Carl Thomas Anderson (February 14, 1865 – November 4, 1948) was an American

cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comics illustrators/artists in that they produce both the litera ...

best remembered for his

comic strip A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics terminology#Captio ...

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

''. Readers followed the pantomime adventures of the mute, bald-headed Henry in strips which he signed with his familiar signature displaying an enlarged "S": Carl AnderSon.

Biography

Early life

Carl Thomas Anderson was born in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, the son of Norwegian immigrants. Anderson initially worked in his father's

planing mill A planing mill is a facility that takes cut and Wood drying, seasoned Wood, wooden boards from a sawmill and turns them into finished dimensional lumber. Machines used in the mill include the Thickness planer, planer and matcher, the Moulding plan ...

in Des Moines, Iowa, where he developed carpentry skills, became a cabinetmaker, and invented a patented folding desk, which is still being manufactured today. Near the end of the 19th century, he traveled the United States, drifting to

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, where he worked until the city's 1889 fire."Henry and Philbert," ''Time'', February 11, 1935.
/ref>

From cabinets to cartoons

At the age of 25, he developed a strong interest in drawing and went to

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

because the

Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art The Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art (PMSIA), also referred to as the School of Applied Art, was a museum and teaching institution which later split into the Philadelphia Museum of Art and University of the Arts. It was chartered b ...

was the only school he found specifically advertising a pen-and-ink course, where he graduated in 1893. In 1894, his first art job was with the ''

Philadelphia Times ''The Times'' was a daily newspaper published from March 13, 1875, to August 11, 1902, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The paper was founded by Alexander McClure and Frank McLaughlin as an independent voice against party machine politics and corrup ...

'', where he earned $12 a week drawing fashion illustrations. He was hired by

Arthur Brisbane Arthur Brisbane (December 12, 1864 – December 25, 1936) was one of the best-known American newspaper editors of the 20th century, as well as a real estate investor. Biography Brisbane was born in Buffalo, New York, to Albert Brisbane (1809� ...

for

Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born , ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and a newspaper publisher of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in the U.S. Democ ...

's ''

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 to 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers as a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publisher Jo ...

'' at the end of the 1890s. His strip ''The Filipino and the Chick'' ran on the Sunday page of the ''World'', attracting the attention of

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

, who offered more money at his ''

New York Journal :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 ...

''.Lambiek: Carl Anderson
/ref> For Hearst, Anderson created ''Raffles and Bunny'', and for the

McClure Syndicate McClure Newspaper Syndicate, the first American newspaper syndicate, introduced many American and British writers to the masses. Launched in 1884 by publisher Samuel S. McClure, it was the first successful company of its kind. It turned the mark ...

in 1903 he drew ''Herr Spiegelberger, the Amateur Cracksman''. Since these strips received only a mild reaction from readers, Anderson began freelancing for ''

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

'', ''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'', and '' Puck''. With the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

looming and his markets diminishing, Anderson was 65 years old when he left New York in 1930, returning to Madison to care for his dying father. Anderson lived in Madison with his three sisters in the house his father built at 834 Prospect Place near Lake Mendota, and he resumed his earlier trade as a cabinetmaker while teaching night classes. He also taught through his mail order cartoon course from "The Carl Anderson School, Madison, Wis." Small ads in 1930 issues of ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (often abbreviated as ''PM'' or ''PopMech'') is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do it yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation an ...

'' announced:

''Henry'' begins

In 1932, he sold his first Henry cartoon to ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...

'' for $50, and it became a regular weekly feature in that magazine. As interest in the character increased, Anderson began to receive fan mail, and his cartoons were reprinted in foreign publications. Hearst was traveling in Germany in 1934 when he saw ''Henry'' in the ''

Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung The ''Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung'', often abbreviated ''BIZ'', was a German weekly illustrated magazine published in Berlin from 1892 to 1945. It was the first mass-market German magazine and pioneered the format of the illustrated news magazine ...

''. He sent a cablegram to his syndicate chief, Joseph Vincent Connolly, that simply read, "Get Henry." Connolly took the next train to Madison, where he signed Anderson for

King Features Syndicate King Features Syndicate, Inc. is an American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product License, licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, columnist, newspape ...

. Within months, ''Henry'' was being published in 50 American newspapers, including 15 Hearst papers. Anderson continued to work on the strip until arthritis made him retire in January 1942. Anderson died at the Edgewater Hotel in Madison at age 83 in 1948. The strip continued with other artists, finally being discontinued on October 28, 2018, a week short of the seventieth anniversary of its creator's death.

Books

In 1934, the first ''Henry'' book was published featuring 60 cartoons from ''The Saturday Evening Post''. Anderson followed with ''How to Draw Cartoons Successfully'', published by Greenberg in 1935.

References

Sources

*Rath, Jay. "Silents, Please! The Unspeakable Greatness of Carl Anderson's 'Henry.'" ''

Nemo, the Classic Comics Library ''Nemo, the Classic Comics Library'' was a magazine devoted to the history and creators of vintage comic strips. Created by comics historian Rick Marschall, it was published between 1983 and 1990 by Fantagraphics. ''Nemo'' ran for 31 issues (the ...

'' #26, (Sept. 1987): 42‑52. * Strickler, Dave. ''Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index''. Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995. .

External links

''Henry'': ''The Saturday Evening Post'' yearsBilly Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum Art Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Carl Thomas 1865 births 1948 deaths American comic strip cartoonists American comics writers American comics artists American humorists American people of Norwegian descent Artists from Milwaukee Artists from Madison, Wisconsin