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 William Penn Adair Rogers (November 4, 1879 – August 15, 1935) was an American vaudeville performer, actor, and humorous social commentator. He was born as a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, in the Indian Territory (now part of Oklahom ...

and

O. O. McIntyre Oscar Odd McIntyre (February 18, 1884 – February 14, 1938) was a New York newspaper columnist of the 1920s and 1930s. ''The Washington Post'' once described his column as "the letter from New York read by millions because it never lost the hu ...

, the ''

Dear Abby Dear Abby is an American advice column founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name "Abigail Van Buren" and carried on today by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now owns the legal rights to the pen name. History According to Pauli ...

'' letters section and comic strips, including ''

Joe Palooka ''Joe Palooka'' was an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher. The strip debuted on April 19, 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers. It was cancelled in 1984. The strip was adapt ...

'' and '' Heathcliff''. It folded in September 1989.

History

Virgil McNitt (1881–1964) first tried his hand at publishing a magazine, the ''McNaught Magazine'', which failed. He then, in 1910, started the

Central Press Association The Central Press Association was American newspaper syndication company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in business from 1910 to 1971. Originally independent, it was a subsidiary of King Features Syndicate from 1930 onwards. At its peak, the ...

syndication service, with offices in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...

. In 1920, McNitt founded the Central Press Association of New York City. (Although both services had the same name, they were separate operations.)Watson, Elmo Scott. "CHAPTER VIII: Recent Developments in Syndicate History 1921-1935," ''History of Newspaper Syndicates''
Archived at ''Stripper's Guide''
In 1922, McNitt and Charles V. McAdam (1892–1985) absorbed the operations of the New York City Central Press Association and co-founded the McNaught Syndicate, with headquarters in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' building.

' weekly column started in 1922 in 25 newspapers. By 1926, his daily column ran in 92 newspapers, and it reached 400 papers three years later, making him one of the best paid and most read columnists of the United States at the time. From 1925 until 1951, Charles Benedict Driscoll was one of the editors and contributors for the syndicate. Writers syndicated by McNaught in those first years included Paul Gallico,

Dale Carnegie Dale Carnegie (; spelled Carnagey until c. 1922; November 24, 1888 – November 1, 1955) was an American writer and lecturer, and the developer of courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal ...

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and ...

and

Irvin S. Cobb Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb (June 23, 1876 – March 11, 1944) was an American author, humorist, editor and columnist from Paducah, Kentucky, who relocated to New York in 1904, living there for the remainder of his life. He wrote for the ''New York Worl ...

. By the early 1930s, the McNaught Syndicate had a stable which included columnists O. O. McIntyre and

Al Smith Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a Ci ...

and at one time even syndicated a letter by

Albert Einstein Albert Einstein ( ; ; 14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955) was a German-born theoretical physicist, widely acknowledged to be one of the greatest and most influential physicists of all time. Einstein is best known for developing the theor ...

. Other successes included columns by

and ''

'' by

Abigail Van Buren Dear Abby is an American advice column founded in 1956 by Pauline Phillips under the pen name "Abigail Van Buren" and carried on today by her daughter, Jeanne Phillips, who now owns the legal rights to the pen name. History According to Pauline ...

. At the time of McNitt's death in 1964, the syndicate was still led by McAdam, providing contents to 1,000 newspapers. By 1987, McNaught had only 24 features left, making it the tenth largest comic strip syndicate in the United States at that time. The syndicate eventually folded in September 1989.

Comic strips

One of the first syndicated artists was

Rube Goldberg Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970), known best as Rube Goldberg, was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer, and inventor. Goldberg is best known for his popular cartoons depicting complicated gadge ...

. McNaught's line-up of comic strips included '' Mickey Finn'' and ''

Dixie Dugan ''Dixie Dugan'' is best known as a long-running syndicated newspaper comic strip published from October 21, 1929 to October 8, 1966. The title character was originally modeled after 1920s film actress Louise Brooks and early stories followed Dixi ...

