Origins of the Sunday Comics by Peter Maresca for June 16, 2021

  1. Eugene the jeep
    Joseph Nebus Premium Member almost 3 years ago

    Here we go with a wall of text. The strip’s date is the 9th of December, 1906, although the text sets this as the day before Christmas.

    Top row, left: There is an air of something unusual and secret going on in grandpa’s house. Mamma and grandma have told Willie Winkie not to go into the sitting room; Sister Sue has locked him out of the bedroom; Bridget won’t have him in the kitchen, and grandpa is at work at some mysterious thing in the woodshed and Willie may not go in there either. So he takes his sled for a walk. How frozen up the world looks! ``Ho! You’ve catched an awful big cold, old house’’, says Willie.

    Top row, right: ``What’s zat?‘’ exclaims he, suddenly. ``Those are not nice people; I don’t like tramps!‘’ Sure enough! A little distance off there’s a group of disreputable looking figures. ``It’s mean of them to be standing right in the road, but I s’pose it can’t be helped,’’ thinks Willie Winkie, and trudges past them without looking either to the right or to the left, so that he never notices that the tramps are only willow stumps.

    Middle row, left: ``Now look at zat poor little tree!‘’ exclaims he, stopping before a little evergreen bush, bowing in the wind. ``It’s shivering so hard in the cold, and I guess it will snow pretty soon.’’

    Middle row, center: The big flakes begin to fall thick and fast, and in a very few minutes the little tree is almost pelted over with a thick white snow-ulster. [ An Ulster is a daytime overcoat, with a cape shorter than what Slylock Fox wears. ]

    Middle row, right: ``Now you have a big thick overcoat and will be good and warm! Good bye, little tree!’’ Willie rots off quite happy about it.

    [ Bottom row to come in the follow-up; there’s a comment length limit.]

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    donald wayne  almost 3 years ago

    Thanks once more for the typed text. — Don Hendon

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