Chic Young Cartoons, 1929-1934

Summary

Creator:
Young, Chic, 1901-1973
Abstract:
Original cartoons from the newspaper comic strips Blondie, Dumb Dora, The Family Foursome and When Mother Was a Girl.
Extent:
2.5 linear ft.
Language:
English
Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Chic Young Cartoons,

Background

Scope and content:

The Chic Young Cartoons collection contains 12 original daily cartoons and 5 original Sunday cartoons from the comic strip Blondie (1934). The collection also contains 1 original Sunday cartoon from the Blondie topper strip The Family Foursome (this title ran with the Sunday feature)(1934). In addition, there are 4 original Sunday cartoons from the comic strip Dumb Dora (1929-1930) and 3 original examples of its topper strip, When Mother Was a Girl (1929).

Please note that some of the large format Sunday cartoons are complete in two pieces; some of our holdings are partial (only 1 of 2 pieces). See Inventory for details.

Biographical / historical:

Murat Bernard Young (1901-1973), famously known as Chic Young, was an American cartoonist and creator of the newspaper comic strip Blondie.

Chic Young was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up St. Louis, Missouri. He returned to Chicago to study at the Chicago Art Institute, lived briefly in Cleveland where he drew The Affairs of Jane for the NEA syndicate, and then landed in New York in 1922. His first strip there, Beautiful Bab for the Bell Syndicate, earned him a job offer from King Features Syndicate.

His first strip for King, in 1924, was Dumb Dora. In April of 1930, Young turned this strip over to Paul Fung so that he could devote himself to his new creation, the strip for which he is best known—Blondie. (One notes a pattern: Young had a knack for drawing pretty girls!) The strip, over the course of its long run, took Blondie from a flighty single girl with several beaux to marriage and children with Dagwood Bumstead and, eventually, a career as a caterer. The strip and its characters were aggressively and cleverly marketed, which resulted in 28 movies starring Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton as well as a radio show and a television series. Several artists worked with Young on Blondie over the years, including Alex Raymond, Ray McGill, and Jim Raymond. Young's son Dean eventually took the strip over on his father's death.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Rendell , 1968.
Arrangement:

The cartoons are arranged in alphabetical order by title, then chronologically. The daily Blondie cartoons are foldered separately at the head of the collection.

Access and use

Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Terms of access:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Preferred citation:

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Chic Young Cartoons,

Location of this collection:
Special Collections Research Center
Syracuse University Libraries
Bird Library, Room 600
Syracuse, NY 13244, United States
Link to repository site
Contact:
315.443.2697
scrc@syr.edu