Frederick Burr Opper (January 2, 1857 – August 28, 1937) was one of the pioneers of American newspaper

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 ...

s, best known for his comic strip ''

Happy Hooligan ''Happy Hooligan'' is an American comic strip, the first major strip by the already celebrated cartoonist Frederick Burr Opper. It debuted with a Sunday strip on March 11, 1900 in the William Randolph Hearst newspapers, and was one of the first p ...

''. His comic characters were featured in magazine

gag cartoon A gag cartoon (also panel cartoon, single-panel cartoon, or gag panel) is most often a single-Panel (comics), panel cartoon, usually including a caption beneath the drawing. In some cases, dialogue may appear in speech balloons, following the com ...

s, covers,

political cartoon A political cartoon, also known as an 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 co ...

s and comic strips for six decades. Born to

Austrian-American Austrian Americans (, ) are Americans of Austrian descent, chiefly German-speaking Catholics and Jews. According to the 2000 U.S. census, there were 735,128 Americans of full or partial Austrian descent, accounting for 0.3% of the population. T ...

German-speaking immigrants Lewis and Aurelia Burr Oppers in

Madison, Ohio Madison is a village in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,435 at the 2020 census. Madison was incorporated as a village in 1867. Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , ...

, Frederick was the eldest of three children. At the age of 14, he dropped out of school"Marquis Who's Who in America"
1901-1902 edition to work as a printer's apprentice at the local ''Madison Gazette'', and at 16, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where he worked in a store and continued to draw. He studied briefly at

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

, followed by a short stint as pupil and assistant to illustrator Frank Beard. Opper's first cartoon was published in ''Wild Oats'' in 1876, followed by cartoons and illustrations in ''

Scribner’s Monthly ''Scribner's Monthly: An Illustrated Magazine for the People'' was an illustrated American literary periodical published from 1870 until 1881. Following a change in ownership in 1881 of the company that had produced it, the magazine was relaunc ...

'' and ''

St. Nicholas Magazine ''St. Nicholas'' was a popular monthly American children's magazine, founded by Scribner's in 1873 and named after the Christian saint. The first editor was Mary Mapes Dodge, who continued her association with the magazine until her death in 1 ...

''. He worked as illustrator at ''

Frank Leslie's Weekly ''Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper'', later renamed ''Leslie's Weekly'', was an American illustrated literary and news magazine founded in 1855 and published until 1922. It was one of several magazines started by publisher and illustrator Fr ...

'' from 1877 to 1880. Opper was then hired to draw for '' Puck'' by publishers

Joseph Keppler Joseph Ferdinand Keppler (February 1, 1838 – February 19, 1894) was an Austrian-born American cartoonist and caricaturist who greatly influenced the growth of satirical cartooning in the United States. Joseph F. Keppler was the father of Udo ...

and Adolph Schwarzmann. He stayed with ''Puck'' for 18 years, drawing everything from spot illustrations to

chromolithograph Chromolithography is a method for making multi-colour prints in lithography, and in theory includes all types of lithography that are printed in colour. However, in modern usage it is normally restricted to 19th-century works, and the higher ...

covers. Opper married Nellie Barnett on May 18, 1881. They had three children, Lawrence, Anna and Sophia. Happy Hooligan 1921-10-23

Career

''Happy Hooligan''

In 1899, Opper accepted an offer by

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 ...

for a position with the ''

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 ...

''. His ''Happy Hooligan'' strip first appeared in the ''New York Journal'' in 1900, and it ran until 1932. Hooligan was a tramp with a little tin can hat whose gentle simplicity and bumbling good nature made him a success. On Happy's 30th birthday, Opper threw a party attended by President Hoover, former President Coolidge, Charles Schwab, Alfred E. Smith and others. Opper's other popular strips were ''

Alphonse and Gaston Alphonse may refer to: * Alphonse (given name) * Alphonse (surname) * Alphonse Atoll, one of two atolls in the Seychelles' Alphonse Group *Alphonso (mango), a mango-cultivar from India See also *Alphons Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adel ...

'', ''

And Her Name Was Maud ''And Her Name Was Maud'' is a comic strip by Frederick Burr Opper. It first appeared in the Hearst newspapers on July 24, 1904.topper to ''Happy Hooligan'', where it ran until both strips came to a conclusion on October 14, 1932. Opper's strips were very popular in Italy, where Hooligan was the most loved strip character in Italy before the coming of

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

, as declared by the major Italian poet

Attilio Bertolucci Attilio Bertolucci (18 November 1911 – 14 June 2000) was an Italian poet and writer. He was the father of film directors Bernardo and Giuseppe Bertolucci. Biography Bertolucci was born at San Lazzaro (province of Parma), to a family of agric ...

