Thomas Aloysius Dorgan (April 29, 1877 – May 2, 1929), also known as Tad Dorgan, was an American
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 ...
who signed his drawings as Tad. He is known for his cartoon panel ''Indoor Sports'' and comic strip ''
Judge Rummy
250px, One of the strips of the character (1920)
''Judge Rummy'' (also known as ''Silk Hat Harry's Divorce Suit'', ''Old Judge Rumhauser'', and ''Judge Rummy's Court'')[San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...]
on April 29, 1877. He was one of at least 11 children—six sons and five daughters – of Thomas J. and Anna Dorgan. His brother
John L. "Ike" Dorgan (born April 1879) was publicity manager for the
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
, and his brother
Richard W. "Dick" Dorgan (born September 1892) was an illustrator and cartoonist.
Polytechnic High School teachers Rosey Murdoch and Maria Van Vieck recognized and encouraged Tad's talent as an artist. When Dorgan was a child, he lost several fingers of his right hand in an accident whose details are unclear; ''
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 ...
'' writer
O. O. McIntyre
Oscar Odd McIntyre (February 18, 1884 – February 14, 1938) was a New York newspaper columnist of the 1920s and 1930s. ''The Washington Post'' once described his column as "the letter from New York read by millions because it never lost the hu ...
— a friend of Dorgan's — wrote that when Dorgan "was eight, he was fooling around on a house-moving job and attempted to ride a shovel on a rope that was propelled by a big pulley. He turned his head for a second and his right hand was caught in a pulley, crushing off four fingers of that right hand, which was reduced to a thumb and a piece of knuckle."
[Tad — a Close-up of a Man Who Amuses the World]
by O. O. McIntyre, originally published in ''New York Journal
:''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal''
The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...
'', 1927; republished in ''Nemo: the Classic Comics Library'', issue 13, July 1985; archived at ''Inside Jeff Overturf''; retrieved April 29, 2020 Henry Morton Robinson
Henry Morton Robinson (September 7, 1898 – January 13, 1961) was an American novelist, best known for '' A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake'' written with Joseph Campbell and his 1950 novel ''The Cardinal'', which ''Time'' magazine reported w ...
's description of the incident is largely the same, except that he said it took place when Dorgan was nine.
[ Tad for Short - Cartoonist and Phrase-Maker, a Victim of Circumstance]
by Henry Morton Robinson
Henry Morton Robinson (September 7, 1898 – January 13, 1961) was an American novelist, best known for '' A Skeleton Key to Finnegans Wake'' written with Joseph Campbell and his 1950 novel ''The Cardinal'', which ''Time'' magazine reported w ...
, in ''The Century Magazine
''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associatio ...
'', Autumn 1929; archived at Allan Holtz
Allan Holtz () is a comic strip historian who researches and writes about newspaper comics for his Stripper's Guide blog, launched in 2005. His research encompasses some 7,000 American comic strips and newspaper panels. In addition to his contribu ...
's StrippersGuide
Other versions of the incident exist, however:
Westbrook Pegler
Francis James Westbrook Pegler (August 2, 1894 – June 24, 1969) was an American journalist and writer. He was a popular columnist in the 1930s and 1940s famed for his opposition to the New Deal and labor unions. Pegler aimed his pen at president ...
— who was likewise a friend of Dorgan's — wrote that Dorgan had lost "the first two fingers and half of the palm of his right hand" in an incident with a
buzzsaw
A circular saw is a power-saw using a toothed or abrasive disc or blade to cut different materials using a rotary motion spinning around an arbor. A hole saw and ring saw also use a rotary motion but are different from a circular saw. ''Cir ...
.
[TAD IS DONE, SERIOUSLY]
by Westbrook Pegler
Francis James Westbrook Pegler (August 2, 1894 – June 24, 1969) was an American journalist and writer. He was a popular columnist in the 1930s and 1940s famed for his opposition to the New Deal and labor unions. Pegler aimed his pen at president ...
