Cartoons of 1913

Yes, there were cartoons on movie screens before 1914’s Gertie the Dinosaur. And the creator of some of them never lived into the time of the silent Oswald the Rabbit.

Lyman H. Howe (right) began showing movies in the late 19th Century and turned to animation.

In 1913, Howe’s cartoons were being screened in a travelling exhibition across the U.S. A publicity release with artwork was sent to newspapers where an editor could fill in the name of the theatre and the date the film would be shown. Here’s how it read:

HOWE MOVIES WITH MANY NEW CARTOONS
The Annual Treat Comes This Week with New Features
The animated cartoons that have been presented by Lyman H. Howe on each of his more recent engagements in this city, have inspired many queries "How it is done?"' The remark has often been overheard "I wonder how they do it?" while these quaint and amusing cartoons were convulsing the audience with laughter. They afford an illustration of the fact that amazement and amusement are closely allied. These cartoons are only one of the many distinctive features by which Howe's exhibition is, always so pleasantly remembered,—but it is a feature as important as it is exclusive. They cannot be seen at other exhibitions because Mr. Howe reserves them strictly for his own use, and evidently other film producers find them too difficult of execution and too costly to manufacture. At all events, Howe claims that although each of several of the "regular" travel and spectacular features on his new program, costs a small fortune, yet none is more expensive than these snappy, lively "trick" pictures which so cleverly burlesque the serious, topical, industrial and natural history subjects presented. They leaven the entire exhibition with a rollicking and wholesome comedy which the most jaded theater goer finds simply irresistible.
The amusing antics of these cartoons are followed as intensely as the audience as any scenes of the most stirring nature. Thereby they prove how keenly "a little nonsense now and then is relished by the best of men."
The legion of "Howe travelers"' who always find these whimiscal cartoons so delightful and refreshing, may be surprised to know that their production requires not only rare skill in designing the figures but also infinite patience in directing their movements. When an artist draws a cartoon for a newspaper, his work is finished when he hands it in to the editor. Not so with the artist-creators of Howe's animated cartoons. The drawing of the figures is only the first step—and the easiest—in the process. It is only the beginning of weeks of pains-taking labor of the most exacting and nerve-racking kind in the making of only one short strip of film, possibly no more than 30 feet in length. Directing the movements of the figures is a task that requires consummate skill, judgment, originality, a fine sense of humor and the unfailing patience of Job.
Among quite a few of these animated cartoons included in the pro-gram to be presented at the [fill in name of theatre and dates], Mr. Howe promises two of the most amusing subjects that have ever been produced in his studios. One of these depicts the strange and kaleidoscopic adventures of tourists making the descent of the Grand Canyon of Arizona on mule-back. Things happen—and happen very fast. The burros have certain ideas of their own. They proceed to carry them into effect and their "stunts" would make the wildest flights of fancy seem tame by comparison with any exploits recorded in "Gulliver's travels or the Arabian Nights. When the "cow jumped over the moon" it was dead lame compared to these Grand Canyon burros. However, in another subject entitled "A Baseball Game" the cartoonist has let his humor and imagination run riot resulting in an avalanche of fun. It is "some" game. It reaches above the earth so that a field glass is necessary to locate the players, and sometimes underneath the earth. The pitcher delivers not merely curves, but parabolas, concentric circles, and other geometric figures usually recorded only in geometries. His exploits make the best efforts of your favorite pitcher sink into insignificance, no matter who he may be. So, too, with the other players here engaged in "our national game." Their achievements are heroic beyond the wildest dream of the most ardent baseball “fan." However, whether you are a "fan" or not, doesn't matter in the least. The humor of the situations, the mock seriousness and grotesque antics of the players afford so much comedy that the entire game from start to finish is irresistibly funny for everyone.

Charles Musser’s book on Howe, published by Princeton University Press, points out:

After 1899, the man no longer traveled with his show. After 1907, most decisions for the Howe enterprise were made by Howe’s partner and general manager, Max Walkinshaw. Lyman H. Howe’s Hodge Podge, a series of short subjects made in the 1920s and early 1930s, was initiated by a Howe associate when Howe was already seriously ill. It continued for ten years after his death.

The first Hodge Podge, King Winter, was released on Oct. 22, 1922 through Educational Pictures. There were 110 releases. Not all included animation, as you can see by the trade ad below.


Howe died on the morning of Jan. 30, 1923 at the Christian Science Sanatorium in Boston.

This post is a hodge-podge; I’m not focusing on Howe’s career. Nor is this post an in-depth look at animation that year, it’s merely passing along random clippings.

The trade paper The New York Clipper had this brief item on June 14 (longer versions appeared in other trades):

Selig to Release Animated Cartoons.
For some months past the Chicago studios of the Selig Polyscope Company have been engaged upon the production of a series of pictures which will depict the famous comic supplement character, "Old Doc Yak," specially drawn by his creator, Sydney Smith. The series will be known, by the title of "Seligettes,” and will be numbered consecutively. For the present the series will be devoted to animated cartoon comedies of The Chicago Tribune’s famous front page comic character, "Old Doc Yak." The subjects will necessarily be restricted in length as it requires several thousand carefully prepared drawings to make a few hundred feet of film story. "Seligettes No. 1," the first subject in the series, will be released on July 8, as half of a comedy split reel. The title of the individual picture will be "Old Doc Yak."

Unfortunately, the shorts don’t appear to exist any more, according to Tommy Stathes. You can learn more about them at this web page.

A studio in Fort Lee, N.J. got into the cartoon business. This item appeared in several newspapers:

The one biggest laughing hit of the year in film circles is the Newlywed series of animated cartoons, which is being presented by the Éclair Company.
Everyone is, of course, familiar with the very clever cartoons of George McManus. The Éclair company has made arrangements with Mr. McManus for the rights to use these cartoons in films, and the result has been a novelty which has set the entire film work on edge. The first question from all is “How do they do it?”
The animated cartoons are funny—there is no question about that. The series is a hundred times funnier than would have been possible had people been used to act out the ideas.
In order to give the effect of actual lines moving—it is necessary to draw thousands of separate and distinct cartoons which are separately photographed. These men run in the quick succession of the moving picture projecting machine give the effect of smooth and natural motion about 8,000 separate drawings must be made to secure ten minutes of action on the screen.

One other cartoon producer should be noted. A review in the Oregonian, Dec. 8, 1913 advises:

If you are seeking amusement today the show at the Globe Theater is full of it. Colonel Heeza Lion, in Africa [sic], starts the fun. It is one of Bray’s animated cartoons and you cannot help wondering how it is done. The Colonel meets many funny animals and his adventures are extremely ludicrous.

Bray’s cartoons released by Pathé (starring the Colonel and others, including Lovesicko the Monk in the ad to the right) got favourable reviews in the papers. To learn about Bray’s silent cartoons you can do no better than by clicking on this page.