What do you think?
Rate this book
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 small-town 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 big-city 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 low-key strips in two modes: nostalgic reveries focused on memories of small-town boyhood and satirical strips about the squabbles inherent in married life.
First published in 1913 by P. F. Volland and Company of Chicago, Oh Skin-Nay! is a collaboration between Briggs and poet Wilbur D. Nesbit and portrays a year in the life of small-town America through the eyes of the twelve-year-old boy―wood gathering, sleigh rides, games of post office, swimming holes, and sandlot ball games.
This book is presented as a facsimile edition of double-page spreads containing short poems and full-page cartoons as well as an expanded afterword on Briggs by comics historian Jeet Heer.
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 small-town 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 big-city 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 low-key strips in two modes: nostalgic reveries focused on memories of small-town boyhood and satirical strips about the squabbles inherent in married life.
First published in 1913 by P. F. Volland and Company of Chicago, Oh Skin-Nay! is a collaboration between Briggs and poet Wilbur D. Nesbit and portrays a year in the life of small-town America through the eyes of the twelve-year-old boy―wood gathering, sleigh rides, games of post office, swimming holes, and sandlot ball games.
This book is presented as a facsimile edition of double-page spreads containing short poems and full-page cartoons as well as an expanded afterword on Briggs by comics historian Jeet Heer.
136 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1913
15 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 2, 2013
This is a replica of a once-famous but long-forgotten cartoon anthology first published in 1913. At the time, it was already a piece of nostalgia, celebrating the artist's (Clare Briggs's) 1880s childhood. I read and re-read it as a child in the 1950s. It was like having a great grandfather who was a captivating storyteller.
The setting is a rural midwestern town. Each cartoon has a dozen or more characters, hitching a ride on the runners of a sleigh, running through the water plug's stream, skinny-dipping at the reservoir, cadging ice off the ice truck in summer, playing post office, hanging out on Saturday night (and pulling the wooden tub out of the closet for the weekly bath), and mocking a poor kid's first long pants. A precursor of "Peanuts" in its profundity, but even richer and more flavorful. Delightful.
The setting is a rural midwestern town. Each cartoon has a dozen or more characters, hitching a ride on the runners of a sleigh, running through the water plug's stream, skinny-dipping at the reservoir, cadging ice off the ice truck in summer, playing post office, hanging out on Saturday night (and pulling the wooden tub out of the closet for the weekly bath), and mocking a poor kid's first long pants. A precursor of "Peanuts" in its profundity, but even richer and more flavorful. Delightful.
May 22, 2014
If you want to read a "comic book" but you don't want to be called a kid, then "Oh Skin-nay!: The Days of Real Sport" might be a good choice for you. Like "Riddley Walker", the language in this books makes you really think phonetically and it might be easier to read if you read out loud. The book is formatted in a way where one side is just text and the other side is a comic. Since the original comics were written in 1923, it might also be a good source for what kids did during the "roaring 20s" Although it is sort of challenging to read, It is a real good feeling when I finished it.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews