Latner, Ted :: Comic Strips

Saturday Evening Post Cartoon Submission - November 5, 1949 - pre Berenstain Bears

Artists: Stan Berenstain (All) , Jan Berenstain (All)

5 Comments - 223 Views - 1 Like

Saturday Evening Post Cartoon Submission - November 5, 1949 - pre Berenstain Bears Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	Saturday Evening Post Cartoon Submission - November 5, 1949 - pre Berenstain Bears
Artist:	Stan Berenstain (All)
Artist:	Jan Berenstain (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Prelim
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	223
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	5
Added to Site:	5/28/2024
Comic Art Archive:

Description

I always liked the Berenstain Bears when I was a kid and my children did too when they were little.

Years before the Berenstain Bears, Stan and Jan were trying to get cartoons published without success. Stan managed to get a meeting with John Bailey, the cartoon editor of the Saturday Evening Post, who liked their work,but felt the subject matter was too highbrow and suggested that they focus their jokes on everyday daily life and family dynamics. His advice worked and starting in 1947, their cartoons started appearing in the Saturday Evening Post, Colliers and other magazines.

Fun fact -- the same John Bailey also inspired the character of Beetle Bailey. He suggested to Mort Walker that he should base some cartoons on his college experiences at the University of Missouri, which included a goof-off character named "Spider". Walker ended up submitting a comic strip to King Features Syndicate starring "Spider", but now renamed "Beetle" (as King Features already had a different "Spider" character). Walker gave the character the last name of Bailey in honor of John Bailey.

Back to this art - it was drawn on 8.5 x 11 art paper and as you can see, it says "OK JB" on it, which was John Bailey signing off on the concept. I believe the Berenstains then redraw this on art board, possibly at a slightly larger size. I've seen a bunch of these prelims, but very few published cartoons. It's possible that the family kept those or potentially donated them to a library or university.

I was fortunate to be able to find a scan of the published art from the November 5, 1949 issue of the Saturday Evening Post. I have several other of these prelims -- most likely from the late 40's to early 50's, but so far this is the only one where I've been able to confirm the date.

Please note that a lot of my info comes from Stan and Jan's autobiography, "Down A Sunny Dirt Road", which was published in 2002. The book makes it clear that both Stan and Jan worked on these cartoons, in spite of the fact that they're often credited only to Stan.

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About the Owner

	Ted Latner ( 10 ) Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	January 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
Ebay Id:	tlatner
Website:	http://www.comicsfun.com
Country:	UNITED STATES
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Ted's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF Read More About TedLatner

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Comments on this Artwork

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Ruben DaCollector
Member Since 2008

Posted on 5/28/2024

You know what's even better than the cartoon? Al lthe knowledge you dropped for everyone to absorb. Great stuff, Ted!

Ted Latner
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 5/28/2024

Ruben DaCollector wrote:

You know what's even better than the cartoon? Al lthe knowledge you dropped for everyone to absorb. Great stuff, Ted!

Thanks Ruben. This one took some time to research :)

Ruben DaCollector
Member Since 2008

1 - Posted on 5/29/2024

I can imagine! But now, everyone who's interested gets to eat the fruits of your labor, so it's worth it.

Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 5/29/2024

I'd like to talk to your manager...This must have come from the alternate reality where they are "Berenstain" instead of "Berenstein"!

James Dornoff
Member Since 2019

1 - Posted on 5/29/2024

That's a fun little piece of history, especially with the bunny pajamas.

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