Back when the Lorain
Journal’s front page was jam-packed with news, the reader never knew what they would find in addition to the many items of local and national interest.
Often tucked in the lower right corner was something light and fun. During the holidays, it might be a little cartoon with a countdown of the number of days until Christmas. But other times, it could be anything; in this case, on the front page of the September 19, 1970 edition, it’s a small announcement of Mickey Mouse’s birthday.
As the article notes, the Sept. 19, 1928 date is when Mickey Mouse was ‘created.’ That was the date that the first Mickey Mouse cartoon with sound (“Steamboat Willie”) was shown in New York. Since the 1970s, however, the Disney people have changed the date of the famous cheese-eater’s official birthday to November 19th.
Anyway, the
Journal ran the
Mickey Mouse comic strip on its funny pages for many years. Here are a few samples from that paper over the years.
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| This strip from Sept. 16, 1961 has a fairly dark theme. Is that a pre-prison Beagle Boy with the gun? |
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| The comic from December 7, 1963. Apparently Goofy was ahead of his time in motion sensor technology. |
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| This June 18, 1973 strip features one of those lookalike mousey ‘nephews' of unknown parentage. |
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| Pluto comes a-running in this September 1, 1973 comic. No leash laws in Mouseville, apparently. |
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| In this strip from June 3, 1977, Goofy has traded his iconic turtleneck and vest for a sweater. |
As you can see, in this gag-a-day format Mickey is depicted as a middle-class mouse living in the suburbs. He’s sort of a gentle Jerry Seinfeld type, with his own, goofy Krameresque friend (Goofy, who else?) to sometimes provide the laughs. But don’t look for Donald Duck in these comics; the ill-tempered fowl was busy starring in his
own comic strip. (He lived in Duckburg anyway.)
I recall a strip, don't remember from when, where Mickey referred to a mess left by his nephew Morty as "a Mickey Mouse way of doing things", followed by a startled expression on his face.
ReplyDeleteI rarely read the Disney comic books, but the daily Mickey Mouse strip was something that I read faithfully.
If you get the chance, read some of the strips from the Thirties and Forties; Mickey was an adventure hero back then, much like Popeye in "Thimble Theatre".
Just watched a documentary on Walt Disney. After Snow White was a financial success he bought his parents a home nearby. A faulty gas heater asphyxiated his Mother. Documentary's opinion is that lead to the Mother passing in subsequent pictures. He carried much guilt over this. Rae
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