Buster Brown

Categories: Did You Know|Published On: November 1, 2002|Views: 3|

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Did you know that the first cartoon character to really become famous on a
national scale was R.F. Outcault’s Buster Brown? In the late 1890s, Outcault was
best known for his large-headed creation, the nightgown-sporting Yellow Kid.
But, hully gee! The Yellow Kid’s popularity was mostly centered around New York
– so it wasn’t until 1902 and Buster Brown that Outcault was able to make more
of a name for himself for the 76 million people living in the United States at
the time.

Outcault, who had run into a bit of copyright trouble with The
Yellow Kid, did several things differently with Buster. While he was every bit
as mischievous as his Yellow counterpart, Brown always had his trusty, toothy
terrier companion Tige (pronounced like Tiger, without the r) at his side to
assist him in his exploits. And at the end of every tale, he would resolve
himself to be better behaved the next time – a feat that was impossible for the
little towhead.

Though Buster Brown made his debut in the newspapers in
1902, he really soared to national attention in 1904 at the St. Louis World’s
Fair, also known as the Universal Exposition. There, Outcault offered his
pageboy-ed prankster to marketers for use on their products. One such company
that took notice was a (coincidently) St. Louis shoe company by the name of
Brown, and hence, Buster Brown shoes were born. And within two years, Buster
Brown shoes were the number one shoes in the country. Outcault loaned the
character to many other companies, and before long his popularity was
incontestable.

It’s interesting to note, however, that one of Outcault’s
biggest influences was one Palmer Cox – creator of the also very popular (and
also very mischievous) Brownies. It makes you wonder how much of Buster Brown’s
success was directly related to the success of those crazy Brownies. Taking
things a step further, another of the century’s popular characters had Brown in
his name; none other than Charles Schultz’s Charlie Brown.

Nevertheless,
Buster Brown was a bonafide hit, and he continued to appear in newspapers until
1920. And, impressively enough, he’s still a household name a century
later.


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