Oh SkiN-Nay! The Days Of Real Sport

Poetry Verses by Wilbur D. Nesbit Afterword by Comics Historian Jeet Heer A grittier and less sentimental predecessor to Norman Rockwell Clare Briggs exemplified the larger journey of American society from smalltown innocence to urbane sophistication. The son of a farm machinery salesman Briggs left his rural home as a young man to forge a career as an illustrator and cartoonist earning success in such bigcity papers as The Chicago Examiner the Chicago Tribune and the New York Tribune. Within a few years he became one of the most popular and imitated cartoonists in America Frank King Milton Caniff and the first generation of New Yorker cartoonists all emulated Briggs. Eschewing the roughneck humor of early comic strips Briggs drew lowkey strips in two modes nostalgic reveries focused on memories of smalltown boyhood and satirical strips about the squabbles inherent in married life. First published in 1913 by P. F. Volland and Company of Chicago Oh SkinNay is a collaboration between Briggs and poet Wilbur D. Nesbit and portrays a year in the life of smalltown America through the eyes of the twelveyearold boy—wood gathering sleigh rides games of post office swimming holes and sandlot ball games. This book is presented as a facsimile edition of doublepage spreads containing short poems and fullpage cartoons as well as an expanded afterword on Briggs by comics historian Jeet Heer.