Early gag cartoon prelim

This rare glimpse into Mort's penciling also offers an interesting snapshot into his early career. Note the marked change in address in the corner: he had got a foothold in the magazine cartoon business so he was able to move out from his sister's attic in New Jersey and get a place of his own in Connecticut! And notice the initials in the center: those were all magazines Mort offered this gag to. "Saturday Evening Post was always the first", Mort told me. "I forget what some of these others were now, Better Homes and Gardens was another one". Until finally, on the sixth try, 1000 Jokes bought it. There's an "ok" marked in the corner. "For ten bucks", Mort still remembers, very nearly sixty years later.