Clare Briggs
Encyclopedia
Clare A. Briggs was an early American comic strip artist who rose to fame in 1904 with his strip A. Piker Clerk
. Briggs was best known for his later comic strips "When a Feller Needs a Friend," "Ain't It a Grand and Glorious Feeling?" and "The Days of Real Sport".
, Briggs lived there until the age of nine. In 1884, his family moved to Dixon, Illinois
, where he started his newspaper career at age ten, delivering the local paper to subscribers for 40 cents a week while wearing a red, white and blue cap with the name of the newspaper.
Briggs had three brothers, who grew up to all have creative careers, one as a musician, one as a writer, and the third in advertising.
After five years in Dixon, Briggs was 14 when his family relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska
, where he lived until 1896 when he was 21. Life in the Midwest gave Briggs the source material for the small town Americana that he later depicted in his cartoons.
. "If ever a fellow needed a friend, I did in mathematics," said Briggs. "It happened that Lieutenant Pershing was my instructor, and I believe he will testify that it was easier to conquer Germany than to teach me math. One day he ordered me to the blackboard to demonstrate a theorem, and while I was giving the problem a hard but losing battle, he remarked: 'Briggs, sit down, you don't know anything.' Right then and there, I decided to become a newspaper man."
On July 18, 1900, he married Ruth Owen of Lincoln. He began his career as a newspaper sketch artist in St. Louis, Missouri
with William Randolph Hearst
's Globe-Democrat
, which sent him off to cover the Spanish American War as an editorial cartoonist. Relocating in New York, his drawings for the New York Journal prompted Hearst to send Briggs to the Chicago Herald
and the Chicago's American
, where he created A. Piker Clerk
, often described as the first daily continuity comic strip. After 17 years in Chicago, Briggs returned to New York to spend the remaining 13 years of his life with the New York Tribune
.
circuit in 1914. In 1919, he produced four comedy film shorts for Paramount Pictures
.
The Mr. and Mrs. radio series, based on Briggs' strip, starred Jack Smart and Jane Houston as Jo and Vi. The series was broadcast on CBS from 1929 to 1931.
National catchphrases caught on from the titles of some of his newspaper cartoon features: Ain't It a Grand and Glorious Feeling?, Danny Dreamer, The Days of Real Sport, Movie of a Man, Mr. and Mrs, Real Folks at Home, Someone's Always Taking the Joy Out of Life, There's at Least One in Every Office and When a Feller Needs a Friend. Mr. and Mrs. ran during the last years of his life and continued in syndication after his death under his name. The names of Arthur Folwell and Ellison Hoover finally appeared on the strip in 1938.
One of his children, Clare Briggs, Jr., also was a comic strip artist and had an eponymous strip syndicated from 1939 through 1941.
In September 1929, neuritis of the optic nerve led Briggs to Baltimore for treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He died at the Neurological Institute of pneumonia on January 3, 1930. As he had requested, his ashes were scattered over New York Harbor.
Briggs' death in 1930 prompted Franklin P. Adams to write:
A. Piker Clerk
A. Piker Clerk was a short-lived yet influential newspaper comic strip created in 1903 by the cartoonist Clare Briggs. It was syndicated in William Randolph Hearst's Chicago American for a short period.-Characters and story:...
. Briggs was best known for his later comic strips "When a Feller Needs a Friend," "Ain't It a Grand and Glorious Feeling?" and "The Days of Real Sport".
Early life
Born in Reedsburg, WisconsinReedsburg, Wisconsin
Reedsburg is a city in Sauk County, Wisconsin, along the Baraboo River. The population was 10,014 at the 2010 census. The city is in the Town of Reedsburg, but is politically independent...
, Briggs lived there until the age of nine. In 1884, his family moved to Dixon, Illinois
Dixon, Illinois
Dixon is a city in Lee County, Illinois, United States. The population was 15,733 as of the 2010 census, down from 15,941 at the 2000 census. Named for its founder, John Dixon , it is the county seat of Lee County. Located on the Rock River, Dixon was the boyhood home of former U.S...
, where he started his newspaper career at age ten, delivering the local paper to subscribers for 40 cents a week while wearing a red, white and blue cap with the name of the newspaper.
Briggs had three brothers, who grew up to all have creative careers, one as a musician, one as a writer, and the third in advertising.
