The Public Ledger Syndicate (known simply as the Ledger Syndicate) was a syndication company operated by the Philadelphia '' Public Ledger'' that was in business from 1915 to circa 1950 (outlasting the newspaper itself, which ceased publishing in 1942). The Ledger Syndicate distributed

comic strips A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st c ...

, panels, and

columns A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression membe ...

to the United States and the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Sweden, New Zealand, and Australia. The syndicate also distributed material from the Curtis Publishing Company's (the ''Public Ledger'''s corporate parent) other publications, including ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely ...

'', ''

Ladies' Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In ...

'', and '' The Country Gentleman''. From 1933 to 1941, the Ledger Syndicate was a key contributor to the burgeoning

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

industry, with many of the company's strips published in both the seminal '' Funnies on Parade'', and what popular culture historians consider the first true American comic book, '' Famous Funnies''. For whatever reason, the Ledger Syndicate favored comic strips with alliterative titles, including ''Babe Bunting'', ''Daffy Demonstrations'', ''Deb Days'', ''Dizzy Dramas'', ''Hairbreadth Harry'', ''Modish Mitzi'', and '' Somebody's Stenog''.

History

The Public Ledger Syndicate was founded in 1915 by ''Public Ledger'' publisher

Cyrus H. K. Curtis Cyrus Hermann Kotzschmar Curtis (June 18, 1850June 7, 1933) was an American publisher of magazines and newspapers, including the ''Ladies' Home Journal'' and ''The Saturday Evening Post''.Ingham, John N. Biographical Dictionary of American Business ...

,Frederic Hudson, Alfred McClung Lee, Frank L. Mott, editors. "The Daily Newspaper in America," ''American Journalism 1690-1940'' (Psychology Press, 2000), p. 594. The first big comic strip success was

A. E. Hayward Alfred Earl Hayward (1884 – 1939), was a 20th century American comic strip artist. He was known professionally as A. E. Hayward for his comics work although he used his full name for his fine arts work. He is best known for his seminal 1918-19 ...

's '' Somebody's Stenog'', launched in late 1918. The Syndicate was particularly active in the 1920s, when it launched a number of comic strips, including such long-running titles as '' Connie'', ''Dizzy Dramas'', ''Dumb-Bells'', ''Hairbreadth Harry'', and ''Modish Mitzi''. In 1933, just as the concept of "

comic books A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are oft ...

" was getting off the ground,

Eastern Color Printing The Eastern Color Printing Company was a company that published comic books, beginning in 1933. At first, it was only newspaper comic strip reprints, but later on, original material was published. Eastern Color Printing was incorporated in 1928 ...

began producing small comic broadsides for the Ledger Syndicate, printing Sunday color comics from plates. Eastern Color sales manager Harry I. Wildenberg and his coworkers realized that two such plates would fit on a tabloid-sized page; later that year, Wildenberg created the first modern-format comic book when idly folding a newspaper into halves and then into quarters, finding that a convenient book size. Shortly thereafter, Eastern Color published '' Funnies on Parade'', which reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from the Ledger Syndicate, the

McNaught Syndicate The McNaught Syndicate was an American newspaper syndicate founded in 1922. It was established by Virgil Venice McNitt (who gave it his name) and Charles V. McAdam. Its best known contents were the columns by Will Rogers and O. O. McIntyre, the ...

, Associated Newspapers, and the

Bell Syndicate The Bell Syndicate, launched in 1916 by editor-publisher John Neville Wheeler, was an American syndicate that distributed columns, fiction, feature articles and comic strips to newspapers for decades. It was located in New York City at 247 West 4 ...

