Carl Thomas Anderson

Carl Thomas Anderson
Born	(1865-02-14)February 14, 1865 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Died	November 4, 1948(1948-11-04) (aged 83) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Nationality	American
Area(s)	Syndicated cartoonist
Notable works	Henry

Carl Thomas Anderson (February 14, 1865 – November 4, 1948) was an American cartoonist best remembered for his comic strip Henry. Readers followed the pantomime adventures of the mute, bald-headed Henry in strips which he signed with his familiar signature displaying an enlarged "S": Carl AnderSon.

Biography

Early life

Carl Thomas Anderson was born in

At the age of 25, he developed a strong interest in drawing and went to

Since these strips received only a mild reaction from readers, Anderson began freelancing for Judge, Life, and Puck. With the Great Depression looming and his markets diminishing, Anderson was 65 years old when he left New York in 1930, returning to Madison to care for his dying father. Anderson lived in Madison with his three sisters in the house his father built at 834 Prospect Place near Lake Mendota, and he resumed his earlier trade as a cabinetmaker while teaching night classes.^[3][4][5]

He also taught through his mail order cartoon course from "The Carl Anderson School, Madison, Wis." Small ads in 1930 issues of Popular Mechanics announced:

Cartoon & Comic Strip Course for only $2.98 complete. The Ace of Cartoon Courses. For fun and profit learn to draw cartoons and comic strips. Amazingly simple system developed by Carl Anderson, famous contributor to

New York Journal, New York World

and other leading publications, give complete instructions in drawing, cartooning, comic strip and illustrations. These easy lessons make drawing as easy as writing.

In 1932, he sold his first Henry cartoon to The Saturday Evening Post for $50, and it became a regular weekly feature in that magazine. As interest in the character increased, Anderson began to receive fan mail, and his cartoons were reprinted in foreign publications. Hearst was traveling in Germany in 1934 when he saw Henry in the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung. He sent a cablegram to his syndicate chief, Joseph Vincent Connolly, that simply read, "Get Henry." Connolly took the next train to Madison, where he signed Anderson for King Features Syndicate. Within months, Henry was being published in 50 American newspapers, including 15 Hearst papers. Anderson continued to work on the strip until arthritis made him retire in January 1942.^[2][6] Anderson died at the Edgewater Hotel in Madison at age 83 in 1948.^[1][2] The strip continued with other artists, finally being discontinued on October 28, 2018, a week short of the seventieth anniversary of its creator's death.

Books

In 1934, the first Henry book was published featuring 60 cartoons from The Saturday Evening Post. Anderson followed with How to Draw Cartoons Successfully, published by Greenberg in 1935.

References