After five years in Dixon, Briggs was 14 when his family relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska
Lincoln, Nebraska
The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....
, where he lived until 1896 when he was 21. Life in the Midwest gave Briggs the source material for the small town Americana that he later depicted in his cartoons.
A push from Pershing
While attending the University of Nebraska for two years, he studied drawing and stenography. Employment as a stenographer brought him $6 a week, when the work was available. One of his art instructors was an editor with Western Penman, where his first published drawings appeared. His mathematics teacher was Lieutenant John J. PershingJohn J. Pershing
John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing, GCB , was a general officer in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I...
. "If ever a fellow needed a friend, I did in mathematics," said Briggs. "It happened that Lieutenant Pershing was my instructor, and I believe he will testify that it was easier to conquer Germany than to teach me math. One day he ordered me to the blackboard to demonstrate a theorem, and while I was giving the problem a hard but losing battle, he remarked: 'Briggs, sit down, you don't know anything.' Right then and there, I decided to become a newspaper man."
On July 18, 1900, he married Ruth Owen of Lincoln. He began his career as a newspaper sketch artist in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
with William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
's Globe-Democrat
St. Louis Globe-Democrat
The St. Louis Globe-Democrat was originally a daily print newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri from 1852 until 1986...
, which sent him off to cover the Spanish American War as an editorial cartoonist. Relocating in New York, his drawings for the New York Journal prompted Hearst to send Briggs to the Chicago Herald
Chicago Record Herald
The Chicago Record Herald was a newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois from 1901 until 1914. It was the successor to the Chicago Morning Herald, the Chicago Times Herald and the Chicago Record. It was succeeded by the Chicago Herald Examiner....
and the Chicago's American
Chicago's American
Chicago American, an afternoon newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, was the last flowering of the aggressive journalistic tradition depicted in the play and movie The Front Page....
, where he created A. Piker Clerk
A. Piker Clerk
A. Piker Clerk was a short-lived yet influential newspaper comic strip created in 1903 by the cartoonist Clare Briggs. It was syndicated in William Randolph Hearst's Chicago American for a short period.-Characters and story:...
, often described as the first daily continuity comic strip. After 17 years in Chicago, Briggs returned to New York to spend the remaining 13 years of his life with the New York Tribune
New York Tribune
The New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
.
Vaudeville, films and radio
Briggs was also a popular lecturer, earning $100 for a single speech. He accepted a five-week contract for $500 a week to appear on the vaudevilleVaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
circuit in 1914. In 1919, he produced four comedy film shorts for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
.
The Mr. and Mrs. radio series, based on Briggs' strip, starred Jack Smart and Jane Houston as Jo and Vi. The series was broadcast on CBS from 1929 to 1931.
National catchphrases caught on from the titles of some of his newspaper cartoon features: Ain't It a Grand and Glorious Feeling?, Danny Dreamer, The Days of Real Sport, Movie of a Man, Mr. and Mrs, Real Folks at Home, Someone's Always Taking the Joy Out of Life, There's at Least One in Every Office and When a Feller Needs a Friend. Mr. and Mrs. ran during the last years of his life and continued in syndication after his death under his name. The names of Arthur Folwell and Ellison Hoover finally appeared on the strip in 1938.
One of his children, Clare Briggs, Jr., also was a comic strip artist and had an eponymous strip syndicated from 1939 through 1941.
In September 1929, neuritis of the optic nerve led Briggs to Baltimore for treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He died at the Neurological Institute of pneumonia on January 3, 1930. As he had requested, his ashes were scattered over New York Harbor.
Briggs' death in 1930 prompted Franklin P. Adams to write:
- I feel acutely the loss of a cartoonist whose work I have enjoyed hugely for 30 years. I enjoyed it so much that I got him to leave Chicago so that his work could appear in the New York Tribune with mine. It helped the paper so much that Clare stayed there for 15 years, seven years longer than I did. To my notion, he drew no dud cartoons. I never knew anyone who so enjoyed working. Often while drawing a cartoon I have seen him laugh uproariously at it. He was a sweet and merry boy, if a rotten poker player, and the public, poorer for his leaving it, is a big winner in having him at all.
Sources
- Strickler, DaveDave StricklerDave Strickler is a reference librarian noted for his compilation of Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924–1995: The Complete Index, regarded as a major reference work by researchers and historians of newspaper comic strips....
. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1