, including the Ledger Syndicate strips ''Hairbreadth Harry'', ''Nipper'', ''High-Gear Homer'', and '' Somebody's Stenog''. Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on newsstands, but rather sent it out free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer he ...

soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies, and it was a great success.Brown, Mitchell. Following that success, the Ledger Syndicate became a regular source of material for Eastern Color's ongoing anthology series '' Famous Funnies''. The Ledger Syndicate provided strips for ''Famous Funnies'' issues #1–87, from 1934 to 1941, including

's '' Somebody's Stenog'' and ''The Back-Seat Driver''; Frank Godwin's '' Connie'', ''The Wet Blanket'', ''Babe Bunting'', ''Roy Powers'', ''Vignettes of Life'', and ''War on Crime'';

F. O. Alexander Franklin Osborne Alexander (November 3, 1897 – January 17, 1993), known professionally as F. O. Alexander, was a comic strip artist and editorial cartoonist.

's ''Hairbreadth Harry'' and ''High-Gear Homer''; Clare Victor Dwiggins' ''Footprints on the Sands of Time''; Joe Bowers' ''Dizzy Dramas''; Gar (Schmitt)'s ''Dumb-Bells''; and Walt Munson & Kemp Starrett's ''Such is Life''. Not so happily, the Ledger Syndicate was one of a number of syndicates in 1936–1937 which rejected Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster's proposed ''

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book '' Action Comics'' #1 ( cover-dated June 1938 and pu ...

'' comic strip.

Walter B. Gibson Walter Brown Gibson (September 12, 1897 – December 6, 1985) was an American writer and professional magician, best known for his work on the pulp fiction character '' The Shadow''. Gibson, under the pen-name Maxwell Grant, wrote "more than ...

, creator of ''

The Shadow The Shadow is a fictional character created by magazine publishers Street & Smith and writer Walter B. Gibson. Originally created to be a mysterious radio show narrator, and developed into a distinct literary character in 1931 by writer Walter ...

'' (which was syndicated by the Ledger Syndicate from 1940 to 1942), was a Ledger Syndicate staff writer. In its later years, the manager of the Ledger Syndicate was George Kearney. The ''Public Ledger'' closed down in 1942 and most of the Ledger Syndicate strips ended that year as well, with the exception of Frank Godwin's '' Connie'', which kept going until 1944. Syndicate manager George Kearney tried writing a strip called ''Rink Brody'', illustrated by H. Draper Williams, but it was not successful, coming to a close in 1946. Around that same time, author

put together the Gibson Studio from the art staff remnants of the Ledger Syndicate Studio and the Jack Binder Studio. The syndicate stayed afloat a few more years on columns and features, finally closing its doors circa 1950.

Features

The Ledger Syndicate favored female columnists. Writers syndicated by the Ledger Syndicate included Dorothy Dix and Anne Mary Lawler. At its height (1940), Dix's column, ''Dorothy Dix Talks'', appeared in 273 papers with an estimated reading audience of 60 million. Alice L. Tildesley wrote on

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

and the U.S. film industry in the 1930s. Phyllis Belmont and Carol Bird were also Ledger Syndicate columnists in the 1930s.

Boake Carter Harold Thomas Henry "Boake" Carter (28 September 1903 – 16 November 1944) was a British-American broadcast news commentator in the 1930s and early 1940s. Early life He was born in Baku, Russian Empire (now the capital of Azerbaijan), the son of ...

wrote a widely syndicate column for Ledger beginning in 1937. Magician Joseph Dunninger wrote the ''Mind Reading'' cokumn in 1939–1940. Edyth Thornton McLeod wrote the ''Beauty After Forty'' column in the 1940s. The syndicate's most popular/long-running comic strips were

's '' Somebody's Stenog''; ''Hairbreadth Harry'' (by

C. W. Kahles Charles William Kahles (pronounced Kah'-less) (January 12, 1878 – January 21, 1931) was a prolific cartoonist responsible for numerous comic strips, notably '' Hairbreadth Harry''. He is credited as the pioneer of daily comic strip continuity w ...

and later by

F. O. Alexander Franklin Osborne Alexander (November 3, 1897 – January 17, 1993), known professionally as F. O. Alexander, was a comic strip artist and editorial cartoonist.