''.

Ham Fisher Hammond Edward "Ham" Fisher (September 24, 1900 (some sources indicate 1901) – December 27, 1955) was an American comic strip writer and cartoonist. He is best known for his long, popular run on ''Joe Palooka'', which was launched in 1930 and r ...

's ''

'' was at first rejected by McNitt, but Fisher was hired as a salesman for the syndicate, offering McNaught's features to newspapers. After having sold his comic to 20 newspapers, McNitt had to change his opinion and added ''Joe Palooka'' to the syndicate, becoming one of the big successes for it. By the mid-1930s, McNaught's stable of cartoonists included Fisher,

John H. Striebel John H. Striebel (September 14, 1891 - May 22, 1962) was an American illustrator and comic strip artist who was best known for the newspaper strip '' Dixie Dugan'', which was scripted by J. P. McEvoy. The two met when they were college freshmen ...

, and Gus Mager. In 1933, just as the concept of "comic books" 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 ...

published '' Funnies on Parade'', which reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from the McNaught Syndicate, the

Ledger Syndicate 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 ...

Associated Newspapers DMG Media (stylised in lowercase) is an intermediate holding company for Associated Newspapers, Northcliffe Media, Harmsworth Printing, Harmsworth Media and other subsidiaries of Daily Mail and General Trust. It is based at Northcliffe House in ...

, 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

's ''

''. Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on

newsstands A newsagent's shop or simply newsagent's or paper shop (British English), newsagency (Australian English) or newsstand (American and Canadian English) is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local ...

, 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. In 1937, the McNaught Syndicate partnered with Frank J. Markey (formerly a McNaught executive) and the

Register and Tribune Syndicate The Register and Tribune Syndicate was a syndication service based in Des Moines, Iowa, that operated from 1922 to 1986, when it was acquired by King Features to become the Cowles Syndicate affiliate. At its peak, the Register and Tribune Syndic ...

, as well as with entrepreneur Everett M. "Busy" Arnold, to provide material 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.Steranko, Jim (1972). ''The Steranko History of Comics 2''. Reading, Pennsylvania: Supergraphics. p. 92. . For this reason, from 1937 until 1939, many of the syndicate's comic strips were reprinted in the

anthology '' Feature Funnies'' (published by Arnold). In 1939,

Cowles Media Company Cowles Media Company ( ) (1935–1998) was a newspaper, magazine and information publishing company based in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the United States. The company operated Cowles Business Media, Cowles Creative Publishing, and Cowles ...

(the Register and Tribune Syndicate's corporate owner) and Arnold bought out the McNaught and Markey interests. In 1939, the syndicate hired

Vin Sullivan Vincent Sullivan (June 5, 1911 – February 3, 1999Vincent Sullivan
at the

...

, then editor of ''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/ magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics Publications ...

'', to start a new comics publishing company,

Columbia Comics Columbia Comics Corporation was a comic book publisher active in the 1940s whose best-known title was ''Big Shot Comics''. Comics creators who worked for Columbia included Fred Guardineer, on ''Marvelo, the Monarch of Magicians''; and Ogden Whitne ...

, which would carry both new comics and reprints of McNaught syndicated comics like ''Joe Palooka''. The company existed until 1949 and is best remembered for their publication '' Big Shot Comics''. The syndicate continued columns and strips which were already successful when acquired, but it also was active in creating and suggesting new content, from the Will Rogers columns to comic strips like Don Dean's ''Cranberry Boggs''. In one case, McNitt supported a crossover between the comic strips ''Joe Palooka'' and ''Dixie Dugan'', a feat which was commented upon by ''

Editor & Publisher ''Editor & Publisher'' (''E&P'') is an American monthly trade news magazine covering the newspaper industry. Published since 1901, ''Editor & Publisher'' is the self-described "bible of the newspaper industry." Originally based in New York City, ...

