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
''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 ...
'' on August 31, 1948. The popular character has gone on to influence pop culture, language, geopolitics, human history, and even science.
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Description
A shmoo is shaped like a plump
bowling pin
Bowling pins (historically also known as skittles or kegels) are the target of the bowling ball in various bowling games including tenpins, five-pins, duckpins and candlepins.
Tenpins
Pin specifications are set by the United States Bowling ...
with stubby legs. It has smooth skin, eyebrows, and sparse whiskers—but no arms, nose, or ears. Its feet are short and round, but dexterous, as the shmoo's
comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
adventures make clear. It has a rich gamut of facial expressions and often expresses love by exuding hearts over its head.
Cartoonist Al Capp ascribed to the shmoo the following curious characteristics:
* They
reproduce asexually and are incredibly prolific, multiplying faster than rabbits. They require no sustenance other than air.
* Shmoos are delicious to eat, and are eager to be eaten. If a human looks at one hungrily, it will happily immolate itself—either by jumping into a frying pan, after which they taste like chicken, or into a broiling pan, after which they taste like steak. When roasted they taste like pork, and when baked they taste like catfish. Raw, they taste like
oyster
Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...
s on the half-shell.
* They also produce eggs (neatly packaged), milk (bottled, grade-A), and butter—no churning required. Their pelts make perfect bootleather or house timbers, depending on how thick one slices them.
* They have no bones, so there's absolutely no waste. Their eyes make the best
suspender buttons, and their
whiskers
Vibrissae (; singular: vibrissa; ), more generally called Whiskers, are a type of stiff, functional hair used by mammals to sense their environment. These hairs are finely specialised for this purpose, whereas other types of hair are coarse ...
make perfect toothpicks. In short, they are simply the perfect ideal of a subsistence agricultural herd animal.
* Naturally gentle, they require minimal care and are ideal playmates for young children. The frolicking of shmoos is so entertaining (such as their staged "shmoosical comedies") that people no longer feel the need to watch television or go to the
movies
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
.
* Some of the tastier varieties of shmoo are more difficult to catch, however. Usually shmoo hunters, now a sport in some parts of the country, use a paper bag, flashlight, and stick to capture their shmoos. At night the light stuns them, then they may be whacked in the head with the stick and put in the bag for frying up later on.
The original story
In a sequence beginning in late August 1948, Li'l Abner discovers the shmoos when he ventures into the forbidden "Valley of the Shmoon" following the mysterious and musical sound they make (from which their name derives). Abner is thrown off a cliff and into the valley below by a primitive "large gal" (as he addresses her), whose job is to guard the valley. There, against the frantic protestations of a naked, heavily bearded old man who shepherds the shmoos, Abner befriends the strange and charming creatures. "Shmoos", the old man warns, "is the greatest menace to hoomanity th' world has evah known!" "Thass becuz they is so bad, huh?" asks Li'l Abner. "No, ''stupid''", answers the man—and then encapsulates one of life's profound
paradox
A paradox is a logically self-contradictory statement or a statement that runs contrary to one's expectation. It is a statement that, despite apparently valid reasoning from true premises, leads to a seemingly self-contradictory or a logically u ...
es: "It's because they's so ''good!!''".
Having discovered their value ("Wif these around, nobody won't nevah havta work no more!!"), Abner leads the shmoos out of the valley—where they become a sensation in
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. ...
and, quickly, the rest of the world. Captains of industry such as J. Roaringham Fatback, the "Pork King", become alarmed as sales of nearly all products decline, and in a series of images reminiscent of the
Wall Street Crash of 1929
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the Great Crash, was a major American stock market crash that occurred in the autumn of 1929. It started in September and ended late in October, when share prices on the New York Stock Exchange coll ...
, the "Shmoo Crisis" unfolds. On Fatback's orders, a corrupt exterminator orders out "Shmooicide Squads" to wipe out the shmoos with a variety of firearms, which is depicted in a macabre and comically graphic sequence, with a tearful Li'l Abner misguidedly saluting the supposed "authority" of the extermination squads.
After the shmoos have been eliminated, Dogpatch's extortionate grocer Soft-Hearted John is seen cackling as he displays his wares—rotting meat and produce: "Now them mizzuble starvin' rats has t'come crawlin t'me fo' the necessities o' life!! They complained 'bout mah prices befo'!! Wait'll they see th' new ones!!". The exterminator congratulates him.
