McNaught Syndicate
Encyclopedia
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
and O. O. McIntyre
O. O. McIntyre
Oscar Odd McIntyre was a famed New York newspaper columnist of the 1920s and 1930s who cleverly combined a small town point of view with urban sophistication...
, the Dear Abby
Dear Abby
Dear Abby is the name of the 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....
letters section and comic strips, including Joe Palooka
Joe Palooka
Joe Palooka was an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher in 1921. The strip debuted in 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers....
and Heathcliff
Heathcliff (comic strip)
Heathcliff is a comic strip created by George Gately in 1973 featuring the title character, a wisecracking cat. Now written and drawn by Gately's nephew, Peter Gallagher, it is distributed to over 1,000 newspapers by Creators Syndicate, who took over the comic from McNaught Syndicate in 1988.The...
. It folded around 1988.
History
Virgil McNitt (1881–1964) first tried his hand at publishing a magazine, the McNaught Magazine, which failed. He then started the Central Press AssociationCentral Press Association
The Central Press Association was an American newspaper syndication company based in Cleveland, Ohio. It was in business from 1910 to 1971. At its peak, the Central Press supplied features, columns, and photographs to more than 400 newspapers and 12 million daily readers.-History:Virgil Venice...
in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately west of the Pennsylvania border...
.
In 1922, McNitt and Charles V. McAdam (1892–1985) transformed the Central Press Association into the McNaught Syndicate with headquarters in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
building. Will Rogers
Will Rogers
William "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
' weekly column started in 1922 in 25 newspapers. By 1926, his daily column ran in 92 newspapers, and it reached 400 papers three years later, making him one of the best paid and most read columnists of the United States at the time. Writers syndicated by McNaught in those first years included Paul Gallico
Paul Gallico
Paul William Gallico was a successful American novelist, short story and sports writer. Many of his works were adapted for motion pictures...
, Dale Carnegie
Dale Carnegie
Dale Breckenridge Carnegie was an American writer, lecturer, and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills...
, Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...
and Irvin S. Cobb
Irvin S. Cobb
Irvin Shrewsbury Cobb was an American author, humorist, and columnist who lived in New York and authored more than 60 books and 300 short stories.-Biography:...
.
By the early 1930s, the McNaught Syndicate had a stable which included columnists O. O. McIntyre and Al Smith
Al Smith
Alfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
and at one time even syndicated a letter by Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
. From 1925 until 1951, Charles Benedict Driscoll
Charles Benedict Driscoll
Charles Benedict Driscoll was a U.S. journalist and editor. Driscoll was born south of Wichita, Kansas on a farm that was purchased by his father after emigrating from Ireland by way of New York and Ohio...
was one of the editors and contributors for the syndicate.
Comic strips
One of the first syndicated artists was Rube GoldbergRube Goldberg
Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to...
. McNaught's line-up of comic strips included Mickey Finn
Mickey Finn (comics)
Mickey Finn was an American comic strip created by cartoonist Lank Leonard, which was syndicated to newspapers from 1936 to 1976. The successful lighthearted strip struck a balance between comedy and drama...
and Dixie Dugan. Ham Fisher
Ham Fisher
Hammond Edward Fisher was an American comic strip writer and cartoonist who signed his work Ham Fisher...
's Joe Palooka
Joe Palooka
Joe Palooka was an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher in 1921. The strip debuted in 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers....
was at first rejected by McNitt, but Fisher was hired as a salesman for the syndicate, offering McNaught's features to newspapers. After having sold his comic to 20 newspapers, McNitt had to change his opinion and added Joe Palooka to the syndicate, becoming one of the big successes for it.
From 1937 until 1939, many of the syndicate's comic strips were reprinted in the comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
anthology Feature Funnies
Feature Funnies
Feature Funnies was a comic book anthology title published by Comic Favorites, Inc. in the United States for 20 issues from 1937 until 1939. Feature Funnies cannily mixed color reprints of popular newspaper comic strips like Joe Palooka, Mickey Finn and Dixie Dugan with a smattering of new...
. In 1939, the syndicate hired Vin Sullivan
Vin Sullivan
Vincent "Vin" Sullivan was a pioneering American comic book editor, artist and publisher.As an editor for National Allied Publications, the future DC Comics, he was responsible for buying Superman from creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, and edited that archetypcal superhero in his first...
, then editor of Action Comics
Action Comics
Action Comics is an American comic book series that introduced Superman, the first major superhero character as the term is popularly defined...
