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The Weatherbird is a cartoon character and a single-panel comic. It is printed on the front of the ''
The character first appeared on February 11, 1901, Harry B. Martin originated the character, which was originally called "Dickey Bird" (' dicky-bird' is a generic slang term for any small bird). Martin had originally intended to rotate through just a few versions of the bird – one for rain, one for heat, etc. – but readers asked for a new drawing each day, which he then provided.
Martin later moved to New York where he drew the strips ''It Happened in Birdland'' (1907–1909) and ''Inbad the Tailor'' (1911–1912, for the ''
S. Carlisle Martin took over the Weatherbird in 1910. He started the tradition of making the Weatherbird comment on the news in addition to the weather, and started a pattern of six words or less for the bird's comments. He was assisted by Carlos Hurd, and drew the Weatherbird until his death in 1932.
In 1912, the ''Post-Dispatch'' began running a full-page, multiple-panel color strip on Sunday, titled "Jinx and the Weather Bird Family", and featuring the Weatherbird (called "George" in the strip), his wife, and their mischievous
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-De ...
'' and has been in the paper continuously since 1901, making it the longest-running American newspaper cartoon and a mascot of the newspaper.
Cartoonists
The Weatherbird, in its long run, has been drawn by just six cartoonists (three of them, by coincidence, named Martin): # Harry B. Martin (1901 – 1903) # Oscar Chopin (1903 – 1910) # S. Carlisle Martin (1910 – 1932) #Amadee Wohlschlaeger
Amadee Wohlschlaeger (December 3, 1911 – June 24, 2014) was a 20th-century American sports cartoonist in St. Louis. He was known professionally as simply "Amadee", which was how he signed his cartoons. He was a long-time sports cartoonist for ...
(1932 – 1981)
#Albert Schweitzer
Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schweit ...
(1981 – 1986)
#Dan Martin Daniel Martin may refer to:
People
* Dan Martin (actor) (born 1951), American actor
*Dan Martin (drama educator) (born 1953), American academic
*Dan Martin (cyclist) (born 1986), Irish road bicycle racer
*Dan Martin (footballer) (born 1986), Britis ...
(1986 – present ())
The character first appeared on February 11, 1901, Harry B. Martin originated the character, which was originally called "Dickey Bird" (' dicky-bird' is a generic slang term for any small bird). Martin had originally intended to rotate through just a few versions of the bird – one for rain, one for heat, etc. – but readers asked for a new drawing each day, which he then provided.
Martin later moved to New York where he drew the strips ''It Happened in Birdland'' (1907–1909) and ''Inbad the Tailor'' (1911–1912, for the ''New York American
:''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 ...
''). Martin became a golf correspondent and an authority on golf (writing 15 books on the subject) and a founder of the American PGA.
Oscar Charles Chopin (1873 – 1932) inherited the Weatherbird from Martin, drawing it until 1910.
S. Carlisle Martin took over the Weatherbird in 1910. He started the tradition of making the Weatherbird comment on the news in addition to the weather, and started a pattern of six words or less for the bird's comments. He was assisted by Carlos Hurd, and drew the Weatherbird until his death in 1932.
In 1912, the ''Post-Dispatch'' began running a full-page, multiple-panel color strip on Sunday, titled "Jinx and the Weather Bird Family", and featuring the Weatherbird (called "George" in the strip), his wife, and their mischievous Katzenjammer Kids
''The Katzenjammer Kids'' is an American comic strip created by Rudolph Dirks in 1897 and later drawn by Harold Knerr for 35 years (1914 to 1949).
Weatherbird brand shoes for children, using pictures of the Weatherbird in advertising, were offered starting in 1901 by the St. Louis-based Peters Shoe Company, later part of International Shoe which continued to base the brand's image on the Weatherbird until 1932 (the brand itself continued at least through the 1950s).
Two of the original windows from the Peters Shoe Company factory, featuring pictures of the Weatherbird, adorn the Weatherbird Cafe in the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' office.
A life-size Weatherbird costume is used by the ''Post-Dispatch'' for promotions such as meet-and-greets at local bars.
Amadee Wohlschlaeger
Amadee Wohlschlaeger (December 3, 1911 – June 24, 2014) was a 20th-century American sports cartoonist in St. Louis. He was known professionally as simply "Amadee", which was how he signed his cartoons. He was a long-time sports cartoonist for ...
had the longest tenure as Weatherbird artist: just short of fifty years. Wohlschlaeger was also the ''Post-Dispatch'' sports page cartoonist and drew for the '' Sporting News''. Wohlschlaeger recalled that when barely out of his teens "I was doing sports art for the ''Post'' and when Carlisle died, I stayed up all night and drew 12 Weatherbirds so I could put them on the feature editor's desk the next morning. The feature editor grabbed me later in the day and said, 'You've got the job'". Wohlschlaeger retired in 1981 and lived until age 102, in 2014.
In his nearly half-century-long tenure, Wohlschlaeger's Weatherbird commented on events such as D-Day, the assassination of John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, was assassinated on Friday, November 22, 1963, at 12:30 p.m. CST in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a presidential motorcade through Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was in the vehicle with ...
, and the Apollo 11 moon landing, but his favorite cartoon appeared on October 2, 1944: it showed the Weatherbird dressed in St. Louis Browns
The St. Louis Browns were a Major League Baseball team that originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers. A charter member of the American League (AL), the Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri, after the 1901 season, where they p ...
uniform and standing on his head, in honor of the Browns' first and only American League pennant.
Albert Schweitzer
Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schweit ...
drew the first Weatherbirds to appear in color consistently. Schweitzer drew the Weatherbird with pink feathers, although he had appeared darkly shaded before. A long-time ''Post-Dispatch'' veteran, his retirement came just five years after he took over the strip.
Dan Martin took over the strip in 1986. He eliminated the Weatherbird's emblematic cigars and drew a bird with a bit more of a beak (previous cartoonists had atrophied the beak to the point of flatness). Martin wrote the book ''The Story of the First 100 Years of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Weatherbird''.
Other manifestations
The Weatherbird inspired the name ofJohn Hartford
John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country, and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive kn ...
's "Weatherbird Reel".
Weatherbird brand shoes for children, using pictures of the Weatherbird in advertising, were offered starting in 1901 by the St. Louis-based Peters Shoe Company, later part of International Shoe which continued to base the brand's image on the Weatherbird until 1932 (the brand itself continued at least through the 1950s).
Two of the original windows from the Peters Shoe Company factory, featuring pictures of the Weatherbird, adorn the Weatherbird Cafe in the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' office.
A life-size Weatherbird costume is used by the ''Post-Dispatch'' for promotions such as meet-and-greets at local bars.
References
Further reading
*External links
* *{{Vimeo, id=20261051, title=Dan Martin discusses the Weatherbird Fictional birds Magazine mascots Bird mascots St. Louis Post-Dispatch Gag-a-day comics 1901 comics debuts American comics characters Comics about animals Comics about birds Fictional characters introduced in 1901