Raeburn Van Buren (January 12, 1891 – December 29, 1987) was an American magazine and

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 ...

illustrator best known for his work on the syndicated '' Abbie an' Slats''. He was familiarly known in the professional comics community as Ray Van Buren.

Biography

Born in

Pueblo, Colorado Pueblo ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule municipality that is the county seat of and the List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous municipality in Pueblo County, Colorado, United States. The ...

, Van Buren, a descendant of US President

Martin Van Buren Martin Van Buren ( ; ; December 5, 1782 – July 24, 1862) was the eighth president of the United States, serving from 1837 to 1841. A primary founder of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as Attorney General o ...

, grew up in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. At the ''

Kansas City Star ''The Kansas City Star'' is a newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. Published since 1880, the paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Star'' is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry S. Truman and a ...

'', he learned cartooning from comic strip artist Harry Wood. In 1913, Van Buren moved to New York, where he illustrated for '' Puck'', ''

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 ''

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 ...

''. Van Buren served in the old Seventh Regiment (107th Infantry) of the 27th New York Empire Division in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. He was art editor of the division's magazine, ''Gas Attack''. An artistry and illustrative flair were evident in his cartoons, and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' compared his artwork in the magazine with that of the famous British illustrator

Bruce Bairnsfather Captain Charles Bruce Bairnsfather (9 July 188729 September 1959) was a prominent British humour, humorist and cartoonist. His best-known cartoon character is Old Bill (comics), Old Bill. Bill and his pals Bert and Alf featured in Bairnsfather's ...

. After military service, he drew cartoons for ''The Saturday Evening Post'', ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' and ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

''. As a freelance illustrator, he contributed to numerous magazines, including ''

Collier's } ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...

'', ''

Redbook ''Redbook'' is an American women's magazine that is published by the Hearst Communications, Hearst magazine division. It is one of the "Seven Sisters (magazines), Seven Sisters", a group of women's service magazines. It ceased print publicatio ...

'' and ''

McCall's ''McCall's'' was a monthly United States, American women's magazine, published by the McCall Corporation, that enjoyed great popularity through much of the 20th century, peaking at a readership of 8.4 million in the early 1960s. The publication ...

''. He was a founder of the National Society of Magazine Illustrators. His brother, Dick Van Buren, wrote the

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, a feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer. Creat ...

comic strip for most of the 1950s, but never achieved the success that Raeburn enjoyed.

''Abbie an' Slats''

He began drawing ''Abbie an' Slats'' in 1937. The strip followed the experiences of a rural spinster raising her young cousin, a streetwise urban child. It was the idea of

Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (w ...

, who intended to start a second strip to build upon the success of his popular ''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' was a satirical American comic strip that appeared in multiple newspapers in the United States, Canada, and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies living in the impoverished fictional mountain village of Dogpatch, ...

''. Instead of drawing it himself, Capp recruited Van Buren. Initially, Van Buren turned him down, but he was soon lured by the prospect of steady work, as he had just had his first and only child with his wife, Fern. The strip was carried in 400 newspapers but did not equal the popularity of ''Li'l Abner''. Capp abandoned the strip in 1945, turning the writing chores over to his brother,

Elliot Caplin Elliot Caplin (December 25, 1913 – February 20, 2000) was an American comic strip writer best known as the co-creator (with Stan Drake) of ''The Heart of Juliet Jones''. His name is sometimes spelled with an extra letter: Elliott A. Caplin. He ...

. Van Buren stayed on the strip, and it ended with his retirement in 1971.

Later life and death

Van Buren lived in

Great Neck Great Neck is a region contained within Nassau County, New York, on Long Island, which covers a peninsula on the North Shore and includes nine incorporated villages, among them Great Neck, Great Neck Estates, Great Neck Plaza, Kings Poin ...

, Long Island. He died in 1987 at North Shore Community Hospital in

Manhasset Manhasset is an affluent hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is considered the anchor community of the Greater Manhasset area. The population was 8,176 ...

, Long Island, after suffering an injury in a fall. He was 96 years old.

Raeburn Van Buren and Abigail Van Buren

In 1984, When Van Buren sent a gift to "Dear Abby" columnist

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 Pau ...

(Pauline Phillips), she wrote back on November 30, 1984, thanking him and commenting on the name similarity: :Yes, I remember our meeting very well. I also recall that every once in a while we'd get our mail mixed up... I at one time (when I first began, I spelled my name "ABBIE"... Then it became even more confusing because of the VAN BUREN... remember?) Abbie and Slats... and the Van Buren. I selected my own name... so perhaps it was an unconscious choice, with you in mind all the while. Be well, Darling One... and stay well. And I hope to heaven you're dangerous!

Awards

With the Gold Key Award, he was honored in 1979 as a member of the

National Cartoonists Society The National Cartoonists Society (NCS) is an organization of professional cartoonists in the United States. It presents the National Cartoonists Society Awards. The Society was born in 1946 when groups of cartoonists got together to entertain the ...

Hall of Fame. In 1958, he was named "Cartoonist of the Year" by the Quaker City Lodge of the B'nai B'rith in ceremonies at Philadelphia Pa. Previous winners were Al Capp, Milton Caniff, and George Wunder.Yesterday's Papers
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Books

Van Buren's wartime experiences are chronicled in the book ''Duty, Honor, Privilege: New York's Silk Stocking Regiment the Breaking of the Hindenburg Line'' by his grandnephew Stephen L. Harris. Beginning with ''Abbie an' Slats and Becky'' (Saalfield, 1940), his comic strip was collected in several books.

References

External links

Lambiek Comiclopedia entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Buren, Raeburn 1891 births 1987 deaths Accidental deaths from falls Accidental deaths in New York (state) American comic strip cartoonists American comics writers American comics artists American humorists American people of Dutch descent People from Great Neck, New York

Biography

''Abbie an' Slats''

Later life and death

Raeburn Van Buren and Abigail Van Buren

Awards

Books

See also

References

External links