Scout Finds a New “Kitten”
 Little Scout has found a new “Kitten” in a basket on the floor of Ericka’s house! Actually, that’s little Charlotte, Ericka’s brand-new daughter, now weighing in at almost 6 pounds. She’s a very tiny baby, smaller than Scout, she was born a little over a week ago. I just love this photo, it deserves to be in the Cat Calendar, thanks new Mother Ericka, for sharing it.
Felix, from 4-9 to 4-15-1934, features Felix being pampered by the Irish maid at Danny Dooit’s house. The maid washes Felix and puts a bow on him, and he looks a lot like Krazy Kat with it on! Felix disappears from his strip for the 4-13, as Danny’s brother and Dad do a golfing gag. In the 4-14, Felix cheers up a depressed dog on his birthday; this strip has a Depression era feel to it, not really a gag, but Felix holding forth in an optimistic way to get the dog to love his life more. It reminds me of Mother Hubbard’s Dog’s song in the Ub Iwerks ComiColor cartoon, Old Mother Hubbard (1935): “Cheer Up”, composed by Carl Stalling. Remember the lyrics? “Why sit around so humble, mumble, tumble, groan and grumble, Cheer Up, we all should sing for that will bring a smile, be a regular guy!” In the Sunday from 4-15, Felix continues his tour of the Zodiac, visiting Leo the Lion’s star. Messmer again uses props for continuity, Felix using the fish bones from the last Sunday page to launch himself into space and escape from the attacking Leo.
 Here’s Krazy from 4-20 to 4-25-1942, Garge mostly uses a prop, a “megic Koppit” in five out of the six dailies this week. Krazy’s dialect is delicious in these, “L’il Dottin’ Tommitz”. I like the 4-25, as Ignatz tries to fly off with Krazy’s “Koppit”, only to find that it’s securely tied to the dining table. Krazy is not quite so wholly innocent as he seems, he knows that Ignatz is a rascal and a thief, but loves him in spite of his faults.
 Here are five Yogi Bear thirds from May, 1964, drawn by Harvey Eisenberg. In the 5-31, a continuity starts to promote the release of the Columbia feature cartoon, “Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear”, released June 3rd, 1964. Ranger Smith summons Yogi in the second panel, by yelling “Hey There, Yogi Bear!” at the same time that two Hollywood publicity guys speak the picture’s title. We’ll see more of these characters in the next batch of Yogi Sunday pages for June, 1964.
Myrtle is from 1-12 to 1-17-1948 this time. Slug gets a job collecting past due bills for a radio store, and of course his first target is Freddie, Myrtle’s Dad. Freddie wants Slug to succeed so that Slug can marry Aunt Minnie and move out of his guest room, but at the same time, he is reluctant to part with any money. I love the 1-15. Slug has a small walk-around transmitter he carries on a pole to target Freddie’s radio with his bill collecting reminders: “Freddie is a DEADBEAT..!” In the 1-17, Slug repossesses Freddie’s receiver, only to get one tube from it as a commission. As an old time radio buff, I really love these strips. They demonstrate just how beloved and important the household radio was to the families of the 1940s. As far as I know, there were no Felix the Cat, Krazy Kat or Right Around Home with Myrtle radio shows in the 1930s or the 1940s. Myrtle might have been funny on the radio! The Catblog will be back soon, with lots more laughs and excitement!
Craig says:
Mark, we lost 2 of our 3 beautiful cats this past March. My wife and I are very upset about it but your posts about Scout provide some comfort. Long live Scout!! Please keep the posts coming.
Mark says:
Hi Craig,
Itza and I deeply sympathize with your sadness at the loss of your two beautiful cats. Grieving is a difficult process, I’m still grieving over the loss of our foundling cats “Crispy” and “Little Sister”. Crispy was with us 19 years, and we’ll never forget her or her sister. I’m so gratified to know that seeing some pictures of Scout help to brighten your corner. Take good care of your remaining darling, we hope she’ll (or he’ll) be with you for a long time to come.
Thanks for reading the Catblog! Mark Kausler and Itza Cat
Charles Brubaker says:
I’ve lost cats over the years and I know how hard they can be. I still miss Tex, whom we had for over 15 years.
Thanks for keeping us updated on Scout! She’s a real cutie!
Rodinei Campos da Silveira says:
Seeing the “Yogi Bear” Sunday page from May 17, 1964 (that one which Yogi visits his native American friends), we cannot forget that Harvey Eisenberg also was involved with the Disney comics, drawing stories of characters as Chip & Dale, the Three Little Pigs (including the Big Bad Wolf and his son, the Little Bad Wolf), and, specially, Hiawatha the little indian boy (and his family).
It looks like a coincidence, isn’t it?