However, it is soon discovered that Abner has secretly saved two shmoos, a "boy" and a "girl". The boy shmoo, as a Dogpatch native, is required to run from the girl shmoo in the 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 ...
race. (Shmoos usually are portrayed as gender-neutral, although Capp sidesteps this issue for this sequence to allow the comic plot twist.) When "he" is caught by "her", in accordance with the rules of the race, they are joined in marriage by Marryin' Sam (whom they "pay" with a dozen eggs, two pounds of butter, and six cupcakes with chocolate frosting—all of which Sam reckons to be worth about 98 cents in 1948). The already expanding shmoo family is last seen returning toward the Valley of the Shmoon.
The sequence, which ended just before
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
of 1948, was massively popular, both as a commentary on the state of society and a classic
allegory of greed and corruption tarnishing all that is good and innocent in the world. The Shmoo caused an unexpected national sensation, and set the stage for a major licensing phenomenon. In their very few subsequent appearances in ''Li'l Abner'', shmoos also are identified by the
U.S. military as a major threat to
national security.
Origins
Al Capp offered his version of the origin of the Shmoo in a wryly satirical article, "I Don't Like Shmoos", in ''
Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
'' (June 1949):
Capp introduced many other allegorical creatures in ''Li'l Abner'' over the years—including
Bald Iggles
''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 in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn ...
, Kigmies, Nogoodniks, Mimikniks, the Money Ha-Ha, Shminks, Abominable Snow-Hams, Gobbleglops, Shtunks and Bashful Bulganiks, among others. Each one highlighted another disquieting facet of human nature—but none have ever had quite the same cultural impact as the Shmoo. According to publisher Denis Kitchen: "For the rest of his career Capp got countless letters
rom
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* ...
people begging him to bring the Shmoo back. Periodically he would do it but each time it ended the same way—with the Shmoo being too good for humanity, and he had to essentially exterminate them again. But there was always one or two who would survive for future plot twists..."
Etymology
The origin of Capp's word "shmoo" has been the subject of
linguistic
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
consideration by scholars for decades.
It has been speculated by that ''shmoo'' was a thinly veiled
phallic symbol
A phallus is a penis (especially when erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic.
Any object that symbolically—or, more precisel ...
, and that the name derives 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 ...
''schmuck'' (''
schmo
Schmuck, or shmuck, is a pejorative term meaning one who is stupid or foolish, or an obnoxious, contemptible or detestable person. The word came into the English language from Yiddish (, ''shmok''), where it has similar pejorative meanings, but whe ...
'') meaning ‘male genitalia’ or a ‘fool, contemptuous person’ (
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 ...
and Allan H. Orrick of
Johns Hopkins).
[ Even prior to these two academics, Thomas Pyles ( U. Florida) had favored the ''shmuck'' etymology over the derivation from the Yiddish ''schmu'' (‘profit’), suggested by ]Leo Spitzer
Leo Spitzer (; 7 February 1887 – 16 September 1960) was an Austrian Romanist and Hispanist, philologist, and an influential and prolific literary critic. He was known for his emphasis on stylistics. Along with Erich Auerbach, Spitzer is widely ...
.[
Spitzer noted the shmoo's providential characteristics (providing eggs and milk) in arguing his hypothesis, further explaining that in Yiddish ''schmu'' specifically connoted "illicit profit", and that the word also giving rise to term ''schmus'' ‘tale, gossip’, whose verb form ''schmusen'' or ‘shmoosing’ ( schmooze) has become familiar even to non-Jews.][ Lilian Mermin Feinsilver assessed this association with ''shmu'' ‘illicit profit’ as "pertinent", together with the observation that ''shmue'' was a ]taboo
A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...
Yiddish term for the uterus
The uterus (from Latin ''uterus'', plural ''uteri'') or womb () is the organ in the reproductive system of most female mammals, including humans that accommodates the embryonic and fetal development of one or more embryos until birth. The ...
.
It is one of many Yiddish slang variations that would find their way into ''Li'l Abner''. Revealing an important key to the story, Al Capp wrote that the Shmoo metaphorically represented the limitless bounty of the Earth in all its richness—in essence, Mother Nature herself. In Li'l Abner's words, "Shmoos ''hain't'' make believe. The hull hole
A hole is an opening in or through a particular medium, usually a solid body. Holes occur through natural and artificial processes, and may be useful for various purposes, or may represent a problem needing to be addressed in many fields of en ...
earth is one!!"