. Hooligan's name in Italy was Fortunello (''small lucky''), and Maud's name was Checca (Francy).

Political cartoons

Among Opper's contributions for Puck was a cartoon that satirized the rise of sensationalism in journalism: this cartoon, from March 7, 1894, shows a newspaper mogul (possibly Joseph Pulitzer) raking in the profits, yet misleading the public. Noteworthy in this political cartoon is an early use of the term "

fake news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...

." In addition, Opper drew influential political cartoons supporting Hearst's campaign against the "trusts" with characters "Willie and Teddy", depicting

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

and

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...

, "Willie and his Papa", satirizing McKinley and "Papa Trusts", and "Nursie", a depiction of Cleveland industrialist

Mark Hanna Marcus Alonzo Hanna (September 24, 1837 – February 15, 1904) was an American businessman and Republican politician who served as a United States Senator from Ohio as well as chairman of the Republican National Committee. A friend and ...

. Opper's other characters included Mr. Common Man, which is believed to be the origin of

John Q. Public John Q. Public (and several similar names; see the Variations section below) is a generic name and placeholder name, especially in American English, to denote a hypothetical member of society, deemed a " common man", who is presumed to represent ...

. His artwork appeared in Hearst's ''New York Journal'', ''

Boston American The ''Boston American'' was a daily tabloid newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts from March 21, 1904, until September 30, 1961. The newspaper was part of William Randolph Hearst's chain, and thus was also known as ''Hearst's Boston Ameri ...

'', ''

Chicago Examiner The ''Chicago American'' was an American newspaper published in Chicago under various names from 1900 until its dissolution in 1975. Its afternoon publication was known as the ''Chicago American'', while its evening publication was known as the ...

'', ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...

'' and ''

Los Angeles Examiner The ''Los Angeles Examiner'' was a newspaper founded in 1903 by William Randolph Hearst in Los Angeles. The afternoon '' Los Angeles Herald-Express'' and the morning ''Los Angeles Examiner'', both of which had been publishing in the city since t ...

''. In 1902 he published "Nursery Rhymes for Infant Industries: An Alphabet of Joyous Trusts" in which each of the 26 Alphabet letters began an anti-trust rhyme. Opper also illustrated books for Edgar Wilson Nye,

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

Marietta Holley Marietta Holley ( pen names, Jemyma, later, Josiah Allen's Wife; July 16, 1836 – March 1, 1926), was an American humorist who used satire to comment on U.S. society and politics. Holley enjoyed a prolific writing career and was a bestselling a ...

(ie: ''Samantha at Saratoga, or Racin' After Fashion''), and

Finley Peter Dunne Finley Peter Dunne (born Peter Dunne; July 10, 1867 – April 24, 1936) was an American humorist, journalist and writer from Chicago. In 1898 Dunne published ''Mr. Dooley in Peace and in War'', his first collection of the nationally syndicated M ...

, and, as well, published his own books, including ''Puck's Opper Book'' (1888), ''The Folks in Funnyville'' (1900) and ''Happy Hooligan Home Again'' (1907). Opper was a member of several New York clubs, and he painted as a hobby. He retired in 1934 due to failing eyesight. He died August 28, 1937, at his home in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle ( ; in ) is a Political subdivisions of New York State#City, city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. It is a suburb of New York City, located approximately from Midtow ...

, and was cremated. Cartoonists Russ Westover and

Alex Raymond Alexander Gillespie Raymond Jr. (October 2, 1909 – September 6, 1956) was an American cartoonist and illustrator who was best known for creating the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip for King Features Syndicate in 1934. The strip was subsequently a ...

took part in an August 29, 1937, memorial to Opper broadcast on New York's WNEW. Opper-Bismarck-Gladstone-Puck_Feb_20_1895

References

External links

* *

ridiculing TR and McKinley as pawns of Trusts and Sen. Hanna
Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum
at The Ohio State University

Britannica Student Encyclopedia: brief biography

''Stripper's Guide''
blog by Allan Holtz (blogspot.com) *

*

*

* ttp://www.toonopedia.com/antedilu.htm ''Our Antediluvian Ancestors''at

Don Markstein's Toonopedia Don Markstein's Toonopedia (subtitled A Vast Repository of Toonological Knowledge) is an online encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation, initiated February 13, 2001. Donald D. Markstein, the sole writer and editor of Toonopedi ...

Archived
from the original on April 4, 2012 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Opper, Frederick Burr 1857 births 1937 deaths People from Madison, Ohio American people of Austrian descent American comics artists American comics writers American editorial cartoonists American humorists American comic strip cartoonists American satirists 19th-century American illustrators 20th-century American illustrators 19th-century American painters 20th-century American painters Artists from New Rochelle, New York

Career

''Happy Hooligan''

Political cartoons

References

Further reading

External links