Bringing Up Father — buf400205

Six panels follow Jiggs, the Irish-immigrant social climber in top hat and tails, strolling a Florida hotel colonnade. Neighbors greet him warmly — 'Good morning, Mr. Jiggs' — prompting the aside that at least there'll be no argument today. Outside, a booster rhapsodizes about Florida's palms, sea breezes, and sunny climate; Jiggs deadpans that the palms may be beautiful but there are certainly 'a lot of palms in this hotel.' George McManus drew Bringing Up Father for King Features from 1913 until his death in 1954, making it one of the longest-running character strips in American newspaper history. McManus's clean Art Nouveau linework and recurring cast — Jiggs, the social-climbing Maggie — helped establish the daily continuity strip as both commercial institution and popular literature.