George Matthew Adams

George Matthew Adams (August 23, 1878 – October 29, 1962) was an American newspaper columnist and founder of the George Matthew Adams Newspaper Service, which syndicated comic strips and columns to newspapers for five decades. His own writings were circulated widely to The Gettysburg Times and many other newspapers.

George Matthew Adams
Born(1878-08-23)August 23, 1878
Saline, Michigan, U.S.
DiedOctober 29, 1962(1962-10-29) (aged 84)
Alma materOttawa University
OccupationWriter, businessman
Known forGeorge Matthew Adams Newspaper Service

Biography

Early life and education

Born in Saline, Michigan, George Matthew Adams graduated from Ottawa University in Kansas. Employed by a Chicago advertising agency, he started operating the elevator and worked his way up to become a copywriter.

George Matthew Adams Newspaper Service
George Matthew Adams Service
FormerlyAdams Newspaper Service
Adams Syndication Service
IndustryPrint syndication
Fateremaining features sold to The Washington Star, becoming The Washington Star Syndicate
Founded1907 (1907)
FounderGeorge Matthew Adams
DefunctMay 1965 (1965-05)
Headquarters8 West 40th Street,
Manhattan, New York City, N.Y.
,
US
Key people
Giordano Bruno Pascale
Harry E. Elmlark
ProductsComic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons
OwnerGeorge Matthew Adams

In 1907, Adams borrowed money to rent and equip an office and launched the Adams Newspaper Service.[1] Adams' syndicate was located at 8 West 40th Street in Manhattan. When Adams and Emporia Gazette publisher William Allen White met in Chicago in 1908, Adams hired White to write about political issues. Adams had copies of Walt Mason's light verse which he had clipped from the Gazette, and said, "I like this stuff. I'd like to syndicate it to other papers. Suppose I could?" White responded, "Sure. Give Uncle Walt about $18 a week, and he'll be tickled pink to do it for you." Adams did, and as Mason's Rippling Rhythms column increased in popularity, he eventually increased Mason's salary to $15,000 a year.[2]

The name of the Adams Newspaper Service was changed in 1916 to the George Matthew Adams Service. Writers syndicated by Adams included Thornton Burgess, Edgar Guest and Robert Ripley. The syndicate also distributed single-panel cartoons, including some accompanied by jokes, backwoods homilies, light verse or Adams-style inspiration. Adams syndicated comic strips, including Billy DeBeck's Finn an' Haddie, Percy Crosby's The Clancy Kids, (Edwina Dumm's Cap Stubbs and Tippie, Ed Wheelan's Minute Movies, and Robert Baldwin's Freddy. In addition to sports cartoons by Lank Leonard, Adams syndicated Johnny Gruelle's illustrated Raggedy Ann panels from 1934 to 1938. The uplifting Raggedy Ann verses emphasized forthrightness, honesty, kindness and thrift. He also syndicated Rebecca McCann's philosophical The Cheerful Cherub.

Lloyd Jacquet was the syndicate's art director from c. 1936 to 1937,[3] shortly before leaving to found Funnies, Inc. The syndicate's long-time manager was Giordano Bruno Pascale.[4]

Adams's syndicate peaked in the 1920s and 1930s, eventually fading as its founder aged. In the company's latter years, the president and general manager was Harry E. Elmlark.[5]

Adams died in 1962; the remaining features were sold to The Washington Star Company in May 1965, thus forming the Washington Star Syndicate.[5]

Writing

In the 1910s, Adams was selling Dr. Frank Crane's (1861–1928) popular Four Minute Essays. When he lost Crane to a competitor, he decided to write short inspirational essays himself while he traveled from city to city selling to newspapers. By the 1950s, Crane was all but forgotten, but Adams' short inspirational columns, titled Today's Talk, were in about 100 newspapers and also collected in a series of books.[6][7]

Books
  • You Can: A Collection of Brief Talks on the Most Important Topic in the World — Your Success (Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1913)
  • Take It: Suggestions as to Your Right to the World and the Great Things That are in It (Frederick A. Stokes, 1917)
  • Up: A Little Book of Talks on how to Wake Up, Get Up, Think Up, Climb Up, Smile Up, Cheer Up, Work Up, Look Up, Help Up, Grow Up! (Reilly and Lee Company, 1920)
  • Just Among Friends (William Morrow and Company, 1928)
  • Better Than Gold (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1949)
  • The Great Little Things (Duel, Sloan and Pearce, 1953)

Adams Service strips and panels

Launched in the 1910s:

Launched in the 1920s:

Launched in the 1930s:

Launched in the 1940s:

  • Miki by Tom Morrison (c. 1945-c. 1950)[17]

Launched in the 1950s:

Launched in the 1960s:

  • The Birds by Joe Appalucci (1963)
  • Buenos Dias by Ed Nofziger (1963–1965; continued by The Washington Star Syndicate 1965–1967)[25]
  • Cuppy the Newsboy by Joe Appalucci (October 8, 1962 – March 7, 1964)

Adams Service columnists

References
  1. "George Matthew Adams Started Syndicate on a Shoestring," Editor & Publisher (Julv 21, 1934).
  2. "Driscoll, C.B. "New York Day by Day", The Palm Beach Post, July 16, 1939". Archived from the original on March 24, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  3. Lloyd Jacquet entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  4. "Who's Who Among Leading U.S. Syndicate Executives," Editor & Publisher (September 7, 1946). Archived at "News of Yore 1946: Syndicate Executives Profiled," Stripper's Guide (July 21, 2010).
  5. Boyd, Crosby N., President. "THE WASHINGTON STAR HAS PURCHASED THE GEORGE MATTHEW ADAMS SERVICE, A NEWSPAPER FEATURE SYNDICATE," The Washington Star (May 9, 1965). Archived at CIA.gov.
  6. Tripp, Frank. "About the columners", The Day, May 17, 1954.
  7. WorldCat
  8. Edwina entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  9. Wood Cowan entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  10. Gage entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  11. Ed Whelan entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  12. Tack Knight entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  13. Robert Weinstein entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  14. Adolphe Barreaux entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  15. Jack Warren entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  16. Al Carreno entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  17. Tom Morrison entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  18. Robert Baldwin entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  19. "Biography". Fran Matera official site. Archived from the original on February 4, 2010. Additional on February 4, 2010.
  20. Fran Matera entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  21. Marvin Stein entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  22. David Wood entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  23. Wally Wood entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  24. Peter Laing entry, Lambiek's Comiclopedia. Retrieved Aug. 11, 2020.
  25. Ed Nofziger entry, Who's Who of American Comic Books, 1928–1999. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
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