Fontaine Talbot Fox Jr. (1884-1964) was a famous cartoonist and illustrator born near Louisville, Kentucky. A cartoonist at work. ... An illustrator is a graphic artist who specializes in enhancing written text by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text. ... Louisville redirects here. ...

Fox is best known for writing and illustrating the Toonerville Folks comic panel that appeared from 1913 to 1955 in 250 to 300 newspapers across North America. It is about a small-town, which seemed to operate in its own little universe, and the gentle humor of the feature dealt with the antics of the various denizens and featured semi realistic situations. It was one of the most popular comics in the World War I era. A Toonerville Folks strip from 1917 Toonerville Folks (sometimes known as Toonerville Trolley) was a comic strip by Fontaine Fox which ran from 1908 to 1955. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... The deepest visible-light image of the cosmos, the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. ... {{Infobox Military Conflict |conflict = World War I |partof = |image = |caption = Clockwise from top: Trenches on the Western Front; a British Mark IV tank crossing a trench; Royal Navy battleship HMS Irresistible sinking after striking a mine at the Battle of the Dardanelles; a Vickers machine gun crew with gas masks...

Life before Toonerville

Fox started his career as a reporter and part-time cartoonist for the Louisville Herald. He spent two years in higher education at Indiana University in Bloomington; nevertheless, he continued sketching one cartoon a day for the Louisville Herald. After two years of college, he abandoned his studies in favor of his true calling, writing and illustrating comics. From 1908, Fox started a series of daily cartoons about kids for the Chicago Evening Post. His panel was noted by the Wheeler Syndicate, which started distributing his work nationwide, this eventually led to the creation and distribution of Toonerville Folks. The panel, which expanded its circulation from a few papers to hundreds between 1915 and the mid 1920s, spawned several merchandising efforts including cartoon books, cracker boxes, magic picture folders, paper masks, gum wrappers, bisques and cutout sheets. A television reporter A reporter is a type of journalist who researches and presents information in certain types of mass media. ... Indiana University, founded in 1820, is a nine-campus university system in the state of Indiana. ... Bloomington is the name of some places in the United States of America: Bloomington, California Bloomington, Idaho Bloomington, Illinois Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington, Maryland Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington, Nebraska Bloomington, Texas Bloomington, Wisconsin Bloomington (town), Wisconsin Bloomington Township, Illinois Bloomington Township, Indiana Bloomington Township, Decatur County, Iowa Bloomington Township, Muscatine County, Iowa... Cartoons started in the 1930s and 40s. ... The word circulation can mean the following: The transport of blood through the circulatory system. ... Pope Benedict XVI merchandise One definition of Merchandising is a marketing practice in which the brand or image from one product or service is used to sell another. ...

Unique style

His work was considered innovative for many reasons. He presented the panel in a rather unique illustration style. At first glance, Fox's drawing style seems deceptively simple, but under scrutiny, bits of his interesting technique become apparent. Vehicles and telephone poles are oddly tilted and, frequently, so is the horizon. He also illustrated his cast and landscape with a slight aerial perspective, so that it always seemed that the reader was looking down at the events of each tale. From this panoramic perspective, readers could fully absorb the antics of town regulars, which included an entire farming community filled with colorful characters of varying ages. The comic panel included the largest cast ever seen in a comic strip, 53 different characters in all. Fox has been described as an ingenious caricaturist, simply because all of his figures are grotesquely exaggerated. It is thought the combined effect of humor and character creation is responsible for the success of the panel. Drawing is the act of defining (or delineating) the outlines of a figure against a background, using any of a wide variety of tools and techniques. ... A technique is a way of efficiently accomplishing a task in a manner that is not immediately obvious or straightforward. ... Vehicles are non-living means of transport. ... Horizon. ... Look up Cast in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Look up Aerial in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Aerial may refer to— a dance move. ... Look up perspective in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the artistic term Panorama. ... Farming, ploughing rice paddy, in Indonesia Agriculture is the process of producing food, feed, fiber and other desired products by cultivation of certain plants and the raising of domesticated animals (livestock). ... A community usually refers to a group of people who interact and share certain things as a group, but it can refer to various collections of living things sharing an environment, plant or animal. ... This article is about the comic strip, the sequential art form as published in newspapers and on the Internet. ... A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. ... Look up Humour in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Character creation (often Character generation or chargen) is the process of assigning attributes, skills and/or traits to fictional characters in a role-playing game. ...