''. Their last success came with the comic strip '' Heathcliff'', which they syndicated from the start in 1973 until the late 1980s. ''Heathcliff'' appeared in some 1,000 newspapers, and the McNaught Syndicate became the production company for a few ''Heathcliff'' movies, including '' Heathcliff: The Movie'' from 1986.

Main syndicated content

Columns

* Holmes Moss Alexander, from 1947 until 1981 *

Jimmy Fidler Jimmie Fidler (August 26, 1898 – August 9, 1988) was an American columnist, journalist and radio and television personality. He wrote a Hollywood gossip column and was sometimes billed as Jimmy Fidler. Born James Marion Fidler in St. Lo ...

with ''Jimmy Fiddler in Hollywood'', a gossip column carried by 187 newspapers *Sir Philip Gibbs and

Hendrik Willem van Loon Hendrik Willem van Loon (January 14, 1882 – March 11, 1944) was a Dutch-American historian, journalist, and children's book author. Life He was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, the son of Hendrik Willem van Loon and Elisabeth Johanna Hanken. ...

, both reporting on the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

*''The Great Game of Politics'' by Frank Richardson Kent, appearing in 140 newspapers in 1934 *

Alice Roosevelt Longworth Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth (February 12, 1884 – February 20, 1980) was an American writer and socialite. She was the eldest child of U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt and his only child with his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt. Lo ...

, appearing in 100 newspapers in 1936 *''The Lyons Den'' by

Leonard Lyons Leonard Lyons (born Leonard Sucher; 10 September 1906 - 7 October 1976) was an American newspaper columnist, best known for his ''New York Post'' column called "The Lyons Den." Background Leonard Lyons was born Leonard Sucher on September 10, 1906 ...

, taken over from the

King Features Syndicate 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, editori ...

in 1941: appeared in some 20 newspapers *''New York Day by Day'' by

, "probably the most widely read columnist in the U.S.", appeared in some 400 newspapers After McIntyre's death in 1938, the column was continued by editor Charles Driscoll until 1951. *''The State of The Nation'' by professor Raymond Moley *''

'' by Pauline Phillips was syndicated by McNaught from 1956 until 1966, when it was taken over by the

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

syndicate By 1957, it ran in about 80 newspapers. *"Will Rogers Says", a daily column by

, appearing in 500 newspapers by 1935 *

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt () (October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the first lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945, during her husband President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four ...

in 1934, with limited success *

Louis Rukeyser Louis Richard Rukeyser (January 30, 1933 – May 2, 2006) was an American financial journalist, columnist, and commentator, through print, radio, and television. He was best known for his role as host of two television series, ''Wall Street We ...

, economic columnist, from 1976 to 1986 *Major Alexander Procofieff de Seversky, syndicated in 85 newspapers *a weekly feature by

between 1931 and 1932: appeared in some 70 newspapers by 1931 *''New York'' by

John Cameron Swayze John Cameron Swayze (April 4, 1906 – August 15, 1995) was an American news commentator and game show panelist during the 1940s and 1950s who later became best known as a product spokesman. Early life Born in Wichita, Kansas, Swayze was the ...

, appearing in 50 newspapers in 1951 * ''Pull Up Chair'' by Neal O'Hara (1935–1938) * Andrew Tully, from 1969 on, with more than 150 subscribing newspapers *

Comic strips and cartoons

In addition to the list below, cartoons by

and

editorial cartoons A political cartoon, a form of editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically combine ...

Reg Manning Reginald W. Manning (April 8, 1905 – March 10, 1986) was an American artist and illustrator, best known for his editorial cartoons. Biography Manning was born in Kansas City, Missouri, but he came to live in Phoenix, Arizona. Manning's only art ...

from 1948 to 1971, winner of the

Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning The Pulitzer Prize for Illustrated Reporting and Commentary is one of the fourteen Pulitzer Prizes that is annually awarded for journalism in the United States. It is the successor to the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning awarded from 1922 t ...

in 1951 * ''

Boob McNutt ''Boob McNutt'' was a comic strip by Rube Goldberg which ran from June 9, 1918 to September 23, 1934. It was syndicated by the McNaught Syndicate from 1922 until the end of its run. Publication history Comics historian Don Markstein traced th ...

