Abbie an' Slats Daily 03/17/1958

Here is an example of the long-running newspaper strip Abbie an' Slats set at the train station in Crabtree Corners. The strip features the main trio from this period of the strip Abbie, Slats, and Becky, as Slats is preparing to board and depart. I do believe there's also a background appearance of J. Pierpont "Bathless" Goggins in panel 1 (with the pipe) who eventually was the central character of the Sundays for this series.

Raeburn Van Buren (January 12, 1891 – December 29, 1987) was an American magazine and comic strip illustrator best known for his work on the syndicated Abbie an' Slats. He began drawing Abbie an' Slats in 1937. The strip followed the experiences of a rural spinster (Abigail "Abbie" Scrapple) raising her young cousin, a streetwise urban child (Aubrey Eustace "Slats" Scrapple). This series was the idea of Al Capp, who intended to start a second strip to build upon the success of his popular Li'l Abner. Instead of drawing it himself, Capp recruited Van Buren. Capp wrote the strip for the first 8 years (1937-45), and then turned writing chores over to his brother Elliot Caplin. The strip was carried in 400 newspapers at the height of its popularity.

Like the Buffalo Bill page I recently posted this 21 inch wide strip has a fold between panels 1 and 2 likely from being mailed. Although, I have heard anecdotal tales of artists or editors folding strips in half to store in a filing cabinet rather than a plan chest. This one also has pinholes from being tacked to a board or wall.