Dingbat Family Dec 14, 1911 by George Herriman

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The Family Upstairs comic strip by George Herriman September 28, 1910

Artwork Details

Title:	Dingbat Family Dec 14, 1911 by George Herriman
Artist:	George Herriman (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Comic Strip
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	332
Likes on CAF:	2 3
Comments:	7
Added to Site:	4/5/2023
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Before there was Krazy Kat, Herriman had a number of comic strip successes. Among them was the Dingbat Family which ran from June 1910 to January 1916. The title changed to "The Family Upstairs" for over a year and then changed back. For 2 weeks the title changed to "Krazy Kat and I. Mouse" in July of 1912 and then back again. The Dingbat's cat was called Kat and the first brick throw hitting the cat was 7/26/10. The Kat and Mouse strip continued in the lower tier of the strip for most of the rest of the run. This example is from Dec of 1911. First published on Dec 14, 1911 in the New York Evening Journal but also found published on Dec 16, 1911 in other publications. This was not uncommon to have different publication dates in these early days of comic strip printing.

This is a really fun example!

The patriarch of the family was E. Pluribus Dingbat and looks a lot like my namesake from Mutt and Jeff. In the first panel we see the artist T. Aloysius Dorgan referenced. TAD was a well known pioneering editorial and comic strip artist in the day. Him and George were friends and so a little inside joke. The idea of imagery turning into reality is a theme Herriman liked to play with. It is a great top tier.

The bottom tier is what is most important about this strip. It is the birth place of Krazy Kat with both Krazy and Ignatz featured but his one also has an early appearance of Officer Pup. Nice brick throwing gag. What is most interesting about this example are the words in the bottom of the tier. I had no idea what to make of this but I had help from some experts and friends on this. Herriman would often number his panels and sometimes use words instead to number. On occasions the words would be easy to decipher and others were more difficult. This one is still a puzzle to me. What I have learned from friends is the following.

Ungska : young lady in swedish

Taykanee : mother in Aymara

Asung : dog in javanese

WEESK (scottish national dictionary) , v., n. [wisk]I. v. To make a thin shrill squeaking noise, as a mouse, to creak, of new boots, rusty hinges, etc. (Ork. 1929 Marw., Ork. 1973).II. n. A squeal, squeak.Ork. 1970 Private MS.:
Hid wisna useless weesks that came fae hid [an organ] ither.[Orig. chiefly imit. Cf. Eesk, v., 3. and Norw. dial. kviska, Dan. hviske, to whisper, Norw. dial. kviskja, to rustle.]

The mystery stands for Kayayrlee. (thanks Eric of Finland/France)

Herriman loved to play with words and sounds.

Any further thoughts on deciphering this would be much appreciated.

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About the Owner

	Jeff Singh ( 7 ) Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	November 2004
Last Login:	September 2025
Website:	http://www.art4comics.com
Country:	CANADA
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Amir E
Member Since 2020

1 - Posted on 4/5/2023

Great description Jeff and even greater example. Thanks for sharing!

artless artmore
Member Since 2013

1 - Posted on 4/6/2023

So many levels to this, and it's a proto-Krazy Kat at that. Is the dropping floor Kat is on due to Officer Pup in order to thwart Ignatz's brick throwing? I assume the balloon (or whatever it is) was placed by Ignatz, not Pup? I'm amazed you've figured out as much as you describe re the cryptic words in the lower panels. Thanks for posting this terrific strip and your analysis!

Sean Conlon
Member Since 2004

1 - Posted on 4/12/2023

artless artmore wrote:

I think the kat's looking at a hat in a shop window, and the sidewalk is lowering as they would sometimes do in cities to access the basement.

artless artmore
Member Since 2013

1 - Posted on 4/13/2023

Sean Conlon wrote:

I think the kat's looking at a hat in a shop window, and the sidewalk is lowering as they would sometimes do in cities to access the basement.

Yes, of coure you're right that it's a hat on a stand, not a balloon on a string... Shows you wnat I know. Your interpretation makes sense re the sidewalk lowering gag. I was viewing it more like "Spy vs Spy" or a later version of KK maybe with someone pulling strings, but serendipity (for the Kat) seems right looking at it again now.

Davide G.
Member Since 2009

Posted on 4/6/2023

FUN-TASTIC! 😹

Stephen F
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 4/6/2023

Great strip and a great analysis.

Monty B
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 4/7/2023

Fantastic KK piece!!! I've been eying those Dingbats, that have been coming to the market lately, for a while now and this is such a great example!!!

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