Introducing the The Junior Times from 1922-1923!
There isn’t much information around the ‘net about “The Junior Times”, the 8 page little tabloid Sunday supplement for children, started as a supplement to the Los Angeles Sunday Times on July 23, 1922. Here is the announcement of the little paper, advertised on the front page of the Los Angeles Times: 
 The paper started out a lot like a miniature “St. Nicholas” magazine, reprinting some of the Chicago Tribune’s kid-skewing features like “The Teeny-Weenies” and obscure comic strips like “Just Dog” by Robert Dickey and “Buttons and Fatty” by a cartoonist named “Meb”. It wasn’t until Sept. 9th, 1923 that “Aunt Dolly”‘s interactive pages for children started. The mysterious Aunt encouraged poetry, fiction, art and photography from her young readers and got a good response. Among the earliest contributors were Manuel M. Moreno, who was an animation pioneer working with Walter Lantz as early as 1930:
This little drawing, “Not So Happy Fourth” from 9-9-1923, is the earliest one I could find in the Jr. Times. Manuel developed a cuter Oswald the Rabbit for Walter Lantz while he worked there, he had a more appealing and controlled approach to his animation than the usual standard at Lantz. As a child, he figured prominently in the 1923 Aunt Dolly Christmas Party: “Speaking of Toy-Makers reminds me of the good news concerning our talented cartoonist, Manuel K. (sic)Â Moreno. He is making a meteorlike career for himself. First capturing a Kodak as a prize, then receiving a special $5 cash prize in addition for exceptional Toy-Maker work. But not content with such honors, he has become a captain of our famous club, thereby winning another prize. Now just when Aunt Dolly was writing his order for a $2.50 check, in he has come with two bulging parcels under his arm. ‘For the Toy-Makers,’ he said, with his ready smile, ‘I hope they will make some little boy and girl happy.’ It is needless to say that The Times committee of happiness was surprised when they looked down on his clever pivoting toys, a cat that humps his back, raises it’s tail and rolls it’s eyes at you, a football player carved and painted, that throws a ball like a bluestreak, and a clown that opens his mouth and makes grimaces at you.” (by Aunt Dolly, 12-2-1923) Note the early penchant for animation in Moreno’s early toys! I certainly wish I could see pictures of those toys, especially the cat! Here are two episodes of Manuel’s early comic strip for the Jr. Times, called “Mr. Peach”: 
 These are from Oct. and Dec., 1923 and are among the earliest child-contributed comic strips I found in the Jr. Times. I also found an early drawing by Bob Wickersham: 
 from 9-16-1923, and Cal Howard: 
 Nov. 11, 1923. I’m sure both these boys are well-known to animation fans, Wickersham for his animation at Disney’s and Screen Gems, where he was the main contributor to the “Fox and Crow” cartoons, and Cal Howard, animator for Walter Lantz, who became a key gag and story creator in the golden age, contributing stories to Lantz almost right up to 1972. Thanks to the Glendale Library’s subscription to the vintage L.A. Times, I can search the 1920s papers without loading any microfilm into readers, all the material is right here on the ‘net. The “Vacation, ‘Nuff Sed” cover drawing above is by Hardie Gramatky, future creator of “Little Toot” and pioneer Disney animator, as well as one of the finest California watercolorists. He was one of John Bohnenberger’s idols as related in a previous post. Hardie’s mother, and brother Herbert both contributed to Aunt Dolly’s contests as well in 1923. It must have helped Hardie to come from such an artistic family, look what he did with his heritage! I’ll try to find more material from “The Junior Times” as we go along. Such kids as Fred Moore contributed some comics to the Junior Times later on, as we’ll see.
 Barker Bill is from 1-24 to 2-6-1955 this time. The circus is still travelling, with many gags featuring the Fat Lady, Phyllis Fizeek and May, her niece, Elephants, a Giraffe and of course, Peanut Perkins, the resident dumb roustabout. Perkins is even in the Sunday page from the Boston Globe. A mix-up in deliveries to the tailor and the Gorilla by Peanut, set up the next batch of continuity gags in the Barker Bill strip.
 Felix from 6-3 to 6-9-1935 continues the Gorilla Island story. It’s uncanny how such a cartoony style as Messmer’s can create scary monster animals, such as the ones in 6-6 and 6-8 episodes. The giant duck introduced in the 6-8 figures in the story to a great extent later on. The Giant making a pipe out of an elf’s house in the Sunday page, reminds me of some of the gags in “The Brave Little Tailor”, a Mickey Mouse cartoon from 1938. Messmer did them first!