'', by

(1922–1934) — acquired from King Features where it was launched in 1915; appeared in over 200 newspapers *''

The Bungle Family ''The Bungle Family'' is an American gag-a-day comic strip, created by Harry J. Tuthill, that first appeared in 1918. Originally titled ''Home, Sweet Home'', it first appeared as part of a series of rotating strips in the '' New York Evening Mai ...

'' by

Harry J. Tuthill Harry J. Tuthill (May 10, 1885–January 25, 1957) was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip '' The Bungle Family''. Biography Born in Chicago, Illinois, he grew up in the tenements and worked as a newsboy, quitting when a tough ...

, created in 1918, syndicated by McNaught from 1924 until 1942 *''

Charlie Chan Charlie Chan is a fictional Honolulu police detective created by author Earl Derr Biggers for a series of mystery novels. Biggers loosely based Chan on Hawaiian detective Chang Apana. The benevolent and heroic Chan was conceived as an alter ...

'' by

Alfred Andriola Alfred James Andriola (May 24, 1912 – March 29, 1983) was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip '' Kerry Drake'', for which he won a Reuben Award in 1970. His work sometimes appeared under the pseudonym Alfred James. Andriola w ...

(1938–1942) — an adaptation of the novels *''Cranberry Boggs'' by Don Dean (1945–1949) * ''Dan Flagg'' by

Don Sherwood Don Sherwood may refer to: * Don Sherwood (politician) (born 1941), American politician * Don Sherwood (DJ) (1925–1983), American radio personality * Don Sherwood (cartoonist) (1930–2010), American cartoonist and illustrator {{hndis, Sherwo ...

(April 22, 1963–c. 1966) — moved to Bell-McClure Syndicate, where it lasted another year or soHoltz, Allan
"Don Sherwood's Dan Flagg,"
''Stripper's Guide'' (December 03, 2005). *''

'' by

J. P. McEvoy Joseph Patrick McEvoy (December 21, 1894 – August 8, 1958), also sometimes credited as John P. McEvoy or Joseph P. McEvoy, was an American literature, American writer whose stories were published during the 1920s and 1930s in popular maga ...

and

(1929–1966) * ''

The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the activities of the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighb ...

'' by Gene Hazelton and Roger Armstrong (October 2, 1961–1988) — later continued by Karen Machette and the

Editors Press Service Editors Press Service (EPS) (later known as Atlantic Syndication) was a print syndication service of columns and comic strips that was in operation from 1933 to 2010. It was notable for being the first U.S. company to actively syndicate material ...

until the late 1990s * ''Gunther'' by John Roman (1980–1982) *'' Heathcliff'' by

George Gately George Gately Gallagher (December 21, 1928 – September 30, 2001), better known as George Gately, was an American cartoonist, notable as the creator of the '' Heathcliff'' comic strip. Born in Queens Village, Queens, Gately came from a family of ...

, created in 1973, was originally syndicated by McNaught before switching to

Tribune Media Services Tribune Content Agency (TCA) is a syndication company owned by Tribune Publishing. TCA had previously been known as the Chicago Tribune Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune New York News Syndicate (CTNYNS), Tribune Company Syndicate, and Tribune Media S ...

and later

Creators Syndicate Creators Syndicate (also known as Creators) is an American independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns to daily newspapers, websites, and other digital outlets. When founded in 1987, Creators Syndicate became one of the few suc ...

*''Hoosegow Herman'' by Abian A. "Wally" Wallgren (1938–c. 1939) — appeared in 22 newspapers *'' The Jackson Twins'' by Dick Brooks (1950–1979) *''

'' originally by

(1930–1984) — appeared in some 650 newspapers in 1959 *''Johnny Comet'' by

Frank Frazetta Frank Frazetta (born Frank Frazzetta ; February 9, 1928 – May 10, 2010) was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers, and other media. He i ...

and

Earl Baldwin Earl Baldwin (January 11, 1901 in Newark, New Jersey – October 9, 1970 in Hollywood, California, age 69) was an American screenwriter. During his career he wrote more than 50 produced screenplays, including ''Wild Boys of the Road'', '' Broth ...

