Gasoline Alley Brakes Loose

Last Saturday, I took note that 100 years ago, Frank King's "Gasoline Alley" had just broken free of his "The Rectangle" feature in the Chicago Tribune. Today, let's celebrate the Alley's independence a little more purposefully.

"The Rectangle" by Frank O. King in Chicago Sunday Tribune, November 24, 1918

When "Gasoline Alley" first appeared on November 24, 1918, it was below the fold of the full-page feature, one panel among several recurring features. It showed up every week after that, along with "Is This Your Pet Peeve," "Our Movie," "Rubber Stamps," and riffs on whatever was the big news story that week. Eventually it migrated to the top of the page by the following summer, as well as expanding into multi-panel format on Sundays and appearing as a single, stand-alone panel on weekdays.

"The Rectangle's Gasoline Alley Calendar for 1919" by Frank O. King in Chicago Sunday Tribune, December 28, 1919

"Gasoline Alley" revolved around a bunch of male friends and their obsession with their automobiles, tinkering with the engines, sharing tips on vehicle maintenance, and occasionally even getting out on the road. Some of the guys had families or girlfriends, although King left the ladies' characters rather undeveloped. Walt and Skeezix (Jeet Heer, Chris Oliveros and Chris Ware eds., Drawn and Quarterly Books, Montreal) notes occasions when King mixed up the names of the supporting actresses in his cast.

"The Rectangle" by Frank O. King in Chicago Sunday Tribune, February 8, 1920

Above is the last "The Rectangle," on the front page of the Chicago Sunday Tribune's editorial section on February 8, 1920. Its episode of "Gasoline Alley" features regular characters Avery, his son Elmer, and bachelor Walt Wallet.

The following Sunday, the Tribune editorial section disappeared, reduced to a single page in the front section of the paper. So too disappeared "The Rectangle," and I can't find any cartoon by King in that day's edition. (By this time, he had turned over his Sunday color comic "Bobby Make-Believe" to other artists only to see it put to pasture within months.)

"If We Couldn't Tell a Lie" by "P.L." (?) in Chicago Sunday Tribune, February 15, 1920

The "Motordom" pages where "Gasoline Alley" would soon settle offered only one comic on February 15, a single-column piece of filler titled "If We Couldn't Tell a Lie." There would be several episodes of "If We Couldn't Tell a Lie" throughout any given edition of the paper; its focus not strictly about automobiles but may have been drawn to fit in with whatever page it happened to be on. I don't see a signature on this particular cartoon, but other installments were initialed "P.L."

"Gasoline Alley" by Frank King in Chicago Sunday Tribune, February 22, 1920

"Gasoline Alley" returned to the Sunday Tribune on Feb 22, with this panel appearing at the top of page 17 of section 7. This is one of King's less wordy single-panel cartoons, which might typically consist of several of the guys around the open hood of a car or watching one drive away, discussing what might be wrong with it or its owner.

"Gasoline Alley" by Frank King in Chicago Sunday Tribune, February 29, 1920

Starting on February 29, "Gasoline Alley" showed up regularly as a comic strip across the top of the first of the "Motordom" pages (usually in the middle of section 7). Avery is the central character of these Sunday strips. Walt, who would become the paterfamilias of the strip as it continues to this day, figures more prominently in the daily panel, and not just because he stood a head taller than the other denizens of the alley. (A feat not easily achieved in the cramped real estate of today's comic strips!)

"Gasoline Alley" by Frank King in Chicago Sunday Tribune, March 7, 1920

It would be another year before the foundling Skeeziks was left on Walt's doorstep, but you can see already that "Gasoline Alley" was gravitating toward being a family-centered comic strip. The March 7 episode touches only briefly and peripherally on matters automotive, and the March 14 installment has nothing to do with cars beyond having the rear bumper of one in panels three and four.

"Gasoline Alley" by Frank King in Chicago Sunday Tribune, March 14, 1920

I can imagine some editor at the Tribune asking King, "Remind me why we have you at the top of the top of the Motordom page again...?"

"Gasoline Alley" by Frank King in Chicago Sunday Tribune, March 21, 1920