 Krazy this time is from 4-14 to 4-19-1941. The continuity lasts all week and involves two trees, Offissa Pupp and Ignatz as the principal elements. The last two strips feature a talking brick. The key weapon in the strip has become a character.
Patrick, from 2-13 to 2-18-1967, concludes our little screed this time. Suzy is the featured supporting player this week, trying to get a valentine out of Patrick and trying to appeal to his stomach with a cake. Patrick believes that St. Valentine’s day is actually Attila the Hun’s birthday. Sounds like an appropriate hero for the horrible little brat.
If any of you historians out there can contribute some info. to the “Junior Times” series, drop me a line. It will be a welcome relief from all the mail I get in Russian and the strange offers of Faster Computer Speeds which usually originate from Gmail addresses. Cut it out you guys, or I’ll give you such a pinch!
Charles Brubaker says:
Allan Holtz may have some info on Junior Times. You can ask him
His website is http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/
Always interested in seeing early works of animators!
Jenny Lerew says:
I found out about the Junior Times via my long ago(1981) research on Fred Moore. I think every aspiring cartoonist in L.A, must have contributed:
http://blackwingdiaries.blogspot.com/2006/01/on-another-sunday-78-years-ago-today.html
Mark says:
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for your comment. I’m starting with the Hardie Gramatky era of the Junior Times and going through them to see what I can discover. It’s wonderful that I can do this on-line from the Glendale Public Library website. So far, most of the issues of the Junior Times have been there. I’m looking forward to the Fred Moore years, but interested in everything, really. Your blog is great, thanks for looking at mine.
Mark
Mario Manuel Prietto says:
Hi Mark,
I am so excited to find your blog through Valentin – do you know him?
My grandfather is Manuel Moreno, and growing up with him as my abuelo was awesome! I’m not sure if you know a lot about what happened after his days at the Junior Times club, but he was very successful with Winkler, Lantz, Nolan, and later in Mexico. But Mexico did not go very well for him. He brought all his money, his family, equipment, and talent (Clyde Geronomini, Burness, others) but it was a very difficult time (1943-6) with the war rations, and Disney’s hegemony/megalomania, etc…. the stockholders to Caricolor Producciones could not wait for MM to hook up his Hollywood connex for distribution of PELON: ME VOY DE CACERIA, the first animated sound color animated film to be produced in Mexico (all under Moreno’s guidance)…. so, that’s the briefest version. He got very bitter, depressed, crushed, never worked in the industry again. Went to work as a color film lab on Beverly. Kept making 16mm films with animated segments in it, editing at home. Then the 1980’s home video revolution came and he got all nuts about that. A fun grandfather to have, a forgotten legend for whom I can hopefully help to get more recognition. We sold his papers to Stanford University and are part of the Latin American Archive, which I pasted here.
Wanna help?
Mark says:
Hi Mario,
Yours has to be about the highest quality response I’ve ever had to this scribbly little blog. Of course I know Manuel Moreno’s work for Lantz and Bill Nolan on the Oswalds, Pooch the Pups and all the 1930s Lantz efforts. His high degree of draftsmanship really augmented Oswald’s personality in those cartoons. I don’t know exactly when he left Lantz, sometime in the early 1940s? I also know nothing of when he worked for Winkler, was that George Winkler on the silent Oswalds? Did Manuel have a brother named George who went to England and made a series of cartoons called Bubble N’ Squeek? There is a bit of live action footage of George working on those. I’m surprised that Manuel didn’t join forces with his brother at some point, since they both were animators. I love Manuel’s “Keen and Feeble Tat” strip he did for the Jr. Times, he seems to be gone from the Jr. Times by Oct. 1926. According to Aunt Dolly, Manuel was working professionally in the Los Angeles newspaper business by that time. Please send me any links you have to Manuel’s papers, always interested. Thanks so much for your great comment!
Valentin Moretto says:
Thank you so much for mentioning my name Mario, and best of luck for your project about your grandpa!
Mario Prietto says:
More than a YEAR LATER!!! Valentin and Mark, you guys are heroes in this weird world of cartoon arcana. Do you know the work of Tom Klein? He’s teaching at Loyola marymount University right now. He’s deep in that too. I’m just in it for my family. If you are interested in reading or researching my grandfather, you can request a peek at his archives at Stanford’s Latin American Archive http://library.stanford.edu/areas/latin-american-iberian-collections
Please reach out to Adan Griego, his contact info is there, if you want to push farther. It would be good for scholarly research for people to actually be trying to access the archives! I’ll try to check this more often, to see if you write any more replies. Peace! Mario