(1952–1953) *'' Mickey Finn'' by

Lank Leonard Frank E. Leonard (January 2, 1896 – August 1, 1970), better known as Lank Leonard, was an American cartoonist artist who created the long-running comic strip '' Mickey Finn'', which he drew for more than three decades. Biography Early life and ...

(1936–1976) — ran at its peak in more than 300 newspapers * ''Middle Class Animals'' by Hugh Laidman (May 18, 1970 – May 13, 1972) * ''Mortimer Snurd and

Charlie McCarthy Charlie McCarthy is Edgar Bergen's famed ventriloquist dummy partner. Charlie was part of Bergen's act as early as high school, and by 1930, was attired in his famous top hat, tuxedo, and monocle. The character was so well-known that his popularit ...

'' by

Ben Batsford Ben Batsford (June 5, 1893 - February 11, 1977) was an American cartoonist. He is best known for a celebrity comic based on the puppet duo Mortimer Snerd and Charlie McCarthy. Biography Batsford worked for the Winnipeg Free Press as an editoria ...

(1939) * ''Oliver's Adventures'' by Gus Mager (May 1926 – October 22 1934) * ''Olly of the Movies'' by Julian Ollendorff (January 22, 1934-1937; moved to

Consolidated News Features Consolidated may refer to: *Consolidated (band) **''¡Consolidated!'', a 1989 extended play *Consolidated Aircraft (later Convair), an aircraft manufacturer * Consolidated city-county *Consolidated Communications * Consolidated school district *Co ...

and then

Associated Features Associated may refer to: *Associated, former name of Avon, Contra Costa County, California *Associated Hebrew Schools of Toronto, a school in Canada *Associated Newspapers, former name of DMG Media, a British publishing company See also

*Associ ...

, where it finally ended c. February 1946) *''

This Funny World ''This Funny World'' was a gag cartoon panel syndicated to newspapers by the McNaught Syndicate from March 6, 1944, to 1985. In addition to original cartoons, the series featured numerous reprints of cartoons previously published in leading maga ...

'' (1945–1985) — gag cartoons by numerous creators *''

Toonerville Folks ''Toonerville Folks'' ( ''The Toonerville Trolley That Meets All the Trains'') was a popular newspaper cartoon feature by Fontaine Fox, which ran from 1908 to 1955. It began in 1908 in the ''Chicago Post'', and by 1913, it was syndicated national ...

'' by

Fontaine Fox Fontaine Talbot Fox, Jr. (June 4, 1884 – August 9, 1964) was an American cartoonist and illustrator best known for writing and illustrating his ''Toonerville Folks'' comic panel, which ran from 1913 to 1955 in 250 to 300 newspapers across North ...

(1908–1955) — acquired from

c. 1930; when syndicated by McNaught, it ran in about 300 newspapers * ''Windy Riley'' by Ken Kling (c. 1926–1932) * ''

Yogi Bear Yogi Bear is an anthropomorphic animal character who has appeared in numerous comic books, animated television shows and films. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in '' The Huckleberry Hound Show''. Yogi Bear was the first ...

'' by Gene Hazelton (February 5, 1961–1988)"1961 Timeline: February 5. Animation sensation ''Yogi Bear'' is the star of a new comic strip overseen by Gene Hazelton." ''American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960-64'' by John Wells, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2012, page 42.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcnaught Syndicate Publishing companies disestablished in 1989 Comic strip syndicates Companies based in New York City Publishing companies established in 1922 Defunct companies based in New York (state) Defunct mass media companies of the United States 1922 establishments in New York City 1989 disestablishments in New York (state)