Analysis
"Capp is at his 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 ...
best in the epics of the Shmoos, and later, the Kigmies", wrote comic strip historian Jerry Robinson
Sherrill David Robinson (January 1, 1922 – December 7, 2011), known as Jerry Robinson, was an American comic book artist known for his work on DC Comics' Batman line of comics during the 1940s. He is best known as the co-creator of Robin and ...
(in ''The Comics: An Illustrated History of Comic Strip Art'', 1974). "Shmoos are the world's most amiable creatures, supplying all man's needs. Like a fertility
Fertility is the capability to produce offspring through reproduction following the onset of sexual maturity. The fertility rate is the average number of children born by a female during her lifetime and is quantified demographically. Fertili ...
myth gone berserk, they reproduced so prodigiously they threatened to wreck the economy"—if not western civilization
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 ...
as we know it, and ultimately society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
itself.
Superficially, the Shmoo story concerns a cuddly creature that desires nothing more than to be a boon to humans. Although initially Capp denied or avoided discussion of any satirical intentions ("If the Shmoo fits", he proclaimed, "wear it!"), he was widely seen to be using clever 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 ...
. The story has social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
, ethical
Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...
, and philosophical
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
implications that continue to invite analysis into the 21st Century. During the remainder of his life, Capp was seldom interviewed without reference to the nature of the Shmoo story.
The mythic tale ends on a deliberately ironic
Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique.
Irony can be categorized into ...
note. Shmoos are officially declared a menace, and systematically hunted down and slaughtered—because they were deemed "bad for business". The much-copied story line was a parable that was interpreted in many different ways at the outset of the Cold War. Al Capp was even invited to go on a radio show to debate socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...
Norman Thomas
Norman Mattoon Thomas (November 20, 1884 – December 19, 1968) was an American Presbyterian minister who achieved fame as a socialist, pacifist, and six-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party of America.
Early years
Thomas was the ...
on the effect of the Shmoo on modern capitalism
Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...
.
"After it came out both the left and the right attacked the Shmoo", 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, ...
. "Communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
thought he was making fun of socialism and Marxism
Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialectical ...
. The right wing
Right-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this pos ...
thought he was making fun of capitalism and the American way. Capp caught flak from both sides. For him it was an apolitical
Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased po ...
morality tale
The morality play is a genre of medieval and early Tudor drama. The term is used by scholars of literary and dramatic history to refer to a genre of play texts from the fourteenth through sixteenth centuries that feature personified concepts ( ...
about 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 ...
... I think he Shmoo
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...
was one of those bursts of genius. He was a genius, there's no question about that."
Reception
The Shmoo inspired hundreds of "Shmoo clubs" all over North America. College students—who had made Capp's invented idea of the Sadie Hawkins dance a universally adopted tradition—flocked to the Shmoo as well. One school, the University of Bridgeport
The University of Bridgeport (UB) is a private university in Bridgeport, Connecticut. The university is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education. In 2021, the university was purchased by Goodwin University; it retain its own ...
, even launched the "American Society for the Advancement of the Shmoo" in early 1949.
Licensing history
An unexpected—and virtually unprecedented—postwar merchandising phenomenon followed Capp's introduction of the Shmoo in ''Li'l Abner''. As in the strip, shmoos suddenly appeared to be everywhere in 1949 and 1950—including a ''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, ...
'' cover story. They also garnered nearly a full page of coverage (under "Economics") in the ''Time'' International section. Major articles also ran in ''Newsweek
''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...
'', ''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 ...
'', ''The New Republic
''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...
'', and countless other publications and newspapers. Virtually overnight, as a ''Life'' headline put it, "The U.S. Becomes Shmoo-Struck!"
Toys and consumer products
Shmoo dolls, clocks, watches, jewelry, earmuffs, wallpaper, fishing lures, air fresheners, soap, ice cream, balloons, ashtrays, 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. 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". In 1948, people danced to the Shmoo Rhumba and the Shmoo Polka. The Shmoo briefly entered everyday language through such phrases as "What's Shmoo?" and "Happy Shmoo Year!"
Close to a hundred licensed shmoo products from 75 different manufacturers were produced in less than a year, some of which sold ''five million units'' each. In a single year, shmoo merchandise generated more than $25 million in sales in 1948 dollars (equivalent to $ million in ).
