Stan Fine
Encyclopedia
Stan Fine a prolific American gag cartoon
ist who contributed to major magazines, signed his work with his full name but sometimes reversed his last name to submit cartoon
s under the signature Enif.
Born in Pittsburgh, Fine studied at the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art and then launched his cartoon career. His work appeared for decades in a wide variety of publications, including The American Magazine, Cartoon Spice, Collier's
, Good Housekeeping
, Look. National Enquirer, National Lampoon, The Saturday Evening Post
and Woman's World
.
featuring a cast of child characters—Klunkhead, Powder Puff, Specs Webster and Terry the Terror. Distributed by King Features Syndicate
, the series began November 4, 1963 and continued until October 1964. He also worked on the syndicated Hazel, as recalled by Ted Key
's son, Peter Key:
From his studio at 125 Montgomery Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
, Fine used the services of several gagwriters, including Terry Wampler. Wampler's contributions were acknowledged in one National Enquirer cartoon showing kids in Halloween costumes, outside a darkened house, saying, "We know you're in there, Mr. Wampler, so turn on the light and come out with your hands full."
. Fine was often represented in Lariar's Best Cartoons of the Year annuals.
His work is in the Daniel McCormick Collection at Wayne State University.
Gag cartoon
A gag cartoon is most often a single-panel cartoon, usually including a hand-lettered or typeset caption beneath the drawing. A pantomime cartoon carries no caption...
ist who contributed to major magazines, signed his work with his full name but sometimes reversed his last name to submit cartoon
Cartoon
A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...
s under the signature Enif.
Born in Pittsburgh, Fine studied at the Philadelphia School of Industrial Art and then launched his cartoon career. His work appeared for decades in a wide variety of publications, including The American Magazine, Cartoon Spice, Collier's
Collier's Weekly
Collier's Weekly was an American magazine founded by Peter Fenelon Collier and published from 1888 to 1957. With the passage of decades, the title was shortened to Collier's....
, Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the...
, Look. National Enquirer, National Lampoon, The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
and Woman's World
Woman's World
Woman's World is an American supermarket weekly magazine with a circulation of 1.6 million readers. Generally marketed with other tabloid papers, it concentrates on short stories about popular woman-focused subjects such as weight loss , relationship advice and cooking, though also...
.
King Features
For a year in the mid-1960s, he entered into newspaper syndication with Art Linkletter's Kids, a daily gag panelDaily strip
A daily strip is a newspaper comic strip format, appearing on weekdays, Monday through Saturday, as contrasted with a Sunday strip, which typically only appears on Sundays....
featuring a cast of child characters—Klunkhead, Powder Puff, Specs Webster and Terry the Terror. Distributed by King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate
King 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...
, the series began November 4, 1963 and continued until October 1964. He also worked on the syndicated Hazel, as recalled by Ted Key
Ted Key
Ted Key, born Theodore Keyser , was an American cartoonist and writer. He is best known as the creator of the cartoon series Hazel.-College to cartoons:...
's son, Peter Key:
- When Curtis Publishing went into bankruptcy, my father obtained the rights to Hazel from it and worked out a deal under which he wrote and drew six Hazel cartoons a week for King Features Syndicate, which syndicated them to newspapers across the country. My father hired cartoonist Stan Fine to ink his drawings. I wrote gags for him for an eight-year period, but he still turned out six new Hazel cartoons a week until he retired in 1993. King Features still syndicates Hazel to newspapers, but the cartoons are ones that appeared before.
From his studio at 125 Montgomery Avenue in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania
Bala Cynwyd is a community in Lower Merion Township which is located on the Main Line in southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at US Route 1 . It was originally two separate towns, Bala and Cynwyd, but is commonly treated as a single community...
, Fine used the services of several gagwriters, including Terry Wampler. Wampler's contributions were acknowledged in one National Enquirer cartoon showing kids in Halloween costumes, outside a darkened house, saying, "We know you're in there, Mr. Wampler, so turn on the light and come out with your hands full."
Books
Books with Fine's byline include How to Stop Smoking Without Hardly Trying (Gem Publishing, 1964) which displayed "16 detachable jumbo picture postcards". His cartoons were reprinted in many collections, including The Little Monsters (Ace, 1956) and the hardcover You've Got Me in the Suburbs (Dodd Mead, 1957), cartoons about commuters and suburbanites, edited by Lawrence LariarLawrence Lariar
Lawrence Lariar was an American novelist, cartoonist and cartoon editor, notable for his Best Cartoons of the Year series of cartoon collections...
. Fine was often represented in Lariar's Best Cartoons of the Year annuals.
His work is in the Daniel McCormick Collection at Wayne State University.