desiring assimilation into mainstream society in counterpoint to an older, more raffish "

shanty Irish ''Lace curtain Irish'' and ''shanty Irish'' are terms that were commonly used in the 19th and 20th centuries to categorize Irish people, particularly Irish Americans, by social class. The "lace curtain Irish" were those who were well off, while the ...

" sensibility represented by Jiggs. Her lofty goal—frustrated in nearly every strip—is to bring Father (the lowbrow Jiggs) "up" to upper class standards, hence the title, ''Bringing Up Father''. The occasional

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 ...

and left-footed social blunders of these upward mobiles were gleefully lampooned in

vaudeville 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 ...

and popular song, and formed the basis for ''Bringing Up Father''. The strip presented multiple perceptions of

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland whose members are both Catholic and Irish. They have a large diaspora, which includes over 36 million American citizens and over 14 million British citizens (a quarter of the British ...

ethnics during the early 20th century. Through the character Jiggs, McManus gave voice to their anxieties and aspirations. Varied interpretations of McManus's work often highlight difficult issues of ethnicity and class, such as the conflicts over assimilation and social mobility that second- and third-generation immigrants confronted. McManus took a middle position, which aided ethnic readers in becoming accepted in American society without losing their identity. A cross-country tour that the characters took in September 1939 into 1940 gave the strip a big promotional boost and raised its profile in the cities they visited. Jiggs and Maggie were generally drawn with circles for eyes, a feature more often associated with the later strip, '' Little Orphan Annie''.

Origin and sources

McManus, who numbered

Aubrey Beardsley Aubrey Vincent Beardsley (21 August 187216 March 1898) was an English illustrator and author. His black ink drawings were influenced by Woodblock printing in Japan, Japanese woodcuts, and depicted the grotesque, the decadent, and the erotic. He ...

among his influences, had a bold, clean-cut cartooning line. His strong sense of composition and

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

design made the strip a stand-out on the comics page. McManus was inspired by ''The Rising Generation'', a musical comedy by William Gill that he had seen as a boy in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

's Grand Opera House, where his father was manager. In ''The Rising Generation'', Irish-American bricklayer Martin McShayne (played by the fat Irish comedian Billy Barry in the stage production McManus saw) becomes a wealthy contractor, yet his society-minded wife and daughter were ashamed of him and his lowbrow buddies, prompting McShayne to sneak out to join his pals for poker. McManus knew Barry and used him as the basis for his drawings of Jiggs. McManus' wife, the former Florence Bergere, was the model for daughter Nora. One of McManus' friends, restaurateur James Moore, claimed he was the inspiration for the character Dinty Moore, the owner of Jiggs' favorite tavern. James Moore changed his name to Dinty and founded a real-life restaurant chain. The restaurant owner, however, did not begin the successful line of Dinty Moore canned goods marketed today by

Hormel Hormel Foods Corporation is an American food processing company founded in 1891 in Austin, Minnesota, by George A. Hormel as George A. Hormel & Company. The company originally focused on the packaging and selling of ham, sausage and other pork ...

. A surrealistic

running gag A running gag, or running joke, is a literary device that takes the form of an amusing joke or a comical reference and appears repeatedly throughout a work of literature or other form of storytelling. Though they are similar, catchphrases are no ...

throughout the strip, always removed from the main action of the story, involved hanging wall paintings that "come to life", with subjects often " breaking the fourth wall", escaping the confines of the picture frames, or changing position from panel to panel within the same strip. None of the nominal stars of the strip ever seemed to notice the animated figures, or anything unusual happening on the walls in the background directly behind them. 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 ...

wrote about McManus' characters: :On January 12, 1913 ctually January 2 he debuted ''Bringing Up Father'', about an Irishman named Jiggs, who doesn't understand why his ascension to wealth via the Irish Sweepstakes means he can't hang out with his friends, and his nagging, social-climbing wife, Maggie. The strip was an instant hit, possibly because of its combination of an appealing cast of characters with a unique look of art-nouveau splendor... Before McManus died, in 1954, ''Bringing Up Father'' made him two fortunes (the first was lost in the 1929 stock market crash). By that time, Jiggs's Irishness had faded—the new generation saw him as just a rich guy that liked to hang out with a regular crowd. An uncredited script collaborator on the strip was McManus' brother, Charles W. McManus, who was 61 when he died August 31, 1941. He also had his own comic strips in the 1920s, ''Dorothy Darnit'' and ''Mr. Broad''.

Topper strips

In 1926, McManus added a Sunday topper strip above ''Bringing Up Father'', beginning with ''No Brains But'' (January 10 to May 9, 1926) and ''Good Morning, Boss!'' (May 16 to June 6, 1926). Starting on June 13, 1926, McManus changed the topper to ''Rosie's Beau'', a revival of his previous Sunday page (which ran from October 29, 1916 to April 7, 1918). ''Rosie's Beau'' continued as the topper until November 12, 1944. On April 17, 1938, an absent-minded character named Sir Von Platter in ''Rosie's Beau'' realized he was in the wrong place and climbed down into the first panel of ''Bringing Up Father'', arriving in the living room of Maggie and Jiggs. Starting November 19, 1944, McManus replaced ''Rosie's Beau'' with ''Snookums'', itself a revival of a 1904–1916 McManus strip, ''The Newlyweds and Their Baby'', now focused on their son, the titular character. ''Snookums'' remained as the topper for ''Bringing Up Father'' until December 31, 1956, at which point it became a standalone Sunday feature distributed until the early 1960s. In the final episode of HBO's '' The Pacific'' (2010), Robert Leckie (

James Badge Dale James Badge Dale (born May 1, 1978) is an American actor. He is known for playing Chase Edmunds in '' 24'', Robert Leckie in '' The Pacific'', State Trooper Barrigan in Martin Scorsese's ''The Departed'', Luke Lewenden in '' The Grey'', Eric Sa ...

) is seen reading ''Snookums''. ''The Pacific'' is partially based on Leckie's book, ''

Helmet for My Pillow ''Helmet for My Pillow'' is the personal narrative written by World War II United States Marine Corps veteran, author, and military historian Robert Leckie. First published in 1957, the story begins with Leckie's enlisting in the United States Ma ...

'' (1957), but there is no mention of ''Snookums'' in Leckie's book. Other minor topper panels overlapping with the above were ''Things We Can Do Without'' (July 23, 1933 to April 22, 1934), ''How to Keep From Getting Old'' (April 1, 1934 to May 19, 1935), ''It's the Gypsy in Me'' (May 26, 1935 to April 25, 1937) and ''What'll I Do Now'' (January 5 to March 15, 1936).

Artists

Between 1935 and 1954, McManus' assistant

Zeke Zekley Emil Samuel Zekley (February 11, 1915 – April 28, 2005), better known as Zeke Zekley, was an American cartoonist who worked on several comic strips, notably George McManus's ''Bringing Up Father''. Early years Born in Chicago, Zekley grew ...

made a major contribution to the strip in both writing and art. Other artists, including Bill Kavanagh and Frank Fletcher, also contributed. When McManus died in 1954, King Features replaced Zekley with

Vernon Greene Vernon Van Atta Greene (September 12, 1908 – June 5, 1965) was a prolific cartoonist and illustrator who worked on several comic strips and was best known for his artwork on ''Bringing Up Father''. Born Vernon Van Atta Green in Battle Ground, ...

. With Greene's death in 1965, Hal Campagna stepped in, and Frank Johnson (''

Boner's Ark ''Boner's Ark'' is an American comic strip created by Mort Walker, also the creator of ''Beetle Bailey''. Walker debuted the strip under the pseudonym "Addison" on March 11, 1968. The title is a reference to Noah's Ark of Abrahamic religions. Des ...

'') replaced Campagna in 1980. (Hy Eisman ghosted the strip for a short time after Greene's death. King Features wanted him to take it over, but Eisman was close friends with Greene, and he was unable to agree to take the strip on.) The strip's popularity faded, and ''Bringing Up Father'' limped along until its 87-year run came to a close on May 28, 2000. In 1995, the strip was one of 20 included in the

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

series of commemorative US

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 fa ...

. ''Bringing Up Father'' went digital in 2007 when King Features made the strip available as one of the selections in its

DailyINK DailyINK was an online service created by King Features Syndicate to email many classic and current comic strips directly to subscribers for an annual fee of $19.99. King Features described it as "the all-inclusive subscription service for the true ...

email package.

International syndication

In Mexico, the strip was titled ''Educando a Papá'', with Jiggs and Maggie being renamed as "Pancho" and "Ramona" respectively. In Chile, Jiggs was known as "Don Fausto". In Argentina, it was known as ''Trifón y Sisebuta.'' In Yugoslavia and Serbia it has been published as ''Porodica Tarana'' since 1935. In Turkey, the strip was published daily by ''

Hürriyet ''Hürriyet'' (, ''Liberty'') is one of the major Turkish newspapers, founded in 1948. , it had the highest circulation of any newspaper in Turkey at around 319,000. ''Hürriyet'' has a mainstream, liberal and conservative outlook. ''Hürriyet ...

'' until the late 1990s under the name ''Güngörmüşler'' (The Worldly-wiseds) with Jiggs renamed to

Şaban Şaban, the Turkish is a popular cinema character, portrayed by Turkish actor Kemal Sunal. Both figures rose to fame hand in hand, as the commoner clean-hearted looks of Şaban on the screen became very popular among Turkish citizens, and the tw ...

and Maggie renamed to Tonton (darling). In

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

, Jiggs and Maggie became ''Arcibaldo e Petronilla'' and the strip, published by the children magazine ''

Corriere dei Piccoli The ''Corriere dei Piccoli'' (Italian for "Courier of the Little Ones"), later nicknamed ''Corrierino'' ("Little Courier"), was a weekly magazine for children published in Italy from 1908 to 1995. It was the first Italian periodical to make a re ...

'' since 1921, was very popular. ''Bringing Up Father'' still enjoys popularity in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. Known as ''Fiinbeck og Fia'', the strip was published weekly in the family journal ''Hjemmet'' from 1921 until the early 2000s; and a Christmas book with the strip has been published every year since 1930, in the last few decades mostly reprints of material produced by McManus in the 1940s and 1950s. A similar publication was also an annual event (from 1931 to 1977) in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, where the strip is known as ''Gyllenbom''. In

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

the series went under the name ''Gyldenspjæt''. In

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, the strip was called ''Vihtori ja Klaara'' and appeared in the major daily ''Uusi Suomi'' from 1929 until the paper folded in 1991. In the Finnish version, Jiggs' favorite dish of corned beef and cabbage became (literally "mutton cabbage"), which under the name ''

fårikål Fårikål () is a traditional Norwegian dish, and the country's national dish. It consists of pieces of mutton with bone, cabbage, whole black pepper and occasionally a little wheat flour, cooked for several hours in a casserole, traditionally se ...

'' is actually a Norwegian national dish.

Maggie and Jiggs in other media

Stage

Gus Hill Gus Hill (22 February 1858 – 20 April 1937) was an American vaudeville performer who juggled Indian clubs. He later became a burlesque and vaudeville entrepreneur. Hill was one of the founders of the Columbia Amusement Company, an association o ...

's production of ''Bringing Up Father'' opened on Broadway in 1914, with music composed by Frank H. Grey, lyrics by Elven E. Hedges, libretto by John P. Mulgrew and Thomas Swift, choreography by Edward Hutchinson, and directed by Frank Tannehill, Jr. Hill produced many more theatrical versions of the strip that toured the country, including ''Bringing Up Father in Florida'', ''Bringing Up Father on Broadway'', ''Bringing Up Father in Ireland'', ''Bringing Up Father Abroad'', and ''Bringing Up Father in Wall Street''. ''Bringing Up Father at the Seashore'' opened on Broadway at the Manhattan Opera House in 1921, but closed after 18 performances; a revised version reopened in 1928. Another of Hill's productions of ''Father'' opened at the Lyric Theatre in 1925. "Reportedly, this version had Maggie following a fleeing Jiggs from Ireland to a yacht headed for Spain, but the story was halted frequently for various

acts. The show closed after 24 performances," according to The Holloway Pages' history of the strip.

Sheet music

*"By the Susquehanna Shore" (from ''Bringing Up Father'', 1914) *''Bringing Up Father on Broadway'' (1919) Songs include: "The Lotus Club Rag"; "Dry Those Tears"; ""The Fair Irene; "All for a Girl" *"I'm Longing for a Pair of Irish Eyes" (from ''Bringing Up Father in Florida'', 1920) •''Bringing Up Father'' (1920 green cover, same design as earlier red cover) Songs include: "The Rose You gave me", "Why Don't They Let the Girlies go to Sea ?", "Let's Get the Irish over Here". PLUS: advice, jokes and magic tricks. *''Bringing Up Father in Wall Street'' (1921) Songs include: "Rose of My Heart"; "Somebody's Darling Boy"; "When That Mobile Boy Sings the Memphis Blues"; "The Wonderful Way You Love"; "I'm Free, Single, Disengaged"; "Looking for Someone to Love"; "There's No Fool Like an Old Fool"; "My Dixie Rose"; "Million Dollar Smile"; Just One Little Smile" *''Bringing Up Father Song Book'' (1922) Songs include: "Sweet Southern Lullaby"; "Dear Old-Fashioned Mother"; "China Doll" *"They'll Never Bring Up Father 'Till They Tear Down Dinty Moore's" (1923)

Radio

' Sponsored by

Lever Brothers Lever Brothers was a British manufacturing company founded in 1885 by two brothers: William Hesketh Lever, 1st Viscount Leverhulme (1851–1925), and James Darcy Lever (1854–1916). They invested in and successfully promoted a new soap-making p ...

, the ''

Bringing Up Father ''Bringing Up Father'' is an American comic strip created by cartoonist George McManus. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, it ran for 87 years, from January 2, 1913, to May 28, 2000. The strip was later titled ''Jiggs and Maggie'' (or ''M ...

'' radio series aired on the

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American Commercial broadcasting, radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the N ...

from July 1 to September 30, 1941, starring Mark Smith (1887–1944) as Jiggs and

Agnes Moorehead Agnes Robertson Moorehead (December 6, 1900April 30, 1974) was an American actress. In a career spanning four decades, her credits included work in radio, stage, film, and television.Obituary ''Variety'', May 8, 1974, page 286. Moorehead was th ...

as Maggie. Neil O'Malley also portrayed Jiggs. Their daughter Nora was played by Helen Shields and

Joan Banks Joan Banks (October 30, 1918 – January 18, 1998) was an American film, television, stage, and radio actress (described as "a soapbox queen"), who often appeared in dramas with her husband, Frank Lovejoy. Early life Banks attended a school of ...

. Craig McDonnell (1907–1956) was heard in the role of Dinty Moore. The 30-minute program aired Tuesdays at 9pm.

Animation

The following are silent animated cartoons based on ''Bringing Up Father'', all produced by International Film Service and released through

Pathé Exchange Pathé Exchange, commonly known as Pathé, was an American film production and distribution company, largely of Hollywood's silent era. Known for its groundbreaking newsreel and wide array of shorts, it grew out of the American division of the m ...

: *''Father Gets into the Movies'' (1916) *''Just Like a Woman'' (1916) *''A Hot Time in the Gym'' (1917) *''The Great Hansom Cab Mystery'' (1917) *''Music Hath Charms'' (1917) *''He Tries His Hand at Hypnotism'' (1917) *''The Stimulating Mrs. Barton'' (1918) *''Father's Close Shave'' (1918) *''Jiggs and the Social Lion'' (1918) In 1924, a Chilean studio created a feature-length film entitled ''Vida y Milagros de Don Fausto'' ("Life and Miracles of Jiggs"), which used the strip's characters (likely without authorization). This is the second oldest-known animated film made in the country.

Live-action Two-reel shorts

A series of live-action silent comedies featured comedian Johnny Ray as Jiggs, Margaret Cullington as Maggie and

Laura La Plante Laura La Plante (born Laura Laplante; November 1, 1904 – October 14, 1996) was an American film actress, whose more notable performances were in the silent era. Early life La Plante was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on November 1, 1904, the da ...

as daughter Nora. Directed by Reggie Morris, these were produced by International Film Service and released through Pathé Exchange. Confusingly enough, a couple of the titles were duplicated from the earlier cartoons. This series included: *''Jiggs in Society'' (1920) *''Jiggs and the Social Lion'' (1920) *''Jiggs' Close Shave'' ka ''Father's Close Shave''(1920)

Live-action feature films

The following feature-length movies were based on the strip: *''

'' (1928)

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by amazon (company), Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded o ...

; Silent comedy directed by Jack Conway, written by

Frances Marion Frances Marion (born Marion Benson Owens, November 18, 1888 – May 12, 1973) was an American screenwriter, director, journalist and author often cited as one of the most renowned female screenwriters of the 20th century alongside June Mathis a ...

with titles by Ralph Spence, starring

J. Farrell MacDonald John Farrell MacDonald (June 6, 1875 – August 2, 1952) was an American character actor and director. He played supporting roles and occasional leads. He appeared in over 325 films over a four-decade career from 1911 to 1951, and directed fort ...

as Jiggs,

Polly Moran Pauline Theresa Moran (June 28, 1883 – January 25, 1952) billed as Polly Moran, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage and screen and comedian. Career Born in Chicago, Illinois, Moran started in vaudeville, and widely toured North A ...

as Maggie, Gertrude Omstead as their daughter (renamed "Ellen"), and Jules Cowles and Marie Dressler as Mr. and Mrs. Dinty Moore. *''Vihtori ja Klaara'' (

, 1939) The first sound comedy based on the strip, although the characters are speaking Finnish; directed by filmmaker

Teuvo Tulio Theodor Antonius Tugai (23 August 1912 – 8 June 2000), better known as Teuvo Tulio, was a Finnish film director and actor. Beginning his career as an actor at the end of the silent era, Tulio turned to directing and producing in the 1930s. His ...

. The

Jiggs and Maggie (film series) Jiggs and Maggie are the major characters in a series of films made by the American studio Monogram Pictures between 1946 and 1950. Jiggs and Maggie are Irish immigrants to the United States, who constantly argue. The characters were created by th ...

, all released by Monogram Pictures: *''

'' (1946) directed by Edward F. Cline and written by Cline, Barney Gerard and Jerry Warner, starring

Joe Yule Ninnian Joseph Yule (30 April 1892 – 30 March 1950) was a Scottish-American burlesque and vaudeville actor who later appeared in many films as a character actor. He starred alongside Renie Riano in the '' Jiggs and Maggie'' film series. Yule ...

as Jiggs, Renie Riano as Maggie, George McManus (as himself), Tim Ryan as the stingy and belligerent Dinty Moore, and Pat Goldin as the ever-silent Dugan. *''

Jiggs and Maggie in Society ''Jiggs and Maggie in Society'' is a 1947 American comedy film directed by Edward F. Cline and starring Joe Yule, Renie Riano and Tim Ryan (actor), Tim Ryan. The film is part of the ''Jiggs and Maggie (film series), Jiggs and Maggie'' series, the ...

'' (1948) *'' Jiggs and Maggie in Court'' (1948) *''

Jiggs and Maggie in Jackpot Jitters ''Jiggs and Maggie in Jackpot Jitters'' is a 1949 American comedy film directed by William Beaudine and starring Joe Yule, Renie Riano and George McManus. It was the third of four films in the '' Jiggs and Maggie'' film series, spun off from ''Br ...

'' (1949) *'' Jiggs and Maggie Out West'' (1950) The series was discontinued due to the death of Joe Yule in March 1950. (Yule is the father of Mickey Rooney, who expressed interest in reviving Jiggs onstage in the late 1980s. Both

Martha Raye Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including Broadway. She was honored ...

and

Cloris Leachman Cloris Leachman (April 30, 1926 – January 27, 2021) was an American actress and comedian whose career spanned nearly eight decades. She won many accolades, including eight Primetime Emmy Awards from 22 nominations, making her the most nomina ...

were considered for the part of Maggie, but the project was never produced.)

Comic books

*''Bringing Up Father'' was a feature of David McKay's ''King Comics'' title from No. 60 to No. 135 (1941–1947) *''Jiggs and Maggie''

Standard Comics Standard Comics was a comic book imprint of American publisher Ned Pines, who also published pulp magazines (under a variety of company names that he also used for the comics) and paperback books (under the Popular Library name). Standard in t ...

(11 issues, 1949–1953) *''Jiggs and Maggie''

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 ...

(6 issues, 1953–1954).

