Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Hays, Ethel, Brinkley, Nell, 1886-1944, and Wells, Carolyn, 1862-1942
- Abstract:
- 1920s comics by women artists clipped from local newspapers.
- Extent:
- 2 Linear Feet (1 box, 1 flat box)
- Language:
- English
- Preferred citation:
-
[identification of item], Ethel Hays Collection (M2142). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Background
- Scope and content:
-
These 1920s comics and illustrations were clipped from local newspapers by an unknown person. The papers include the Redwood City Tribune, San Francisco News, San Francisco Examiner, and San Francisco Call, and a few from the Daily Palo Alto Times. Most comics are by Ethel Hays, but there a several illustrations by Nell Brinkley and a few other artists.
Ethel Hays (1892-1989) was a syndicated cartoonist known especially for her flapper-themed characters. She studied art with the intention of being a painter, but decided to pursue comics through correspondence courses with the Landon School of Illustration and Cartooning. In late 1923 the school's founder Charles Landon helped her get hired by the Cleveland Press, where she became a regular contributor with the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) syndicate. Her first column had been named "Vic and Ethel" with writer Victoria Benham, but when Benham got married and quit, Hays continued on her own with a cartoon titled "Ethel," and a little later "Flapper Fanny Says." Her one-panel cartoons with lightly humorous social commentary and crisp, fashionable line drawings made her extremely popular, and over 500 papers carried her work within the first year of syndication. Hays later became an illustrator for children's books, especially Raggedy Ann and Andy, as well as coloring books and paper doll cut-out books.
Nell Brinkley (1886 – 1944) belongs to an older generation of illustrators, with her first published work illustrating a children's book in 1906. A native of Colorado, Brinkley also was hired to make drawings for The Denver Post and later the Rocky Mountain News. In 1907 she began working for Hearst at the New York Journal-American in New York and quickly rose to fame. Her iconic Brinkley Girl was a likely influence on Hays. Most of the newspaper illustrations present here are color full page illustrations in the American Weekly magazine section of San Francisco Examiner, and many are from two running series created with author Carolyn Wells.
- Acquisition information:
- This collection was given to Stanford University, Special Collections at an unknown date.
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Indexed terms
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
Open for research. Note that material must be requested at least 36 hours in advance of intended use.
- Terms of access:
-
While Special Collections is the owner of the physical and digital items, permission to examine collection materials is not an authorization to publish. These materials are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study. Any transmission or reproduction beyond that allowed by fair use requires permission from the owners of rights, heir(s) or assigns.
- Preferred citation:
-
[identification of item], Ethel Hays Collection (M2142). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
- Location of this collection:
-
Department of Special Collections, Green Library557 Escondido MallStanford, CA 94305-6004, US
- Contact:
- (650) 725-1022