''Alphonse and Gaston'' is an American comic strip by Frederick Burr Opper, featuring a bumbling pair of

Frenchmen The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common Culture of France, French culture, History of France, history, and French language, language, identified with the cou ...

with a penchant for

politeness Politeness is the practical application of good manners or etiquette so as not to offend others. It is a culturally defined phenomenon, and therefore what is considered polite in one culture can sometimes be quite rude or simply eccentric in an ...

. It first appeared in

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...

's newspaper, 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 ...

'' on September 22, 1901, with the title "Alphonse a la Carte and His Friend Gaston de Table d'Hote".''Alphonse and Gaston''
at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on April 4, 2012. The strip was later distributed by King Features Syndicate.

Characters and story

Their "'After you, Alphonse.', 'No, you first, my dear Gaston!'" routine ran for more than a decade. Alphonse is short and grotesque; Gaston is tall and grotesque. The premise is that both are extremely polite, constantly bowing and deferring to each other. Neither can ever do anything or go anywhere because each insists on letting the other precede him. Though never a daily or even weekly feature, ''Alphonse and Gaston'' appeared on

Sundays The Sundays were an English alternative rock band, formed in the late 1980s, which released three albums throughout the 1990s. The band's beginnings came with the meeting of singer Harriet Wheeler and guitarist David Gavurin while attending ...

for several years. In addition to Hearst collections and licensed products, it was adapted into a stage play and several

comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...

shorts. In 1909, not-yet-famous director D.W. Griffith made a short (two-shot) split reel comedy for the Biograph company, featuring the characters, titled "The French Duel."

Crossovers

A prolific artist and writer, Opper's other creations included ''Willie'', ''Hans from Hamburg'', ''Our Antediluvian Ancestors'', '' And Her Name Was Maud'' and ''

Happy Hooligan ''Happy Hooligan'' is an American comic strip, the first major strip by the already celebrated cartoonist Frederick Burr Opper. It debuted with a Sunday strip on March 11, 1900 in the William Randolph Hearst newspapers, and was one of the first p ...

''. The characters would occasionally make guest appearances outside their own strips. On one occasion, ''And Her Name Was Maud'' featured an appearance by Alphonse and Gaston aboard a runaway sleigh, each of them bowing to the other in the seat.

Legacy

The strip faded from public view shortly after Opper's death in 1937, but the

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

"After you, my dear Alphonse" persisted. The phrase "Alphonse-and-Gaston routine", or "Alphonse-Gaston Syndrome", indicates a situation wherein one party refuses to act until another party acts first. From a September 23, 2009, ''New York Times'' editorial: "For years, China and the United States have engaged in a dangerous Alphonse-and-Gaston routine, using each other's inaction to shirk their responsibility." Alphonse and Gaston exchanges have also been employed by sportscasters during baseball broadcasts when two outfielders go after the ball and it falls in for a base hit. Also, the phrase has a specific meaning in baseball lingo: when two fielders allow a catchable ball to drop between them, it is known as "doing the Alphonse and Gaston." The phrase is referenced in the title of Shirley Jackson's short story, "After you, My Dear Alphonse" in her collection The Lottery and Other Stories. The 1909 short farce-comedy ''Alphonse and Gaston'' by

Frank Dumont Frank Dumont (January 25, 1848 – March 17, 1919) was an American minstrel show performer and manager.Rice, Edward Le RoyMonarchs of minstrelsy, from "Daddy" Rice to date p. 198 (1911)

is based around the characters. The duo inspired the neologism "gastonette," coined by United States Circuit Judge Jon O. Newman in an opinion in ''In re McLean Industries Inc.'', 857 F.2d 88 (2d Cir. 1988): "We have no desire to consign the seamen to a jurisdictional limbo while the courts of two countries perform a gastonette, each awaiting a first move by the other."

References

{{King Features Syndicate Comics

External links

Ohio Cartoonists: A Bicentennial Celebration: Frederick Burr Opper
American comic strips American comics characters 1901 comics debuts 1937 comics endings Fictional French people Comic strip duos Gag-a-day comics Male characters in comics Works about interpersonal relationships Etiquette

Characters and story

Crossovers

Legacy

See also

References

External links