Mary Stewart Cutting

“ The cartoonist’s two brain children are as popular in distant lands as they are here, and their reception reveals much about the fundamental appeal of human impulses that know no national boundary lines. Although “Jiggs” and “Maggie” have amused millions, their reception by the public has taught the artist, he says, to be humble, to observe, to learn and to apply.
THE first thing that impresses you about George McManus, the famous cartoonist is that his eyes are brown, and that he has a personality characteristic of those who are endowed with these big, human qualities. ”

“ McManus believes that a man must give to comic art, whether he feels like it or not, everything he has all the time. He outlined a formula for successful cartooning some time ago. It is work—be humble—observe—learn and—apply.
There is no greater proof of art, in addition to its presentation, than that it shall reach the world in terms that are universal. George McManus has done this with a spirit of go fellowship that has encircled the globe.
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929. ”

“ McManus went on to say that his endeavor was to make his drawings clear and attractive to the eye and to get a laugh. “Wilton Lackaye once said to me,” he remarked, “‘You have to make 360 laughs a year—one every day. Even if you get them every other day, that’s 1821⁄2 laughs. There isn’t a show on Broadway that has that many—sometimes, not more than fifty.’”
He said that producing the comic was a good deal like writing a story, illustrating it, and then turning it into a play. ”

“ For instance, I can’t have too much New York stuff—nothing that includes a New York apartment or a janitor. They’re not understood outside of this city. I must find general ideas that will have a universal appeal because, “Bringing Up Father” is circulated through the whole world. ”

“ You can’t use anything that’s timely. Of course you get tired of it, like everything you do for a living, but when you get an idea you like—one that you want to put over—your pen will be ahead of you. ”

“ Jiggs," the much-harried Father in the comic strip, is the cartoonist's favorite character. Invariably the blundering husband comes off second best in his differences with an outraged spouse, "Maggie." Their amusing domestic difficulties have been printed in nearly every known language. Four theatrical companies have produced stage versions in the United States. ”

“ Later on when I returned it I gave him a better drawing.
“Things broke for me the next day. A syndicate ’phoned and made me an offer, and I got a wire from the World the same day. Syndicates were just beginning. The only idea there had been of that kind was when two newspapers under the same ownership used the same features. The World and the Post Dispatch were both Pulitzer papers, and much of the New York stuff was print in St. Louis. ”

“ Brought Up Father In his teens George McManus was able to earn far more than most boys. At twenty-one he left a comfortable home in St. Louis to tramp the streets of New York, hungry and without carfare ”