George McManus
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George McManus (January 23, 1884 – October 22, 1954) 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 ...
best known as the creator of Irish immigrant Jiggs and his wife Maggie, the main characters of his syndicated
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 ...
, ''
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 ...
''.


Biography

Born in
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, Missouri, of Irish parents, McManus had an innate gift for drawing and a sense of humor. He recalled an incident when he was in high school: "My teacher sent home to my parents a picture I had drawn of a classmate named Sweeney. This'' is what your boy has been doing,' the teacher wrote, icily. I laid the note in Pop's lap and headed wearily for the woodshed. But Pop, instead, put on his hat and coat and went to the editor of ''The Republican''. He showed y drawing ofSweeney to the editor. Next day I had a job on ''The Republican'' at $5 a week—as an errand boy." At ''The Republican'', he created his first comic strip, ''Alma and Oliver''. In 1904, after winning $3000 at the racetrack, he went to
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 ...
and a job with the prestigious ''
New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publi ...
'', where he worked on several short-lived comic strips, including ''Snoozer'', ''The Merry Marcelene'', ''Ready Money Ladies'', ''Cheerful Charlie'', ''Nibsby the Newsboy in Funny Fairyland'', ''Panhandle Pete'' and ''Let George Do It''.Don Markstein's Toonopedia: ''Nibsy the Newsboy in Funny Fairyland''
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Comic strip evolution

In 1904, McManus created the first American family comic strip, ''The Newlyweds'', about an elegant young couple and their baby Snookums. The popularity of the strip prompted the management of '' The New York American'' to invite McManus to work for their newspaper. He began working for them in 1912. Renaming ''The Newlyweds'' as ''Their Only Child'', he continued that strip and began other daily strips: ''Rosie's Beau'', ''Love Affairs of a Mutton Head'', ''Spareribs And Gravy'' and ''Bringing Up Father''. Syndicated internationally 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 ...
, ''Bringing Up Father'' achieved great success and was produced by McManus from 1913 until his death, when
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, ...
and Frank Fletcher replaced him. McManus was inspired by ''The Rising Generation'', a musical comedy by William Gill that he had seen as a boy in
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
,
Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...
'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 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. Two years before his death, McManus said that ''Bringing Up Father'' had earned him $12,000,000 during his lifetime. McManus' wife, the former Florence Bergere, was the model for daughter Nora in ''Bringing Up Father''.
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 ...
was his assistant on the comic strip from 1935 to 1954.


Awards

For his contribution to American humor,
Roanoke College Roanoke College is a private liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia. It has approximately 2,000 students who represent approximately 40 states and 30 countries. The college offers 35 majors, 57 minors and concentrations, and pre-professional pr ...
honored McManus with an honorary degree,
Doctor of Humane Letters The degree of Doctor of Humane Letters (; DHumLitt; DHL; or LHD) is an honorary degree awarded to those who have distinguished themselves through humanitarian and philanthropic contributions to society. The criteria for awarding the degree differ ...
.


Later life

During the 1940s, McManus lived at 8905 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. He died in 1954 in
Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...
, California and was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in
The Bronx, New York City The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New York ...
."'Jiggs' Creator, McManus, Dies", ''The Milwaukee Sentinel'', October 22, 1954.
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Cultural legacy

Jiggs serves as insignia of the
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
's
11th Bomb Squadron The 11th Bomb Squadron is a unit of the United States Air Force, 2d Operations Group, 2d Bomb Wing located at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The 11th is equipped with the Boeing B-52H Stratofortress. The 11th is one of the oldest units in ...
, with whom McManus served during
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. In 1995, the comic strip was one of 20 included in the "Comic Strip Classics" series of commemorative United States
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 ...
. File:11th Aero Squadron - Emblem.jpg,
Mr Jiggs ''Mister'', usually written in its contracted form ''Mr.'' or ''Mr'', is a commonly used English honorific for men without a higher honorific, or professional title, or any of various designations of office. The title 'Mr' derived from earlier ...
version in World War I File:11th Bomb Squadron.jpg,
Mr Jiggs ''Mister'', usually written in its contracted form ''Mr.'' or ''Mr'', is a commonly used English honorific for men without a higher honorific, or professional title, or any of various designations of office. The title 'Mr' derived from earlier ...
version in World War II


See also

*
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 ...


External links


"The Press: A Gag a Day" (December 10, 1945) ''Time'' magazine''Newlyweds and Their Baby'' (1907)
at Virginia Commonwealth University Libraries


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McManus, George 1884 births 1954 deaths American comic strip cartoonists Artists from St. Louis American people of Irish descent Bringing Up Father United States Army Air Service pilots of World War I Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Bronx, New York)