The Shmoo was so popular it even replaced Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
's Mickey Mouse as the face of the Children's Savings Bond A savings bond is a government bond designed to provide funds for the issuer while also providing a relatively safe investment for the purchaser to save money, typically a retail investor. The earliest savings bonds were the war bond programs of Wor ...
, issued by the U.S. Treasury Department
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 ...
in 1949. The valid document was colorfully illustrated with Capp's character, and promoted by the Federal Government of the United States
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a fe ...
with a $16 million advertising campaign budget. According to one article at the time, the Shmoo showed "Thrift, loyalty, trust, duty, truth, and common ''cents'' hat
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
add up to aid to his nation". Al Capp accompanied President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
at the bond's unveiling ceremony.
Comic books and reprints
''The Life and Times of the Shmoo'' (1948), a paperback collection of the original sequence, was a bestseller for 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 ...
and became the first cartoon book to achieve serious literary attention. Distributed to small town magazine racks, it sold 700,000 copies in its first year of publication alone. It was reviewed coast to coast alongside Dwight Eisenhower's ''Crusade in Europe
''Crusade in Europe'' is a book of wartime memoirs by General Dwight D. Eisenhower published by Doubleday in 1948. Maps were provided by Rafael Palacios.
''Crusade in Europe'' is a personal account by one of the senior military figures of Wo ...
'' (the other big publication at the time).
The original book and its sequel, ''The Return of the Shmoo'' (1959), have been collected in print many times since—most recently in 2002—always to high sales figures.
There was also a separate line of comic book
A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...
s, ''Al Capp's Shmoo Comics'' (featuring Washable Jones), published by the Capp family-owned 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 ...
. Comics historian 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, ...
recently edited a complete collection of all five original ''Shmoo Comics'', from 1949 and 1950. The book was published by 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 ...
in 2008. Kitchen edited a second Shmoo-related volume for Dark Horse in 2011, on the history of the character in newspaper strips, collectibles, and memorabilia.
Recordings and sheet music
Recordings and published sheet music related to the Shmoos include:
* ''The Shmoo Sings'' with Earl Rogers (1948) 78 rpm / Allegro
* ''The Shmoo Club'' b/w ''The Shmoo Is Clean, the Shmoo Is Neat'' with Gerald Marks and Justin Stone (1949) 78 rpm / Music You Enjoy, Inc.
* ''The Snuggable, Huggable Shmoo'' b/w ''The Shmoo Doesn't Cost a Cent'' with Gerald Marks and Justin Stone (1949) 78 rpm / Music You Enjoy, Inc.
* ''Shmoo Lesson'' b/w ''A Shmoo Can Do Most Anything'' with Gerald Marks and Justin Stone (1949) 78 rpm / Music You Enjoy, Inc.
* ''The Shmoo Song'' (1948) Composed by Jule Styne & John Jacob Loeb / Harvey Music Corp.
* ''Shmoo Songs'' (1949) Composed 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 ...
/ Bristol Music Corp.
* ''The Kigmy Song'' (1949) Composed by Joe Rosenield & Fay Tishman / Town and Country Music Co.
Animation and puppetry
Originally, shmoos were meant to be included in the 1956 Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
''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. Reportedly, the idea was abandoned in the development stage by the producers, however, for reasons of practicality. A variation of the character had appeared earlier as a marionette
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 ...
puppet on television. "Shmoozer", a talking shmoo with an anthropomorphic human body, was a recurring sidekick
A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany.
Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...
character on ''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 ...
'', a short-lived puppet series that aired on NBC-TV in 1952.
After Capp's death in 1979, the Shmoo gained its own animated series
An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have eith ...
as part of ''Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo
''Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo'' is an American animated package show and a spin-off of ''The Flintstones'' produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired on NBC from December 8, 1979 to November 15, 1980. The 90-minute show is a repackaging of episodes ...
'' (which consisted of reruns of ''The New Fred and Barney Show
''The New Fred and Barney Show'' is an American animated television series revival and spin-off of ''The Flintstones'' produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired on NBC from February 3 to October 20, 1979. The series marked the first time Henry Corde ...
