Brian Coppola :: Late 19th/Early-to-Mid 20th C cartoonists & illustrators

“We Have A Serious Problem…” (November 6, 1984) By Charles Phillip Bissell

Artist: Phillip Bissell (All)

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“We Have A Serious Problem…” (November 6, 1984) By Charles Phillip Bissell Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	“We Have A Serious Problem…” (November 6, 1984) By Charles Phillip Bissell
Artist:	Phillip Bissell (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Illustration
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	409
Likes on CAF:	1 2
Comments:	0
Added to Site:	9/2/2019
Comic Art Archive:

Description

“We Have A Serious Problem…” (November 6, 1984)
By Charles Phillip Bissell (1926 - )
16.5 x 12 in., ink and wash on board

In 1960, Boston Globe cartoonist Phil Bissell, working for $25 a day, was handed an assignment that would change his life—and the lives of fans of the brand-new AFL football team coming to Boston. “Sports editor Jerry Nason came to me and he said, ‘They’ve decided to call the team the Boston Patriots. You better have a cartoon ready for tomorrow’s edition.’” Bissel’s “Pat Patriot” cartoon was the Patriot’s logo from 1961-1992.
Ronald Reagan may have had a sweet tooth, but the true reason he began eating jelly beans was because he quit smoking. Reagan, a former actor, was well-known for Chesterfield cigarette ads from the 1940s and ‘50s, but it was pipe-smoking that had him hooked.

When he began his campaign for governor of California in 1966, Reagan knew he needed to give up his pipe. Candy of some type was a logical substitute, and he liked jelly beans. He wisely chose to buy from a California company, the Herman Goelitz Candy Company.

In 1965, the Oakland-based company came out with a new mini-jelly bean. The beans were novel for their small size, but they tasted special, too. Goelitz created a way to infuse the entire bean with flavor. (Regular jelly beans contain a sweet jelly-like center; only the shell is flavored.)

Both Reagan and the Goelitz company celebrated when Reagan won the governorship. He took office in 1967, and his staff placed a standing order for monthly deliveries of jelly beans to government offices in Sacramento.

In 1980, a photographer from TIME magazine was covering Reagan’s campaign. He happened to take a photograph that clearly revealed the brand of jelly bean Reagan was eating: “The type most esteemed by the President is brand-named Jelly Belly, which—addicts vow—is to the ordinary jelly bean what foie gras is to liverwurst.”

In January 1981—just in time for the inaugural festivities–Goelitz Company shipped three and a half tons of red, white, and blue jelly beans to Washington, D.C.

A jar of the beans also became the perfect gift for visiting dignitaries.

Reagan enjoyed these candies so much that he later sent a letter to the Jelly Belly CEO: “We can hardly start a meeting or make a decision without passing around the jar of jelly beans.”

In 1988, President Reagan wrote to Mars, Incorporated asking for a supply of customized M&M's for the Moscow Summit with the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev. The First Lady, Nancy Reagan, gave them out to Russian children during the summit. After that, M&M's became the official candy of the White House.

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	Brian Coppola Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	March 2009
Last Login:	September 2025
Country:	UNITED STATES
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