, to start a new comics publishing company, Columbia Comics
Columbia Comics
The Columbia Comics Corporation was formed in 1940 as a partnership between Vin Sullivan and the McNaught Newspaper Syndicate. The idea was to publish comics featuring a mix of McNaught-owned comic strip reprints like Joe Palooka and Charlie Chan as well as original features.The first title...
, which would carry both new comics and reprints of McNaught syndicated comics like Joe Palooka. The company existed until 1949 and is best remembered for their publication Big Shot Comics
Big Shot Comics
Big Shot Comics was an American comic book series published by Columbia Comics during period in the 1940s that fans and historians refer to as the Golden Age of comic books. It ran 104 issues, cover-dated May 1940 to August 1949. With issue #30 , the title was shortened to simply Big Shot...
.
Other successes included columns by Dale Carnegie
Dale Carnegie
Dale Breckenridge Carnegie was an American writer, lecturer, and the developer of famous courses in self-improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking, and interpersonal skills...
and Dear Abby
Dear Abby
Dear Abby is the name of the 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....
by Abigail Van Duren. At the time of McNitt's death in 1964, the syndicate was still led by McAdam, providing contents to 1,000 newspapers.
The syndicate continued columns and strips which were already successful when acquired, but it also was active in creating and suggesting new content, from the Will Rogers columns to comic strips like Don Dean's Cranberry Boggs. In one case, McNitt supported a crossover between the comic strips Joe Palooka and Dixie Dugan, a feat which was commented upon by Editor & Publisher
Editor & Publisher
Editor & Publisher is a monthly magazine covering the North American newspaper industry. It is based in New York City. E&P calls itself "America's Oldest Journal Covering the Newspaper Industry" and describes itself on its website as "the authoritative journal covering all aspects of the North...
.
Their last success came with the comic strip Heathcliff
Heathcliff (comic strip)
Heathcliff is a comic strip created by George Gately in 1973 featuring the title character, a wisecracking cat. Now written and drawn by Gately's nephew, Peter Gallagher, it is distributed to over 1,000 newspapers by Creators Syndicate, who took over the comic from McNaught Syndicate in 1988.The...
, which they syndicated from the start in 1973 until the late 1980s. Heathcliff appeared in some 1,000 newspapers, and the McNaught Syndicate became the production company for a few Heathcliff movies, including Heathcliff: The Movie
Heathcliff: The Movie
Heathcliff: The Movie is a 1986 low budget animated film from DiC Entertainment, released by Atlantic Releasing under their Clubhouse Pictures label. Paramount Home Video released Heathcliff: The Movie on VHS in 1988...
from 1986. By 1987, McNaught had only 24 features left, making it the tenth largest comic strip syndicate in the United States at that time. Probably in 1988, the syndicate eventually folded.
Columns
- Holmes Moss Alexander, from 1947 until 1981
- Jimmy FidlerJimmy FidlerJimmie Fidler was an American columnist, journalist and radio and television personality. He wrote a Hollywood gossip column and was sometimes billed as Jimmy Fidler.Born in St...
with Jimmy Fiddler in Hollywood, a gossip column carried by 187 newspapers - Sir Philip GibbsPhilip GibbsSir Philip Gibbs was an English journalist and novelist who served as one of five official British reporters during the First World War. Two of his siblings were also writers, A...
and Hendrik Willem van LoonHendrik Willem van LoonHendrik Willem van Loon was a Dutch-American historian and journalist.-Life:He was born in Rotterdam, the son of Hendrik Willem van Loon and Elisabeth Johanna Hanken. He went to the United States in 1902 to study at Cornell University, receiving his degree in 1905...
, both reporting on the Second World War - The Great Game of Politics by Frank Richardson Kent, appearing in 140 newspapers in 1934
- Alice Roosevelt LongworthAlice Roosevelt LongworthAlice Lee Roosevelt Longworth was the oldest child of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. She was the only child of Roosevelt and his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee....
, appearing in 100 newspapers in 1936 - The Lyons Den by Leonard LyonsLeonard LyonsLeonard Lyons was an American newspaper columnist.Leonard Sucher grew up in a large family of Jewish immigrants from the town of Horodenka in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father Moses, a tailor, died when he was six. His mother sold cigarettes and candy on the Lower East Side...