, in ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
''; published May 3, 1929; archived at Allan Holtz
Allan Holtz () is a comic strip historian who researches and writes about newspaper comics for his Stripper's Guide blog, launched in 2005. His research encompasses some 7,000 American comic strips and newspaper panels. In addition to his contribu ...
's StrippersGuide; retrieved April 29, 2020 Comics historian John Adcock has noted that, although there were "dozens of different stories", only McIntyre's version was in accordance with the statement on Dorgan's draft card that he had "all fingers except thumb off of right hand".
[TAD Dorgan and Friends in San Francisco]
by John Adcock, at ''Yesterday's Papers''; published December 7, 2017; retrieved April 29, 2020
After the amputation, Dorgan took up drawing for therapy. When he was 14 he joined the art staff of the ''
San Francisco Bulletin
The ''San Francisco Evening Bulletin'' was a newspaper in San Francisco, founded as the ''Daily Evening Bulletin'' in 1855 by James King of William. King used the newspaper to crusade against political corruption, and built it into having the highe ...
''.
Strips and panels
![City Life (1921-12-04)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/City_Life_%281921-12-04%29.jpg)
He created his first comic strip, ''Johnny Wise'', for the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' in 1902. By 1905 he was working in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
at the ''
New York Journal
:''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal''
The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...
'' as a sports writer and cartoonist.
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey (June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983), nicknamed Kid Blackie and The Manassa Mauler, was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. ...
described him as "the greatest authority on boxing."
In addition to his work as a sports journalist, Dorgan did a humor feature, "Daffydills". His dog cartoons, including ''
Judge Rummy
250px, One of the strips of the character (1920)
''Judge Rummy'' (also known as ''Silk Hat Harry's Divorce Suit'', ''Old Judge Rumhauser'', and ''Judge Rummy's Court'')[dumbbell
The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It can be used individually or in pairs, with one in each hand.
History
The forerunner of the dumbbell, halteres, were used in ancient Greece as lifting w ...]
" (a stupid person); "
for crying out loud" (an exclamation of astonishment); "
cat's meow
Cat's meow may refer to:
* Meow (occasionally spelled miaow, miaou, etc.), an onomatopoeia for the voiced sound made by cats (''Felis silvestris catus'')
* "The cat's meow," an expression referring to something that is considered outstanding; coin ...
" and "
cat's pajamas" (as superlatives); "
applesauce
Apple sauce or applesauce is a purée (not necessarily served as a true sauce) made of apples. It can be made with peeled or unpeeled apples and may be spiced or sweetened. Apple sauce is inexpensive and is widely consumed in North America and s ...
" (nonsense); "
cheaters
Cheater or Cheaters may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''The Cheaters'' (1930 film), an Australian silent film
* ''Cheaters'' (1934 film), an American film directed by Phil Rosent
* ''The Cheaters'' (1945 film), directed by Joseph Ka ...
" (eyeglasses); "
skimmer" (a hat); "
hard-boiled
Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence o ...
" (tough and unsentimental); "
drugstore cowboy
''Drugstore Cowboy'' is a 1989 American crime drama film directed by the American filmmaker Gus Van Sant. Written by Van Sant and Daniel Yost and based on an autobiographical novel by James Fogle, the film stars Matt Dillon, Kelly Lynch, Heather ...
" (loafers or ladies' men); "
nickel-nurser" (a miser); "as busy as a one-armed paperhanger" (overworked); and "Yes, we have no bananas," which was turned into a popular
song
A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...
.