According to Fox,

“In drawing a cartoon I always try to keep three things in mind -- it must have an original thought: it must be something that has happened or could happen: and it must be laughable. That's all there is to it!”

Toonerville in the movies

The panel also made its way to the silver screen in both live action and animated forms. During the '20s, a series of two-reel live action comedies were produced, and in 1936, Burt Gillett produced cartoon shorts based on the fine folks of Toonerville; however, they never matched the success of the panel. What did succeed was the decision to make Mickey McGuire the star of a series of low-budget live-action shorts, getting into adventures with other back-alley kids, which led to more than 50 short silent black and white film comedies. The term silver screen derives from the type of projection screen used at the start of the motion picture industry and specifically refers to the actual silver (Ag) content embedded in the material (a tightly woven fabric, either natural, such as silk, or a synthetic fiber) that made up the... In film and video, live action refers to works that are acted out by flesh-and-blood actors, as opposed to animation. ... Animation refers to the process in which each frame of a film or movie is produced individually, whether generated as a computer graphic, or by photographing a drawn image, or by repeatedly making small changes to a model (see claymation and stop motion), and then photographing the result. ... Comedy is the use of humour in the performing arts. ... Film production on location in Newark, New Jersey. ... Burton F. Gillett (October 15, 1891 _ December 28, 1971) was an animation director. ... In film and video, live action refers to works that are acted out by flesh-and-blood actors, as opposed to animation. ... A black-and-white portrait. ...

A vaudeville comedian named Joe Yule brought his young son, Joe Yule Jr., to audition for the role and landed the part. He was promptly renamed Mickey McGuire and starred as himself. When the young boy actor and the role parted company, Fox would not allow the juvenile to continue performing under Mickey McGuire, so Joe Yule Jr. / Mickey McGuire changed his name once more, this time to Mickey Rooney. Vaudeville is a style of multi-act theatre which flourished in North America from the 1880s through the 1920s. ... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... Joe Yule (b. ... Audition can refer to: The sense of hearing The audio editing software Adobe Audition ... A function is part of an answer to a question about why some object or process occurred in a system that evolved or was designed with some goal. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Mickey Rooney, 1940s. ...

The Mickey McGuire shorts have a very similar feel to the Hal Roach studio's Our Gang shorts. They were produced during the same period and have many of the same flaws, such as racist gags at the expense of an African American member of the gang; however, the McGuire shorts benefited from the strong presence and talent of the young Mickey Rooney. Harold Eugene Roach, Sr. ... A poster for the 1931 Our Gang comedy Love Business featuring depictions of (from left to right): Pete the Pup, Jackie Cooper, and Norman Chubby Chaney. ... 1. ... An African American (also Afro-American, Black American, or simply black) is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ...

Inspiration

No less than two cities claim to be the inspirationof Toonerville Folks: Louisville, KY and Pelham, NY. The folks of Louisville claim the experiences were based on the short Brook Street Line in 1915, which ran until 1930. For years, this route had been getting the cast-off equipment from the trunk lines until it became the joke of the town. Finally, the managing editor of the Louisville Herald asked the young Fox to draw some sketches caricaturing the antiquated vehicles, which is said to have cast the germ for the Toonerville Trolley. Look up inspiration in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This page discusses common devices known as tools, for other meanings see Tool (disambiguation) Modern hammer A tool is, among other things, a device that provides a mechanical or mental advantage in accomplishing a task. ... A joke is a short story or series of words spoken or communicated, ideally with the intent of being laughed at or found humorous by the listener or reader. ... A managing editor is a figure who overseas and coordinates the editorial activites of a publication. ...

However, the populace of Pelham NY insists the comic strip was based in part on the artist’s experience during a trolley ride on a visit to Pelham in 1909. They alleged that Fox repeatedly said that he was inspired to create the Toonerville Trolley and its skipper based on a trolley ride he took in Pelham. During that ride, he observed the trolley car operator gossip with passengers and, once, stop the vehicle to pick apples in an adjacent orchard. One piece of that evidence is an article that appeared in The New York Times on July 30, 1937, the day before the last journey of the Pelham trolley due to its replacement by a bus route. The article reported, among other things, that Mr. Bailey piloted the Pelham trolley from 1900 to 1914. According to the article: This article refers to the mass transit vehicle running on rails. ... A passenger is a term broadly used to describe any person who travels in a vehicle, but bears no little or no responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination. ... For other uses, see Apple (disambiguation). ... A community apple orchard originally planted for productive use during the 1920s, in Westcliff on Sea (Essex, England) An orchard is an intentional planting of trees or shrubs maintained for food production. ... Evidence has several meanings as indicated below. ... Look up article in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The New York Times is a newspaper published in New York City by Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ...

"Back in 1909, when Mr. Fox took a ride on the Pelham line, then served by a rickety little car, he watched the 'skipper' gossip with the passengers and stop the car to pick apples for them; thus he drew his inspiration for his 'Toonerville Trolley' comics."

Later years

Fox continued the Toonerville Folks comic panel until 1955, changing syndicates twice, eventually gaining all rights to his comic panel. He later moved to New York and spent winters at 610 N. Ocean Blvd. in Delray Beach, FL. Apart from drawing comics, he was an author and a fervent golfer, winning several tournaments. Official language(s) None Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  Ranked 27th  - Total 54,520 sq mi (141,205 km²)  - Width 285 miles (455 km)  - Length 330 miles (530 km)  - % water 13. ... Delray Beach is a city located in Palm Beach County, Florida. ... An author is the person who creates a written work, such as a book, story, article or the like. ... This list of golf players, known as golfers includes the most notable players of the sport, who are almost exclusively professionals in the sport. ...

He scored gold with his slice-of-life stories and interesting style of drawing. The strip ran for 42 years and was honored in a 1995 U.S. postage stamp series. Upon retirement, he refused to let his brainchild pass into another cartoonist's hands. Fox also wrote three books, Fontaine Fox's Funny Folk (1917), Fontaine Fox's Cartoons (1918), and The Toonerville Trolley and Other Cartoons (1921), as well as illustrating several others, most notably for Ring W. Lardner Own Your Own Home (1919). Fox died at the age of 80 in Greenwich, CT in 1964. His famous epitaph reads, "I had a hunch something like this would happen." This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. ... 48-star flag, 1957 This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of the United States. ... Greenwich is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut. ... An epitaph ( literally: on the gravestone in ancient Greek) is text honoring the deceased, most commonly inscribed on a tombstone or plaque. ...

Other information

The Filson Historic Society of Louisville, KY, whose mission is to collect, preserve, and tell the significant stories of Kentucky and the Ohio Valley history and culture, boasts a collection that includes photographs of Fox as a child, the family home at Hubers Station, Ky, Fox, his wife, and their daughters. Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... Carl D. Perkins Bridge in Portsmouth, Ohio with Ohio River and Scioto River tributary on right. ... A photograph (often just called a photo) is an image (or a representation of that on e. ...

The Fox mss comprises 2,574 items and is located at Indiana University. It consists of papers from Fox, including correspondence, original drawings of the cartoons, and scripts of books and series. Printed material includes the prints of the syndicated Toonerville Trolley comic strip and biographical information. Correspondence may refer to: In the theology of Emanuel Swedenborg, correspondence is the relationship between spiritual and physical realities. ... A script is a document describing the underlying story of a film, tv-series episode or comic strip in detail. ...

External links

• Filson Historic Society
• Toonerville Trolley
• Fox mss
• Comiclopedia
• Funny Epitaphs
• Delray Beach, FL
• Collectibles
• International Museum of Cartoon Art
• Pelham, NY