, taken over from the King Features SyndicateKing Features SyndicateKing Features Syndicate, a print syndication company owned by The Hearst Corporation, distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons, puzzles and games to nearly 5000 newspapers worldwide...
in 1941: appeared in some 20 newspapers - New York Day by Day by O. O. McIntyreO. O. McIntyreOscar Odd McIntyre was a famed New York newspaper columnist of the 1920s and 1930s who cleverly combined a small town point of view with urban sophistication...
, "probably the most widely read columnist in the U.S.", appeared in some 400 newspapers After McIntyre's death in 1938, the column was continued by editor Charles Driscoll until 1951. - The State of The Nation by professor Raymond MoleyRaymond MoleyRaymond Charles Moley was a leading New Dealer who became its bitter opponent before the end of the Great Depression....
- Dear AbbyDear AbbyDear Abby is the name of the 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....
by Pauline PhillipsPauline PhillipsPauline Phillips is an American advice columnist and radio show host who began the "Dear Abby" column in 1956. Married to Morton Phillips, the couple has two children, a son, Edward Jay Phillips, and a daughter, Jeanne Phillips....
was syndicated by McNaught from 1956 until 1966, when it was taken over by the Chicago TribuneChicago TribuneThe Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
syndicate By 1957, it ran in about 80 newspapers. - "Will Rogers Says", a daily column by Will RogersWill RogersWilliam "Will" Penn Adair Rogers was an American cowboy, comedian, humorist, social commentator, vaudeville performer, film actor, and one of the world's best-known celebrities in the 1920s and 1930s....
, appearing in 500 newspapers by 1935 - Eleanor RooseveltEleanor RooseveltAnna Eleanor Roosevelt was the First Lady of the United States from 1933 to 1945. She supported the New Deal policies of her husband, distant cousin Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and became an advocate for civil rights. After her husband's death in 1945, Roosevelt continued to be an international...
in 1934, with limited success - Louis RukeyserLouis RukeyserLouis Richard "Lou" Rukeyser was an American financial journalist, columnist, and commentator, through print, radio, and television....
, economic columnist, from 1976 to 1986 - Major Alexander Procofieff de SeverskyAlexander Procofieff de SeverskyAlexander Nikolaievich Prokofiev de Seversky was a Russian-American aviation pioneer, inventor, and influential advocate of strategic air power.-Early life:...
, syndicated in 85 newspapers - a weekly feature by Al SmithAl SmithAlfred Emanuel Smith. , known in private and public life as Al Smith, was an American statesman who was elected the 42nd Governor of New York three times, and was the Democratic U.S. presidential candidate in 1928...
between 1931 and 1932: appeared in some 70 newspapers by 1931 - New York by John Cameron SwayzeJohn Cameron SwayzeJohn Cameron Swayze was a popular news commentator and game show panelist in the United States during the 1950s.- Early life :...
, appearing in 50 newspapers in 1951 - Andrew Tully, from 1969 on, with more than 150 subscribing newspapers
- Walter WinchellWalter WinchellWalter Winchell was an American newspaper and radio gossip commentator.-Professional career:Born Walter Weinschel in New York City, he left school in the sixth grade and started performing in a vaudeville troupe known as Gus Edwards' "Newsboys Sextet."His career in journalism was begun by posting...
Comic strips and cartoons
- Cartoons by Rube GoldbergRube GoldbergReuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.He is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. These devices, now known as Rube Goldberg machines, are similar to...
, including Boob McNuttBoob McNuttBoob McNutt was a comic strip by Rube Goldberg which ran from 1915 to September 1934. It was syndicated by the McNaught Syndicate from 1922 until the end of its run....
, appeared in over 200 newspapers from 1922 until 1934 - Editorial cartoons by Reg ManningReg ManningReginald W. Manning , better known as Reg Manning, was an American artist and illustrator, best known for his editorial cartoons....
, syndicated by McNaught from 1948 to 1971, winner of the Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
for Editorial Cartooning in 1951 - Some comic strips based on popular animated TV series, including Yogi BearYogi BearYogi Bear is a fictional bear who appears in animated cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show. Yogi Bear was the first breakout character created by Hanna-Barbera, and was eventually more popular than...
and The FlintstonesThe FlintstonesThe Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that screened from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, The Flintstones was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend. It... - The Bungle Family by Harry J. TuthillHarry J. TuthillHarry J. Tuthill was an American cartoonist best known for his comic strip The Bungle Family.Born in Chicago, Illinois, he grew up in the tenements and worked as a newsboy, quitting when a tough guy muscled in on his corner...