'' mixed with the Shmoo's own cartoons; the two separate types of characters didn't "meet", however). The characters ''did'' meet, however, in the early 1980s Flintstones spin-off ''The Flintstone Comedy Show
''The Flintstone Comedy Show'' is an American animated television series revival and spin-off of ''The Flintstones'' produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired on NBC from November 22, 1980 to October 24, 1981. Outside North America, the show was rele ...
''. The Shmoo appeared, incongruously, in the segment ''Bedrock Cops'' as a police officer alongside part-time officers Fred Flintstone
Fred Flintstone is the main character of the animated sitcom '' The Flintstones'', which aired during prime-time on ABC during the original series' run from 1960 to 1966. Fred is the husband of Wilma Flintstone and father of Pebbles Flintsto ...
and Barney Rubble. Needless to add, this Shmoo had little relationship to the ''L'il Abner'' character, other than a superficial appearance. A later Hanna-Barbera venture, ''The New Shmoo
''The New Shmoo'' is an American animated television series based on the character from the ''Li'l Abner'' comic strip created by Al Capp, produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and broadcast on NBC from September 22, 1979 to November 15, 1980.
' ...
'', featured the character as an (inexplicably) shape-shifting mascot of Mighty Mysteries Comics, a group of teens who solve ''Scooby-Doo
''Scooby-Doo'' is an American animated media franchise based on an animated television series launched in 1969 and continued through several derivative media. Writers Joe Ruby and Ken Spears created the original series, ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are ...
''-like mysteries. In this series the Shmoo could metamorphose magically into any shape at will—like ''Tom Terrific
''Tom Terrific'' is a 1957–1959 animated series on American television, presented as part of the ''Captain Kangaroo'' children's television show.
Created by Gene Deitch under the Terrytoons studio (which by that time was a subsidiary of CBS, ...
''. None of these revisionist revivals of the venerable character was particularly successful.
In popular culture
* Frank Sinatra, who was frequently spoofed by Al Capp in ''Li'l Abner'', has a line in the MGM
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 through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
musical '' On the Town'' (1949) about cops "multiplyin' like shmoos!"
* Florence King
Florence Virginia King (January 5, 1936 – January 6, 2016) was an American novelist, essayist and columnist.
While her early writings focused on the American South and those who live there, much of King's later work was published in ''Nati ...
refers to owning a ceramic shmoo, which she threw out of her window after reading the books of Ayn Rand.
* In the 1990 movie '' Book of Love'', the character Crutch wins a stuffed shmoo at a carnival.
* In the ''M*A*S*H
''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker.
Th ...
'' television episode "Who Knew?", Colonel Potter
This is a list of characters from the ''M*A*S*H'' franchise, covering the various fictional characters appearing in the novel '' MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'' and its sequels, the 1970 film adaptation of the novel, and the televisio ...
(played by Harry Morgan
Harry Morgan (born Harry Bratsberg; April 10, 1915 – December 7, 2011) was an American actor and director whose television and film career spanned six decades. Morgan's major roles included Pete Porter in both ''December Bride'' (1954–1959 ...
) displays an inflatable shmoo toy in his office that he purchased for his grandson.
* In Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven (; born April 30, 1938) is an American science fiction writer. His best-known works are '' Ringworld'' (1970), which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards, and, with Jerry Pournelle, '' The Mote in God's E ...
's ''Known Space
Known Space is the fictional setting of about a dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories written by Larry Niven. It has also become a shared universe in the spin-off ''Man-Kzin Wars'' anthologies. The Internet Spe ...
'' stories, an alien species known as the Bandersnatch
A bandersnatch is a fictional creature in Lewis Carroll's 1871 novel ''Through the Looking-Glass'' and his 1874 poem ''The Hunting of the Snark''. Although neither work describes the appearance of a bandersnatch in great detail, in ''The Hunting ...
, also edible and intelligent, is described as being "smooth as a shmoo".
* In the novel ''The Forge of God
''The Forge of God'' is a 1987 science fiction novel by American writer Greg Bear. Earth faces destruction when an inscrutable and overwhelming alien form of life attacks.
Plot
The novel features scenes and events, including the discovery of ...
'' by Greg Bear
Gregory Dale Bear (August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict ('' Forge of God'' books), parallel universes ('' The Way'' series), c ...
, "Shmoo" is the name humans give to the race of robots "\n\n\n\n\nThe robots exclusion standard, also known as the robots exclusion protocol or simply robots.txt, is a standard used by websites to indicate to visiting web crawlers and other web robots which portions of the site they are allowed to visi ...
that visits Earth, due to their similar shape.
* Some overlapping similarities exist between shmoos and tribble
Tribbles are a fictional alien species in the ''Star Trek'' universe. They were conceived by screenwriter David Gerrold and first appeared in 1967, in the fifteenth episode of the second season of '' The Original Series'', titled " The Trouble wi ...
s—the multitudinous alien creatures featured in a 1967 television episode from the original ''Star Trek''. Like shmoos, tribbles ''also'' reproduced at such an alarming rate, they threatened ecological disaster. However, David Gerrold
David Gerrold (born Jerrold David Friedman; January 24, 1944)Reginald, R. (September 12, 2010)''Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature, Volume 2'' Borgo Press p. 911. Archived at Google Books. Retrieved June 23, 2013. is an American science fic ...
—who wrote "The Trouble with Tribbles
"The Trouble with Tribbles" is the fifteenth episode of the second season of the American science fiction television series ''Star Trek''. Written by David Gerrold and directed by Joseph Pevney, it was first broadcast on December 29, 1967. In ...
"—drew his inspiration from an historical event: Australia's environmentally destructive rabbit overpopulation.
* The characters Gleep and Gloop—two protoplastic creatures from the Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning animated cartoon series ''The Herculoids
''The Herculoids'' is an American Saturday-morning animated-cartoon television series, created and designed by Alex Toth, that was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The show debuted on September 9, 1967, on CBS. Hanna-Barbera produced one sea ...
''—were clearly inspired by (and are sometimes mistaken for) shmoos.
* French artists Etienne Chambaud and David Jourdan have written "Economie de l'abondance ou La courte vie et les jours heureux", a new adventure of ''Jacques le fataliste et son maître
''Jacques the Fatalist and his Master'' (french: Jacques le fataliste et son maître) is a novel by Denis Diderot, written during the period 1765–1780. The first French edition was published posthumously in 1796, but it was known earlier in Germ ...
'' from Diderot, based on the discovery by Jacques of the Shmoo.
* In the 2006 film ''Lucky Number Slevin
''Lucky Number Slevin'' (also known as ''The Wrong Man'' in Australia, ''The 7 Affair'' in Spain, ''Hitman for Hire'' in Mexico and ''Check-Mate'' in Brazil) is a 2006 neo-noir action crime thriller film directed by Paul McGuigan and written by ...
'', the character known only as "The Boss" (played by Morgan Freeman) refers to the Shmoo, recounting its original features as a source of plenty (in a monologue taken from an old ''Li'l Abner'' comic).
* The Marxist political philosopher Gerald Cohen
Gerald Allan Cohen, ( ; 14 April 1941 – 5 August 2009) was a Canadian political philosopher who held the positions of Quain Professor of Jurisprudence, University College London and Chichele Professor of Social and Political Theory, All Sou ...
used the story of the Shmoo to illustrate his objections to capitalism in an episode of ''Opinions''.
* ''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 ...
'' uses a statue of the Shmoo to replace the giant phallic statue from the film ''A Clockwork Orange'' in the episode "Treehouse of Horror XXV
"Treehouse of Horror XXV" is the fourth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series ''The Simpsons'', the 25th episode in the ''Treehouse of Horror'' series of Halloween specials, and the 556th episode overall. ...
".
* The Shmoo is featured in “Bedrock Cops” as a friend and partner of Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble.
* In all non-Japanese versions of the video game '' Castlevania: Symphony of the Night'', there is an enemy monster called "''Schmoo''" (in the original Japanese version it is an Obake
and are a class of '' yōkai'', preternatural creatures in Japanese folklore. Literally, the terms mean ''a thing that changes'', referring to a state of transformation or shapeshifting.
These words are often translated as "ghost", but prima ...
called "''Kyuu''," an homage to the character in the manga, Obake no Q-tarō
is a Japanese manga series by Fujiko Fujio and later Fujiko F. FujioThe series was written under "Fujiko Fujio" initially. When Fujiko F. Fujio and Fujiko A. Fujio decided to separate, Fujiko F. Fujio took over this series. about the ...
), which is an homage to The Shmoo. Schmoos appear in the Forbidden Library and they have a rare chance of dropping the Crissaegrim upon death, one of the most powerful weapons in the game.
