Member Since September 2004
1618 Artworks | Watched by 75

Gene Ahern - The Little Hitchhiker

Location: Cartoonist Specialty Pieces
Artist: Gene Ahearn (All)

Location: Cartoonist Specialty Pieces
Title: Gene Ahern - The Little Hitchhiker*
Artist: Gene Ahearn (All)
Media Type: Pen and Ink
Art Type: Other
For Sale Status: NFS
Views: 4614
Likes on CAF: 0
Comments: 3
Added to Site: 2/2/2006

Gene Ahearn created "The Little Hitchhiker", as he is known today, in 1936. The mysterious bearded character appeared in the Sunday topper strip, The Squirrel Cage. The Little Hitchhiker would get into strange adventures, standing by the side of the road with his thumb out, uttering indecipherable phrases. The most famous of these phrases was "Nov Shmoz Ka Pop?", which baffles untold dozens of fans to this day. Even though the character hasn't been around for quite some time, his influence lives on in Robert Crumb's Mr. Natural, who Crumb claims was influenced by Ahearn's creation.

This ink drawing is circa 1936.

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Member Since: September 2004
Last Login: July 2026
Ebay Id: robart
Website: https://freeassociationfunnies.com/
Country: UNITED STATES
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Carl Linich Member Since 2011

Posted On 9/14/2020

1936 was the first year of Squirrel Cage, and actually, the hitchhiker doesn't appear until December. Based on the size of his hat (which starts off small and keeps growing over the years) I'd say this is more likely mid to late 1940s. Sweet specialty piece! :)

Rob Stolzer Member Since 2004

Posted On 9/14/2020

Carl Linich wrote:

" 1936 was the first year of Squirrel Cage, and actually, the hitchhiker doesn't appear until December. Based on the size of his hat (which starts off small and keeps growing over the years) I'd say this is more likely mid to late 1940s. Sweet specialty piece! :)
"

Thanks for the info, my friend. This collection wasn't quite from that late, so maybe it's closer to 1940 or so.

George Hagenauer Member Since 2005

Posted On 9/16/2020

Love the hitchhiker

Gene Ahern - The Little Hitchhiker

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