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A Feast of Funnies: Thanksgiving Comic Strips

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Frank King. Gasoline Alley. “Gee Old Gobbler,” 1921. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

When was the last time you curled up with the Sunday comics section of your local newspaper? Below are some good ol’ jokes presented to you through comic strips available on the Library’s website through Chronicling America* and the Prints and Photographs Division. You might recognize some of these characters, but others might be new to you. Let the stress of the holidays fade away, kick up your feet, and enjoy!

“Salesman Sam: Just Like Mislaying a Gold Mine,” Pensacola Journal (Pensacola, FL), November 23, 1921.
“The Berrys,” Evening Star (Washington, DC), November 22, 1956, p.A-47.
“Alfred,” The Key West Citizen (Key West, FL), November 26, 1953, p.9.
“What’s the Use?” Ottumwa Tri-Weekly Courier (Ottumwa, IA), November 23, 1915.
“The Toodles,” Evening Star (Washington, DC), November 18, 1956, p.262.
“Bo,” Evening Star (Washington, DC), November 22, 1953, p.193.
“Rivets,” Evening Star (Washington, DC), November 20, 1955, p.213.
“Mutt and Jeff: Thanksgiving Turkey!!” The Morning Tulsa Daily World (Tulsa, OK), November 14, 1920.

Don’t forget that you can use Chronicling America to get to a full newspaper! Some of these comics had a different gag every week, or every day. But many of them told a continuous story. So if you find one and want to find out what happens next, you can use the navigation at the top of the page to move to the next issue of the newspaper.

The image of Gasoline Alley at the top of the post and the image below are of original drawings of these comic strips held in the incredible collections of the Prints and Photographs Division. You can search in the Prints and Photographs Online Catalog to find more original comic strip art. These are also featured in the Library’s exhibit, Comic Art: 120 Years of Panels and Pages.

Winsor McKay. Little Nemo in Slumberland. “Hey, What’s Goin’ On Here?” November 22, 1908. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

* The Chronicling America historic newspapers online collection is a product of the National Digital Newspaper Program and jointly sponsored by the Library and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Comments (2)

  1. Such a shame the funny pages were microfilmed. No color and almost Impossible to read.

  2. Such a shame the funny pages were microfilmed. No color and almost Impossible to read. Still better than being lost forever. I’m only familiar with 3 of these strips. Thank you for posting the local ones. I will always love the Funnies.

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