* During the Soviet Union's blockade of West Berlin
West Berlin (german: Berlin (West) or , ) was a political enclave which comprised the western part of Berlin during the years of the Cold War. Although West Berlin was de jure not part of West Germany, lacked any sovereignty, and was under mi ...
, Germany in 1948, candy-filled shmoos were air-dropped to hungry West Berliners from transport planes by America's 17th Military Airport Squadron. The commanders of the Berlin airlift had cabled Capp, requesting the inflatable shmoos as part of Operation: Little Vittles. "When the candy-chocked shmoos were dropped, a near-riot resulted...."
* Shmoos invaded the 1948 presidential election
The following elections occurred in the year 1948.
Africa
* 1948 Mauritian general election
* 1948 South African general election
* 1948 Southern Rhodesian general election
Asia
* 1948 North Korean parliamentary election
* 1948 Republic of China ...
, as challenger Thomas Dewey accused incumbent Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...
of "promising everything, including the Shmoo!"
* Capp periodically reintroduced the Shmoos in ''Li'l Abner'', sometimes with significant variations. "Bad" Shmoos (called "Nogoodniks") debuted in a series of Sunday strips in 1949. The nasty cousin of the good-natured Shmoo, Nogoodniks were a sickly shade of green, and had "li'l red eyes, sharp yaller teeth, an' a dirty look". Frequently sporting 5 o'clock shadows, eye patches, scars, bandages, and other ruffian attributes—they devoured "good" Shmoos, were the sworn enemies of "hoomanity", and wreaked havoc on Dogpatch.
* In the ABC sitcom '' The Goldbergs'', Beverley Goldberg endearingly refers to her children as Shmoos.
* The product of artist Mark Gonzale, Adidas sells a version of its Trefoil logo (termed the Shmoofoil), that is patterned after the Shmoo.
Eponyms
The term "shmoo" has entered the English language, defining highly technical concepts in at least four separate fields of science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
:
* "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 a technical term relating to the graphical display of test results in electrical engineering, dating back at least to 1966. The name most likely arose because the shape of the two-dimensional plots often resembled a shmoo. The term is also a verb: to "shmoo" means to run the test.
* In microbiology, the shmoo's uncanny resemblance to budding 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 ...
—combined with its near-limitless usefulness—has led to the character's adoption as a mascot of sorts for scientists studying yeast as a model organism for genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
and cell biology. In fact, the cellular bulge that is produced by a haploid yeast cell as a response to a pheromone from the opposite mating type (either or α-factor) is referred to as a "shmoo", because cells that are undergoing mating and present this particular structure resemble the cartoon character. The whole process is known to biologists as "shmooing". Shmoos are essential; without them, we would have neither bread nor beer
Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
. The word "shmoo" has appeared in nearly 700 science publications since 1974; it is used in labs studying the bread- and beer-making species ''Saccharomyces cerevisiae
''Saccharomyces cerevisiae'' () (brewer's yeast or baker's yeast) is a species of yeast (single-celled fungus microorganisms). The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have b ...
''.
* Echinoderm
An echinoderm () is any member of the phylum Echinodermata (). The adults are recognisable by their (usually five-point) radial symmetry, and include starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars, and sea cucumbers, as well as the s ...
biologists use "shmoo" (often misspelled "schmoo") to refer to a very simple, highly derived, blob-shaped larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
...
found in some sea urchins (e.g. Wray 1996).
* In bird collections
Bird collections are curated repositories of scientific specimens consisting of birds and their parts. They are a research resource for ornithology, the science of birds, and for other scientific disciplines in which information about birds is u ...
, skin specimens prepared without bills are often called "shmoos".
* It has been used in discussions of 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 ...
, for instance. In economics
Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...
, a " widget" is any material good that is produced through labor (extracted, refined, manufactured, or assembled) from a finite resource—in contrast to a "shmoo", which is a material good that reproduces itself and is captured or bred as an economic activity (the original shmoo lives and reproduces without requiring any material sustenance). "If shmoos really existed, they would be a 'free good
A free good is a good that is not scarce, and therefore is available without limit. A free good is available in as great a quantity as desired with zero opportunity cost to society.
A good that is made available at zero price is not necessarily ...
'." Erik Olin Wright
Erik Olin Wright (February 9, 1947 – January 23, 2019) was an American analytical Marxist sociologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, specializing in social stratification and in egalitarian alternative futures to capitalism. He w ...
uses the "parable of the shmoo" to introduce discussion of class structure and economics.