); Frank Godwin's '' Connie'' and ''Babe Bunting''; Joe Bowers' ''Dizzy Dramas''; Clare Victor Dwiggins ("Dwig")'s ''Footprints on the Sands of Time'' and ''Nipper''; and ''Roy Powers, Eagle Scout'' ("the official strip of the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded in ...

"). Frank Godwin had a number of strips with the Ledger Syndicate, including ''Rusty Riley'', ''Vignettes of Life'', ''War on Crime'', and ''Roy Powers, Eagle Scout'', in addition to ''Connie'' and ''Babe Bunting''.

Ledger Syndicate strips and panels

Launched 1915–1919

* ''Padded Cell'' by

(1915–1918) * '' Somebody's Stenog'' by

, Ray Thompson, and Sam Nichols (December 16, 1918 – May 10, 1941)

Launched in the 1920s

* ''The Boy Friend'' by Marge Buell (1925–1926) * ''Carrie and Her Car'' by Wood Cowan (1923–1926) * '' Connie'' by Frank Godwin (1927–1944) — female aviator strip; accompanied by the weekly bottom strip ''The Wet Blanket'' also by Godwin * ''Daffy Demonstrations'' by Ray Rohn (1926) — daily panel * ''Deb Days'' by Charles Coll (1927) * ''Dizzy Dramas'' by Joe Bowers (1927–1943) * ''Doc'' by Hy Gage (1925) — daily panel * ''Dumb-Bells'' by Joe Cunningham (1924–1925)Cunningham entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Nov. 23, 2017. and Gar (Schmitt) (1925-1935, 1937-1939) * '' Hairbreadth Harry'' by

and

F. O. Alexander Franklin Osborne Alexander (November 3, 1897 – January 17, 1993), known professionally as F. O. Alexander, was a comic strip artist and editorial cartoonist.

(1923–1940) — originated with The Philadelphia Press Syndicate and then the McClure Syndicate * ''Lady Bountiful'' by Gene Carr (1926–1929) * ''Miss Information'' by Hy Gage (1924–1930) — formerly by Wood Cowan for the

George Matthew Adams Service George Matthew Adams (August 23, 1878 – October 29, 1962) was an American newspaper columnist and founder of the George Matthew Adams Newspaper Service, which syndicated comic strips and columns to newspapers for five decades. His own writings w ...

* ''Modish Mitzi'' by Jay V. Jay (c. 1923–c. 1938) * ''Rufus M'Goofus'' by Joe Cunningham (1922–1924) * ''Sonnysayings'' by Fanny Cory (c. 1920–1935) — moved to

King Features King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial ...

"F.Y' Cory's History as an Artist and Illustrator,"
F.Y. Cory Publishers, Inc. Accessed Dec. 3, 2017. * ''Such is Life'' by Walt Munson and Kemp Starrett (1928–1938) * ''Vignettes of Life'' by Frank Godwin (1924–1927) and J. Norman Lynd (1927–1939)

Launched in the 1930s

* ''Babe Bunting'' by Roy L. Williams and Frank Godwin (1930–1939)Godwin entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Nov. 23, 2017. * ''Effie Spunk'' by

F. O. Alexander Franklin Osborne Alexander (November 3, 1897 – January 17, 1993), known professionally as F. O. Alexander, was a comic strip artist and editorial cartoonist.

(1935) * ''Footprints on the Sands of Time'' by Dwig (1931–1937) — taken over from the McClure Newspaper Syndicate, which ran it in 1929Dwiggins entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Nov. 23, 2017. * ''High-Gear Homer'' by

F. O. Alexander Franklin Osborne Alexander (November 3, 1897 – January 17, 1993), known professionally as F. O. Alexander, was a comic strip artist and editorial cartoonist.