Collections and reprints

*(1919–1934)

Cupples & Leon Cupples & Leon was an American publishing company founded in 1902 by Victor I. Cupples (1864–1941) and Arthur T. Leon (1867–1943). They published juvenile fiction and children's books but are mainly remembered today as the major publi ...

produced 26 semi-annual

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

reprints in softcover books measuring 10" x 10". *(1926) They also published two larger, hardcover editions; ''Bringing Up Father: The BIG Book'', and *(1929) ''Bringing Up Father: BIG Book No. 2'' *(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 ...

released ''Bringing Up Father:'' A

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

*(1973) Charles Scribner's Sons published a hardcover anthology, ''Bringing Up Father: Starring Maggie and Jiggs''. *(1977) Hyperion Press released the reprint volume ''Bringing Up Father: A Complete Compilation, 1913-1914'' in their "Hyperion Library of Classic American Comic Strips" series, available in both hardcover and paperback editions. *(1986) The Celtic Book Company released ''Jiggs Is Back'', a full-color, 64-page oversized trade paperback of Sunday strip reprints. *(July 2009) NBM reprinted the first two years of the daily strip as part of their "Forever Nuts" series: ''Forever Nuts Presents: Bringing Up Father''. *(November 2009) IDW Publishing's

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 ...

imprint Imprint or imprinting may refer to: Entertainment * ''Imprint'' (TV series), Canadian television series * "Imprint" (''Masters of Horror''), episode of TV show ''Masters of Horror'' * ''Imprint'' (film), a 2007 independent drama/thriller film ...

reprinted the cross-country tour storyline that ran from January 1939 to July 1940 as ''Bringing Up Father: From Sea to Shining Sea'', the first of several "best of" reprint collections. *(April 2013) ''Bringing Up Father: Of Cabbages and Kings'', IDW Publishing's

second volume, collecting strips from 1937 and 1938.

Parodies and guest appearances

*In issue 17 of '' Mad'',

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 ...

's story "Bringing Back Father", illustrated by

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 ...

and Bernard Krigstein, depicted Jiggs as the victim of

domestic abuse Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for '' intimate partne ...

, bruised and bleeding after physical assaults by the domineering Maggie, who has struck Jiggs with thrown kitchen utensils and crockery. When Kurtzman died in 1993, slides from this parody were shown by

Art Spiegelman Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel '' Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade'' and '' Ra ...

at Kurtzman's memorial service in the Time-Warner building. *In his book ''

In the Shadow of No Towers ''In the Shadow of No Towers'' is a 2004 work of comics by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman. It is about Spiegelman's reaction to the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center in 2001. It was originally serialized as a comic strip in the G ...

'', Spiegelman drew himself as Jiggs and his wife as Maggie. He also included a reprint of a ''Bringing Up Father'' Sunday strip. *In the comic strip ''

Arlo and Janis ''Arlo and Janis'' is an American gag-a-day comic strip written and drawn by Jimmy Johnson (cartoonist), Jimmy Johnson. It is a leisurely paced domestic situation comedy. It was first published in newspapers on July 29, 1985. Cast The focus of ...

'' (March 17, 2006), Jiggs is invited to the home of Arlo and Janis for corned beef and cabbage in honor of the day. He enjoys himself immensely, and entertains his hosts with his stories, jokes and witticisms. Everyone has a happy St. Patrick's Day. *In

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

' ''

Power Pack Power Pack is a superhero team consisting of four young siblings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist June Brigman, they first appeared in their own series in 1984, which las ...

'', Jiggs is the King of Elsewhere and receives a visit from Katie Power. Maggie is the Queen, wiser and more powerful than the King.Marvel, ''Power Pack'', Volume 1, number 47, July 1989. Script by

Jon Bogdanove Jon Bogdanove is an American comics artist and writer. He is best known for his work on '' Power Pack'' and '' Superman: The Man of Steel'', as well as for creating the character Steel with writer Louise Simonson in 1993. Career Comics After at ...

. *Jiggs and Maggie renew their friendship with Walt Wallet in ''

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

'', by Jim Scancarelli, April 30, 2013. This continues on August 10, 2018.

References

Sources

* Strickler, Dave. ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924–1995: The Complete Index.'' Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995.

External links

Don Markstein's Toonopedia: ''Bringing Up Father''
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