Buster Brown and his ever-present dog, Tige, offered this Valentine greeting on a 1906 postcard. The card was published in England by Raphael Tuck & Sons, art publishers to their majesties the king and queen.Buster Brown was created by Richard Felton Outcault, an American artist and was the first comic strip to be published in America. It appeared in May, 1902, in the Pulitzer-owned New York Herald and boosted circulation at once. Through the years William Randolph Hearst of the New York American and Joseph Pulitzer vied for the services of Outcault. Buster Brown was a mischievous but beguiling child, carefully dressed and with long blond hair, and often accompanied by a little playmate, Mary Jane, as well as his bulldog. His pranks were never really evil and always ended with a little homily directed at the young reader. He was popular enough to give a name to a collar fashion. Mary Jane slippers, one strap patent leather, are still popular with children. The strip continued in one form or another until World War I when Buster Brown began to lose popularity. He was a shade too well behaved, almost snobbish, and critics said the affectation and sentimentality finally sealed the strip's death warrant in 1926. About this time Rudolph Dirk's Katzenjammer Kids made their appearance and were an instant success. They were more mischievous and of the slapstick variety. (It should be noted that Buster Brown and the Katzenjammer Kids were always punished. Crime must not pay - even childish pranks.) Buster Brown enjoyed a great success for many years, and his wise little face and Tige's muzzle were used to advertise many products, such as shoes, hats, boys' suits, buttons and even cigars and whiskey. Kansas City Times, February 12, 1970.
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