(November 8, 1931–July 30, 1939) — weekly topper strip to Alexander's ''Hairbreadth Harry'' * ''Jack Swift'' by Cliff Farrell and Hal Colson (August 28, 1930–?) * ''Nip and Tuck'' by Bess Goe Willis (1936-1939) * ''Nipper'' by Dwig (1931–1937) * ''Roy Powers, Eagle Scout'' (c. 1937–1942) by " Paul Powell," Jimmy Thompson (c. 1937),Thompson entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Nov. 23, 2017. Kemp Starrett (1937–1938), Frank Godwin (1938–1940), and Charles Coll (c. 1940) * ''Sillyettes'' (c. 1941) * ''War on Crime'' by Frank Godwin (1936–1938) and Jimmy Thompson (1938)

Launched in the 1940s (& 1950)

* ''Classic Stories'' (1950) * ''

Huckleberry Finn Huckleberry "Huck" Finn is a fictional character created by Mark Twain who first appeared in the book ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer'' (1876) and is the protagonist and narrator of its sequel, ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'' (1884). He is 12 ...

'' by Dwig (1940–1942) * ''It Never Fails'' by Mo Weiss (1940–1941) * ''Maggie McSnoot'' (1945–1950) * ''Rink Brody'' by George Kearney and H. Draper Williams (1946) * ''

'' by

and Vernon Greene (1940–1942)Greene entry
''Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999''. Accessed Nov. 23, 2017.

Ledger Syndicate II

A second, unrelated iteration of the Ledger Syndicate operated from 1966 to c. 1973, headquartered in New York City at the

Overseas Press Club The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) was founded in 1939 in New York City by a group of foreign correspondents. The wire service reporter Carol Weld was a founding member, as was the war correspondent Peggy Hull. The club seeks to maintain ...

Building on West 40th Street. The syndicate president was John W. Higgins, and the syndicate distributed strips such as ''

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on March 30, 1939. I ...

'' (taking advantage of the popularity of the ''Batman'' TV series),Desris, Joe
"A History of the Batman and Robin Newspaper Strip,"
''Batman: The Silver Age Newspaper Comics, Volume One: 1966–1967'' (IDW, 2014). a couple of strips by Batman creator Bob Kane, and a revived version of the 1920s Ledger strip ''Hairbreadth Harry''. From 1967 to 1971, the syndicate also distributed Eric Hoffer's column, ''Reflections'' (to 214 client papers in early 1968)."Columnists: Awesome Epigrams,"
''Time'' (Feb. 09, 1968).

Ledger Syndicate II strips and panels

* ''The Aristocrats'' by Bob Kane (1967–1970) * '' Batman with Robin the Boy Wonder'' (1966–1972) by

Whitney Ellsworth Frederick Whitney Ellsworth (November 27, 1908 – September 7, 1980) was an American comic book editor and sometime writer and artist for DC Comics during the period known to historians and fans as the Golden Age of Comic Books. He was also D ...

E. Nelson Bridwell Edward Nelson Bridwell (September 22, 1931 – January 23, 1987) was a writer for '' Mad'' magazine (writing the now-famous catchphrase, "What you mean...we?" in a 1958 parody of ''The Lone Ranger'' in Mad) and various comic books published by D ...

, Joe Giella,

Al Plastino Alfred John Plastino (December 15, 1921 – November 25, 2013) was an American comics artist best known as one of the most prolific Superman artists of the 1950s, along with his DC Comics colleague Wayne Boring. Plastino also worked as a comics w ...

, and

Nick Cardy Nicholas Viscardi (October 20, 1920 – November 3, 2013), known professionally as Nick Cardy and Nick Cardi, was an American comics artist best known for his DC Comics work on Aquaman, the Teen Titans and other major characters. Cardy was indu ...

* ''Character Clues'' by Joe Giella (1966–1967) * ''The Drimbles'' by Agoo (1971–1972) * ''Hairbreadth Harry'' by Joseph Petrovich (1967–1972) * ''Hector the Director'' by Rama Braggiotti (1967–1973) * ''The Losers'' by Bob Kane (1966) — daily panel

References

{{refend Comic strip syndicates Companies based in Philadelphia Mass media companies established in 1915