Unseen Al Smith and Otto Soglow Photo
Al Smith and Otto Soglow NCS photo circa 1970s
Candid photo of Mutt and Jeff artist Al Smith (1902-1986), along with Otto Soglow creator of The Little King at a National Cartoonists Society meeting circa early 1970s from a private collection.
Al Smith began his career as Bud Fisher’s assistant on Mutt and Jeff in 1932 and continued the strip for 48 years taking over full-time art chores after Fisher’s death in 1954. Smith also drew the strips, Rural Delivery and Cicero’s Cat, the companion strip to Mutt and Jeff. Smith served as president of the National Cartoonists Society from 1969 to 1971.
Created by Otto Soglow (1900-1975), The Little King first appeared in The New Yorker in 1931. King Features Syndicate began publishing the strip on September 9, 1934, and it ran until Soglow’s death in 1975.
The good old days when cartoonist could make a good living. . .