In the first
half of the 20th century, the newspaper comic strip
was an important part of American popular culture, both in terms of nearly universal
readership and how it reflected current tastes and fashions.
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Above: A sample of "Boots" strip from 1937 is set in Sandy Mitchell's pool hall, a
popular Monmouth College hangout. |
One of the most popular and long-lived strips of the
era, "Boots and Her Buddies," was drawn by a former Monmouth College student, Edgar
"Abe" Martin.
Born in Indianapolis in 1898, Martin was the son of a
Monmouth College
biology professor, George Martin, and enrolled with the Class of 1921 but left before
graduation to enroll in art school. At Monmouth, he met and married another MC student,
Mary Armsby '20, and two of their daughters also attended MC in the 1940s.
The strip followed the exploits of Boots, a popular
college girl, and her classmates in a fictional town based closely on Monmouth.
Martin, who worked from his homes in both Monmouth and
Florida, continued to draw the strip until shortly before his death on Aug. 31, 1960.
Edgar Abe Martin '21 drew the wildly popular
"Boots
and Her Buddies" for nearly 40 years
The following sketch of
Martin appeared in the
July 4, 1952, Rock Island Argus:
By Charles E. Hallam
Most of the 40,000,000 people who follow the
comic strip "Boots and Her Buddies" in 700 newspapers throughout the United States probably
think of Boots, Pug and all the gang as being residents of their own town.
And the creator of the strip, Edgar Martin, is a
little confused, too, about just where "home" really is. He can be reached at either 305 North
Second St., Monmouth, or at Clearwater, Fla., where he spends a share of his time.
About the only thing that isn't confusing in the
life of a famous cartoonist is the deadline for the strip to be in the office of the
syndicate. Five weeks before Boots' friends read of her activities in their local paper, Mr.
Martin has drawn her actions for that day and mailed them to NEA (Newspaper Enterprise
Association) for distribution to 700 papers, including the Argus, which carry the feature
daily.
Boots and her Buddies have had a long career
since Mr. Martin left Monmouth College (where he met his wife, a native of Monmouth) and an
art school in Chicago. This is almost an anniversary for the cartoon which was first read on
July 1, 1921.
At that time Boots was in college, and was a
pace-setter for fashions of the day. For years she was called the "Sweetheart of America." She
didn't go to any particular college, because all college towns liked to claim her, but the
banner she carried was inscribed with a large "M." Her creator said that either he or Boots
must have been pretty dumb because it took her a number of years to graduate.
Partly, he said, this was because he hated to
marry her to anyone, and partly because during the '20s she was a symbol of taste in clothes
and fashion, and having her married might cramp her style as "Everybody's Sweetheart."
Friends know, however, that she is now married
and has a small son. The son, Mr. Martin says, is his only pal, as he himself has three
daughters, all of them married, and a granddaughter. Actually, he says, the characters in a
comic strip become a part of their creator's own family. Each has individuality and is bounded
by propriety in things that can and cannot be done, the same as any individual.
Of one thing the cartoonist is sure, and that is
that a comic strip misses its point unless it deals with human things in a human manner. The
best feeling of all, he thinks, is to read a strip and say, "Why that same thing happened to
me last week!" What but a domestic situation with everyday people could last for more than 30
years and still have a circulation numbered in the millions?"
Some fans are really avid. Recently Mr. Martin
received word of one reader who has at least 30 scrapbooks filled with the activities of
Boots, from 1921-1951, inclusive.
Mr. Martin says it makes him feel a little old,
but that it is a good feeling to be introduced to someone and hear him say: "Why, I've been
reading Boots since I was this high." And then he indicates a measurement about three feet off
the floor.
Actually, it is one of the oldest comics still
popular. It runs back beyond such other old favorites as "Blondie," which is drawn by Chic
Young, an art school classmate and close personal friend of Mr. Martin.
The cartoonist business is an interesting
profession according to Mr. Martin, who thinks that the comics perform a service to their
readers.
The light, comic situation-type "funny" can
relieve the tension of world news more than anything else. Better, he thinks, than the strips
that deal with world-shaking adventure of the never-never land of something vaguely referred
to as "space."
Everyone is involved in humorous, domestic
complications, but most of them run a good chance of never reaching Mars or Jupiter.
Check out these other interesting MC
Historical Pages:
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