The Yellow Kid - (1895)

It’s amazing what you can learn from a comic strip. March 2^nd marked the day in which a cartoon character was first introduced on a daily basis in the newspaper. That character was known as the Yellow Kid and appeared in the New York World regularly on March 2^nd, 1895.

Richard F Outcault's had previously been drawing a comic known as “Hogan's Alley” for Truth Magazine. It was actually his “Fourth Ward Brownies”, published on February 9, 1895 and later reprinted in the New York World February 17^th, which began one of the first comic strips in an American newspaper. The character of the Yellow Kid was at first incidental to the strip but in short order he became the focus of the entire strip, which even took his name. His balloons containing the dialogue were not the first to do so; they had long been in use for political cartoons; but his use of them in this manner set the stage for every strip that came after.

The Yellow Kid was emblematic of the slum kid; the child of parents who worked long hours in factories; leaving the children to fend for themselves. In a 1902 interview Outcault is quoted as saying, “The Yellow Kid was not an individual but a type. When I used to go about the slums on newspaper assignments I would encounter him often, wandering out of doorways or sitting down on dirty doorsteps. I always loved the Kid. He had a sweet character and a sunny disposition, and was generous to a fault. Malice, envy or selfishness were not traits of his, and he never lost his temper.”

The Yellow Kid had a name; Mickey Dugan. He was bald just as many of the children in the slums were due to the prevalence of lice and the lack of adequate bathing facilities. Most of the apartments of the time had nothing but a sink to wash in, with a toilet down the hall or in the backyard. 

Drawing the Yellow Kid in such a manner drew attention to the dire poverty which so many of the children grew up in at the turn of the 20^th Century. His shirt was meant to depict an old hand me down night shirt, which was at first drawn in white or blue. At first the dialogue was printed on the Kid’s shirt as a way of making fun of the myriad “sandwich board” advertisers of the time, but soon this gave way to the more popular dialogue balloons.

Outcault was eventually lured away from the World and went to work for Hearst’s Journal American at a much higher salary. His time at the Journal was marked by a shift in the character from the hapless victim to a more activist; and some say vulgar; character. Hey, he was working for Hearst, right?

The Yellow Kid was never copyrighted by Outcault and so Pulitzer was still able to run the comic in the World; which meant that Outcault was competing with his own character for about a year; from 1896-1897; when the strip appeared in both papers.

The only mention I have seen of the Yellow Kid was in Monday’s paper in the comic strip "Mother Gooses and Grimm"; which I usually skip. It was only the familiar profile of Dick Tracy which drew my attention to the strip. It was the only one that gave a nod to its roots in the work of R.F. Outcault and the adventures of the Yellow Kid. As a result I will be looking at this strip more regularly in the future.

"The Seven Foys" with Bob Hope and James Cagney

This is a dance routine performed by James Cagney and Bob Hope in the 1955 film "The Seven Little Foys". The Foys were a vaudeville act comprised of seven children, hence the name of the act "The Seven Foys". The children were all the off spring of Eddie Foy, a vaudeville entertainer who was noted for his generosity in dealing with other entertainers, whether it was money, a place to stay, or just someone to talk to. Eddie Foy had always been a solo act, until the day of the fire at the Iroquois Theater in Chicago,on December 30, 1903, which almost cost him his life.

At about 3:15 PM, during a matinee performance, an arc light set fire to one of the curtains, engulfing the entire stage in flames and igniting the theater as well. With panic raging all about him, Eddie Foy took the stage, attempting to calm the audience, even as pieces of burning scenery were falling all about him. In spite of these efforts by Mr. Foy, over 600 people perished in the fire. This episode is recreated in the 1955 film, which stars Bob Hope as Eddie Foy.

Eddie Foy had started out as a solo act, vowing never to "double", or become part of an "act". Boy was he wrong in his assumption. He hadn't counted on falling in love with Italian ballerina Madeleine Morando. In a short time they were married and found themselves surrounded with 7 children. After the death of Madeleine, Eddie came to realize that he had been a lousy father to his children. So, naturally, he decided to make them a part of the act. Later on, they would become the act.

When the movie of Eddie Foy's life was made, actors actually fought to be in the film, and some even worked for free. The dance routine above is of Bob Hope, as Eddie Foy, competing with fellow vaudevillian and song writer George M. Cohan, reprised by James Cagney from his earlier role in "Yankee Doodle Dandy", in a tap dance routine at the Friars Club.

For more about Eddie Foy and his family, Wikipedia, as usual, is a valuable resource. Read more about him and his children here;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Foy,_Sr.

"A Tribute to Dr. Hovick" by Sarah Ruth Hoffman

Each of us can have either a positive,or negative effect, upon one another. It's up to you. The following tribute to Dr. Hovick, a Chemistry Pofessor at UNCC,proves the point. I am so proud that Sue and I have raised a daughter who would bother to write this, that I just had to share it. Thanks, Sarah, so much for being you...

"I took all of my general chemistry courses at UNC Charlotte in the summer of 2007. I had two professors, each for half of the summer. They used to say "Inch by inch, chemistry's a cinch. Yard, by yard, it's hard." They were correct.

My first chemistry professor was Dr. Hovick. He always wore a dirty, long white lab coat and shorts.

I had never taken a chemistry class in my entire life and had no idea what to expect. On our first or second day, he showed us a black and white picture of a dalmatian in the snow shade. He told us to look at the picture and figure out what it was supposed to be. None of us could see the dalmatian. Once he pointed it out to us we couldn't unsee it. He then told us that learning chemistry is like finding the dalmatian in the snow - and that his job was to describe to us what we were looking for to help us see what he can already see.

He told us that history, art, biology, sociology, chemistry and all other disciplines are just different ways of looking at the same world, and that the "BIG picture is the assembly of all these points of view." I know because I still have my notes!

He did everything he possibly could to teach chemistry to anybody who would listen. He spent a considerable amount of time empowering us, telling us not to give up, and that chemistry IS hard and not to feel bad for not getting it right away. He would bend over backwards to get his students to understand what he was teaching. He answered the same questions over and over again, but using different methods every time until each of us understood. And he never once showed any sign of anger or frustration. He wouldn't go home until he knew that we all understood the day's lesson!

To help us understand molecular geometry, he took us outside to a black walnut tree where we observed the clustering patterns of the fruit.

I remember how he would gladly discuss ethical implications of course material and tell stories to help us put concepts into perspective. When he wasn't teaching he was answering questions and talking to students about chemistry and related topics. He didn't hide in his office like so many professors do. He even came to school on Sundays to review material and help us prepare for exams.

That was in May and June of 2007. I just found out today that he passed away unexpectedly 4 months later. He was only 42.

The most important thing I learned that summer is that every student stands on the shoulders of the great minds that came before. Dr. Hovick was one of those great minds. It was a privilege to be one of his students during his final complete semester.

His lab coat now hangs in a lecture hall named after him."

Sarah Ruth Hoffman