and other cats are also in the sample strips there too.
Outcault's career is discussed here: He was: 'born in Lancaster, Ohio,...., the son of Jesse and Catherine Outcault ... Even as a child it was apparent that he had artistic talent,... When he left [school] in 1881, he took a job as a painter of pastoral scenes for the Hall Safe and Lock Company. In 1888, the Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and Middle Atlantic States was held in Cincinnati. The Edison Laboratories electric light display needed some sophisticated illustrations and hired Outcault to do the work. His drawings were superlative, and he soon moved to Edison's West Orange, New Jersey, headquarters as a full-time employee. In 1889, Edison named him the official artist for his travelling exhibit and sent him to Paris for the World's Fair, where he also continued his art studies in the Latin Quarter. While in Paris, he developed what was to become a life-long preference for berets and capes.
'Outcault returned to New York City in 1890 and joined the staff of Electrical World magazine, which was owned by one of Edison's friends. He also freelanced jokes and cartoons to some of the weekly humor magazines like Truth. His humor and art were well received, and his work appeared more and more frequently, typically focusing on Blacks living in the imaginary town of Possumville or Irish tenement street children living in New York City. Let there be no mistake about it, these cartoons were created for adults, not children. Adults bought the magazines, not children, and the humor was aimed at adults, not children.'
The caption of one cartoon, shows children on city street sidewalk. It is dated 2 June 1894, and titled "Feudal Pride in Hogan's Alley". The caption reads ..."No; we won't come and play with you, Delia Costigan. Our rejuced means may temporary necessitate our residin' in a rear tenement, but we're jist as exclusive as when we lived on the first floor front and papa had charge of the pound in the Department of Canine Captivity."
You can read more about this forgotten artist, at the links I used above. But to sum up his life:
'Outcault was a key creator of the art of cartoons and comic strips. .... Outcault settled in New York City, and married Mary Jane Martin on Christmas Day, 1890. They had two children, a boy and a girl. In New York, he did freelance illustrator jobs and started working at Electrical World magazine, which stimulated his creativity and desire to produce comic strips. Outcault then proceeded to work for several different newspapers, where he created the famous cartoon characters The Yellow Kid and Buster Brown.....During his retirement, Outcault spent time painting portraits and landscapes.'
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