![The Road to Dividends (Dorgan)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/The_Road_to_Dividends_%28Dorgan%29.jpg)
In the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' obituary, he was bracketed with
George Ade
George Ade (February 9, 1866 – May 16, 1944) was an American writer, syndicated newspaper columnist, and playwright who gained national notoriety at the turn of the 20th century with his "Stories of the Streets and of the Town", a column that ...
and
Ring Lardner
Ringgold Wilmer Lardner (March 6, 1885 – September 25, 1933) was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical writings on sports, marriage, and the theatre. His contemporaries Ernest Hemingway, Virginia Wo ...
as a popularizer of "a new slang vernacular." His obituary also credited him as the originator of "
Twenty-three, Skidoo," "solid ivory," "
Dumb Dora
''Dumb Dora'' is a comic strip published from 1924 to 1936 distributed by King Features Syndicate. The term "dumb Dora" was a 1920s American slang term for a foolish woman; the strip helped popularize the term.
Publication history
''Dumb Dora'' ...
," "finale hopper," "Benny" for hat, and "dogs'" for shoes.
W. J. Funk, of the
Funk and Wagnall's
Funk & Wagnalls was an American publisher known for its reference works, including ''A Standard Dictionary of the English Language'' (1st ed. 1893–5), and the ''Funk & Wagnalls Standard Encyclopedia'' (25 volumes, 1st ed. 1912).Funk & Wagnalls N ...
dictionary company, placed Dorgan at the top of the list of the ten "most
fecund
Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the natural capability to pr ...
makers of American slang."
Dorgan was erroneously credited with coining the usage of the phrase "
hot dog
A hot dog (uncommonly spelled hotdog) is a food consisting of a grilled or steamed sausage served in the slit of a partially sliced Hot dog bun, bun. The term hot dog can refer to the sausage itself. The sausage used is a wiener (Vienna sausag ...
" in reference to sausage (see
"Hot dog: Etymology").
Life in Great Neck
Tad Dorgan and his wife, Izole M., lived in a
Great Neck, New York
Great Neck is a region on Long Island, New York, that covers a peninsula on the North Shore (Long Island), North Shore and includes nine villages, among them Great Neck (village), New York, Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, New York, Great Neck Es ...
house valued at $75,000. They had no biological children, but they raised two Chinese children to adulthood. Dorgan retired from attending sporting events in the early 1920s because of poor health, and a heart ailment kept him at home for the last eight years of his life, but he continued to produce sports comics for Hearst until his death. He died in Great Neck of
heart disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, hea ...
, hastened by
pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...
.
[ Hearst newspapers announced his passing in front-page headlines and some of his cartoons were reprinted for a short time. Izole Dorgan, a writer before she married, was the vice-president of the National Doll and Toy Collectors Club. After Tad's death, she started a successful business manufacturing doll furniture.
]
Books
Dorgan's first book collection was ''Daffydills'', published by Cupples & Leon in 1911. This was followed by several ''Indoor Sports'' collections.
Awards
Tad Dorgan was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...
in 2007 in the category of "Observer"; that is, print and media journalists, publishers, writers, historians, photographers, and artists.International Boxing Hall of Fame: Observers
/ref>
References
Sources
*McCrory, Amy. "Sport Cartoons in Context: TAD Dorgan and Multi-Genre Cartooning in Early Twentieth-Century Newspapers," ''American Periodicals: A Journal of History, Criticism, and Bibliography'' – Volume 18, Number 1, pp. 45–68. The Ohio State University Press, 2008.
*Zwilling, Leonard. A TAD Lexicon. Etymology and Linguistic Principles: V.3, Rolla MO: G. Cohen, 1993.
- obituary by Westbrook Pegler
Francis James Westbrook Pegler (August 2, 1894 – June 24, 1969) was an American journalist and writer. He was a popular columnist in the 1930s and 1940s famed for his opposition to the New Deal and labor unions. Pegler aimed his pen at president ...
; published in ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...
'', May 3, 1929; archived at Allan Holtz
Allan Holtz () is a comic strip historian who researches and writes about newspaper comics for his Stripper's Guide blog, launched in 2005. His research encompasses some 7,000 American comic strips and newspaper panels. In addition to his contribu ...
's ''StrippersGuide''
External links
Lambiek Comiclopedia
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dorgan, Thomas Aloysius
1877 births
1929 deaths
American cartoonists
Boxing commentators
American amputees