Bringing Up Father — 1929-07-11

Six panels track Jiggs's cautious optimism about Maggie's new cook, crushed the moment a grotesquely garnished plate of corned beef and cabbage arrives at the table. The cook defends herself — at the laundry she brought lunch! — and Maggie, loyally furious, threatens to fire her only after Jiggs dares suggest she shouldn't. McManus's line work is confident and economical: exaggerated open mouths signal outrage, spotted dresses recur as Maggie's visual signature, and the gag lands cleanly across the panel gutter. Launched in 1913, *Bringing Up Father* was one of the most widely syndicated strips in the world, its domestic battle-of-wills formula helping establish the recurring-character daily strip as a commercial and narrative standard that directly prefigured the anthology comic book format of the following decade.