Guide to the Bill Loughman Collection of Walt McDougall and Valerian Gribayedoff Cartoon Tearsheets

Biography of Walt McDougall, Valerian Gribayedoff, and Bill Loughman

Walt McDougall:

Walter Hugh McDougall was born in Newark, New Jersey in 1858. He developed an interest in art through his father who was a painter. McDougall began his career in the 1870s as an engraver for the New York Graphic, America's first illustrated daily newspaper. Soon afterward he sold cartoons to publications such as The Extra, Harper's Weekly, and Puck magazine.

McDougall had the distinction to have the first cartoon printed in color in an American newspaper on May 21, 1893. In 1894 his collaboration with cartoonist Mark Fenderson "The Unfortunate Fate of a Well-Intended Dog," became the first color comic strip in an American newspaper. In 1898, McDougall drew the largest single-panel cartoon ever for The Humorist, which was spread over two full pages. In addition to drawing full-page color cartoons for The New York World, he also illustrated Bill Nye's weekly editorial column for the American Press Association, making him the first syndicated newspaper artist.

One of McDougall's most well-known cartoons appeared on the front page of The New York World on October 30, 1884. The cartoon illustrated Republican presidential candidate James G. Blaine dining at a New York City restaurant with wealthy businessmen. The caption read: "The Royal Feast of Belshazzar Blaine and the Money Kings." This work has been noted by historians as one of the main reasons Blaine was defeated in the election five days later. Many historians believe that "The Royal Feast" was a historically important to the development and evolution of political cartoons as was Thomas Nast's caricatures of Boss Tweed and Benjamin Franklin's famous "Join or Die" cartoon created in 1754 at the beginning of war with France.

Walt McDougall also produced hundreds of full-age one-shot gags for Sunday comic sections as well as numerous Sunday comic strips including "Fatty Felix," "Peck's Bad Boy," "The Wizard of Oz," and "Handsome Hautrey" for the Philadelphia North American. He also created "Hand the Hermit" and "Animal Friends" for the Western Newspaper Syndicate. His daily comics included "Absent Minded Abner," "Teddy in Africa," Gink and Book," and "The Radio Buggs."

After spending the last 20 years of life in seclusion in Connecticut, Walt McDougall committed suicide in March 1938 at the age of 80.

Valerian Gribayedoff:

Valerian Gribayedoff was born in Kronstadt, Russia in 1858. He was educated in St. Petersburg, England, France, and Germany. Gribayedoff later came to America to work as a journalist and rose to prominence by recreating drawings from photos to be included in the newspapers. His portraits were considered more lifelike than others in the field. His last work for an American newspaper was covering the Russo-Japanese War as a correspondent in Siberia. He died in Paris in 1908.

Bill (William) Loughman:

Is an avid collector of cartoon history.

Scope and Content

The collection features newspaper tearsheets of cartoons illustrated by artists Walt McDougall and Valerian Gribayedoff. The cartoons range in size- full page, half page, quarter page, and smaller blocks, and are printed in both color and black and white. The majority of cartoons were published in The New York World from 1894 to 1913 (bulk dates 1884-1984). Some tearsheets are from other publications such as The Chicago Daily News and Sunday Record-Herald. Of particular interest in this collection is a tearsheet of Walt McDougall's cartoon from The New York World on October 30, 1884. This shows McDougall's infamous cartoon "The Royal Feast of Belshazzar Blaine and the Money Kings," portraying Republican presidential candidate James G. Blaine dining at a New York City restaurant with wealthy businessmen such as Andrew Carnegie, John Jacob Astor, and others. This work has been noted by historians as one of the main reasons Blaine was defeated in the election five days later.

The collection also contains 77 cartoons illustrated by Valerian Gribayedoff. These drawings are found within the same tearsheets as McDougall's cartoons, often signed with his initals V.G. Interestingly, "The Royal Feast..."cartoon is also signed by Gribayedoff.

The Bill Loughman Collection of Walt McDougall and Valerian Gribayedoff tearsheets is 15.03 linear in 9 boxes. The material was came from the collection of Bill Loughman and was donated to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library and Museum in 2012. The tearsheets have been arranged by publication date. A complete listing of cartoon titles and dates can be found within each box. The cartoons on the tear sheets have been described and imaged in the Original Art Database, available at the following link:
https://osucartoons.pastperfectonline.com/advancedsearch?utf8=%E2%9C%93&advanceSearchActivated=true&firstTimeSearch=true&search_include_objects=true&search_include_photos=true&search_include_archives=true&search_include_library=true&search_include_containers=true&search_include_creators=true&search_include_people=true&searchcat_1=&searchcat_2=&searchcat_3=&searchcat_4=&searchcat_5=&searchcat_6=&searchcat_7=%22Bill+Loughman+Collection+of+Walt+McDougall+and+Valerian+Gribayedoff+Cartoon+Tear+sheets%22&searchcat_8=&searchcat_9=&searchcat_10=&searchButton=Search>here

Statement of Arrangement

Restrictions on Use

All copyright laws pertain to any use or reproduction of published materials in the collection.

Restrictions on Access

There are no access restrictions for materials in this collection.

Indexing Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.

Subjects:

Persons:

Material Types:

Titles:

Custodial History

The collection was assembled, owned, and maintained by Bill Loughman.

Preferred Citation

The Bill Loughman Collection of Walt McDougall and Valerian Gribayedoff Cartoon Tearsheets, The Ohio State University Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Bill Loughman, 2012

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Wendy Pflug in May 2012.

Other Finding Aid

Listings of the each cartoon caption, date, and artist are available in each box.

Detailed Description of The Collection

Tearsheets featuring Walt McDougall and Valerian Gribayedoff cartoons are filed together. Please refer to the listings of the each cartoon caption, date, and artist found in each box.