* 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 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 ...
survey instrument used 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. At one time, more than one hundred white "shmoo" detectors were sprinkled around the accelerator beamstop area and adjacent mesa to capture subatomic cosmic ray particles emitted from the Cygnus constellation. 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. The particle accelerator Tevatron
The Tevatron was a circular particle accelerator (active until 2011) in the United States, at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (also known as ''Fermilab''), east of Batavia, Illinois, and is the second highest energy particle collider ...
at Fermilab
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab), located just outside Batavia, Illinois, near Chicago, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory specializing in high-energy particle physics. Since 2007, Fermilab has been opera ...
houses superconducting magnets that produce ice formations that also resembled shmoos.
* In medicine, the "Shmoo sign" refers to the appearance of a prominent, rounded left ventricle and dilated aorta on a plain AP chest radiograph, giving the appearance of a Shmoo.
* In environmental law, Section 3004(u) of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA, 42 U.S. Code Section 6924(u)) requires all operators of permitted units for the treatment, storage or disposal (TSD) of hazardous wastes to conduct a search for all Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) on the operator's contiguous property, outside of the permitted TSD Unit. Environmental professionals generally pronounce the acronym SWMU as "Shmoo" and the search for SWMUs, called a RCRA Facility Assessment, is called a "Shmoo hunt". Each SWMU is then assessed to determine whether it has leaked hazardous waste into the environment. All such leaks must be cleaned up as a requirement of the permit to operate the TSD Unit. The process is called RCRA Corrective Action.
Applied conversely, the shmoo has been cited as a hypothetical example of the potential falsifiability
Falsifiability is a standard of evaluation of scientific theories and hypotheses that was introduced by the philosopher of science Karl Popper in his book '' The Logic of Scientific Discovery'' (1934). He proposed it as the cornerstone of a s ...
of natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...
as a key driving mechanism of biological evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation t ...
. That is, such a poorly adapted species could not possibly evolve via natural selection, so if it were to exist, it would falsify the theory.[
]
See also
* Eugene the Jeep
Eugene the Jeep is a character in the ''Popeye'' comic strip. A mysterious animal with magical or supernatural abilities, the Jeep first appeared in the March 16, 1936 ''Thimble Theatre'' comic strip (now simply ''Popeye''). He was also presen ...
Explanatory notes
References
Further reading
* Capp, Al, ''The Life and Times of the Shmoo'' (1948) Simon & Schuster
* Capp, Al, "There Is a Real Shmoo" (''New Republic'', 21 March 1949)
* Capp, Al, "I Don't Like Shmoos" (''Cosmopolitan'', June 1949)
* Al Capp Studios, ''Al Capp's Shmoo Comics'' (1949–1950) 5 issues (Toby Press)
* Al Capp Studios, ''Al Capp's Shmoo in Washable Jones' Travels'' (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 Studios, ''Washable Jones and the Shmoo'' (1953) (Toby Press)
* Capp, Al, ''Al Capp's Bald Iggle: The Life It Ruins May Be Your Own'' (1956) Simon & Schuster
* Capp, Al, ''The Return of the Shmoo'' (1959) Simon & Schuster
* Capp, Al, ''Charlie Mensuel
''Charlie Mensuel'' (or simply ''Charlie'', "mensuel" being a French term for a monthly periodical) was a French monthly comics magazine. Its publication began in February 1969, and ceased in February 1986.
Tagged ''"The newspaper full of humour ...
'' #2 (March 1969) (A French monthly periodical devoted to comics)
* 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 ...
* Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner: Reuben Award Winner Series Book 1'' (1985) Blackthorne
* Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner Dailies: 1948 Vol. 14'' (1992) 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 ...
* Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner Dailies: 1949 Vol. 15'' (1992) Kitchen Sink
* Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner Dailies: 1956 Vol. 22'' (1995) Kitchen Sink
* Capp, Al, ''Li'l Abner Dailies: 1959 Vol. 25'' (1997) Kitchen Sink
* 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, ''Al Capp's Complete Shmoo Vol. 2: The Newspaper Strips'' (2011) Dark Horse
External links
{{Hanna-Barbera
American comics characters
Li'l Abner characters
Characters created by Al Capp
American satire
Comics characters introduced in 1948
Fictional life forms
The Flintstones characters