, created in 1918, syndicated by McNaught from 1924 until 1945 - Charlie ChanCharlie ChanCharlie Chan is a fictional Chinese-American detective created by Earl Derr Biggers in 1919. Loosely based on Honolulu detective Chang Apana, Biggers conceived of the benevolent and heroic Chan as an alternative to Yellow Peril stereotypes, such as villains like Fu Manchu...
by Alfred AndriolaAlfred AndriolaAlfred James Andriola was an American cartoonist best known for the comic strip Kerry Drake, for which he won a Reuben Award in 1970. His work sometimes appeared under the pseudonym Alfred James....
, an adaptation of the novels which ran between 1938 and 1942 - Cranberry Boggs by Don Dean
- Dixie Dugan by J. P. McEvoy and John H. StriebelJohn H. StriebelJohn H. Striebel was an American illustrator and comic strip artist who was best known for the newspaper strip Dixie Dugan, which was scripted by J. P. McEvoy...
: 1929-1966 - HeathcliffHeathcliff (comic strip)Heathcliff is a comic strip created by George Gately in 1973 featuring the title character, a wisecracking cat. Now written and drawn by Gately's nephew, Peter Gallagher, it is distributed to over 1,000 newspapers by Creators Syndicate, who took over the comic from McNaught Syndicate in 1988.The...
by George GatelyGeorge GatelyGeorge Gately Gallagher , better known as George Gately, was born in Queens Village, Queens. He is best known as the creator of the popular comic character Heathcliff.-Biography:...
, created in 1973, was originally syndicated by McNaught before switching to Tribune Media ServicesTribune Media ServicesTribune Media Services is a syndication company owned by the Tribune Company.The company has two divisions, "News and Features" and "Entertainment Products"...
and later Creators SyndicateCreators SyndicateCreators Syndicate is an independent distributor of comic strips and syndicated columns for daily newspapers. It was founded in 1987 by Richard S. Newcombe, and is based in Los Angeles. Creators was one of the first syndicates to allow its clients to maintain creative control of their material... - Hoosegow Herman, a daily comic strip by Wally Wallberg, appeared in 22 newspapers from 1938 on
- The Jackson TwinsThe Jackson TwinsThe Jackson Twins was an American comic strip, created by Dick Brooks and distributed by the McNaught Syndicate...
by Dick BrooksDick BrooksRichard "Dick" Brooks was an American NASCAR driver. Born in Porterville, California, he was the 1969 NASCAR Rookie of the Year, and went on to win the 1973 Talladega 500...
, from 1950 until 1979 - Joe PalookaJoe PalookaJoe Palooka was an American comic strip about a heavyweight boxing champion, created by cartoonist Ham Fisher in 1921. The strip debuted in 1930 and was carried at its peak by 900 newspapers....
by Ham FisherHam FisherHammond Edward Fisher was an American comic strip writer and cartoonist who signed his work Ham Fisher...
: 1930-1984, appeared in some 650 newspapers in 1959 - Johnny Comet by Frank FrazettaFrank FrazettaFrank Frazetta was an American fantasy and science fiction artist, noted for work in comic books, paperback book covers, paintings, posters, LP record album covers and other media...
and Earl BaldwinEarl BaldwinNote: This page is about the screenwriter. For the British peer, see Earl Baldwin of Bewdley.Earl Baldwin was an American screenwriter...
, 1952-1953 - Mickey FinnMickey Finn (comics)Mickey Finn was an American comic strip created by cartoonist Lank Leonard, which was syndicated to newspapers from 1936 to 1976. The successful lighthearted strip struck a balance between comedy and drama...
by Lank LeonardLank LeonardFrank E. Leonard , better known as Lank Leonard, was an American cartoonist artist who created the long-running comic strip Mickey Finn, which he drew for more than three decades.-Early life and career:...
, 1936–1976, ran at its peak in more than 300 newspapers - That'll Be the Day
- Toonerville FolksToonerville FolksToonerville Folks was a popular newspaper cartoon feature by Fontaine Fox, which ran from 1908 to 1955. It began in 1908 in the Chicago Post, and by 1913, it was syndicated nationally by the Wheeler Syndicate...
by Fontaine FoxFontaine FoxFontaine Talbot Fox Jr. was an American cartoonist and illustrator born near Louisville, Kentucky.Fox is best known for writing and illustrating his Toonerville Folks comic panel. It ran from 1913 to 1955 in 250 to 300 newspapers across North America.The cartoons are set in the small town of...
, which ran from 1908 until 1955. When syndicated by McNaught from the 1930s on, it ran in about 300 newspapers