Bringing Up Father — buf361225

Four panels follow Jiggs and Maggie reminiscing about a burlesque show's arrival in town. Panel one: Maggie asks if Jiggs remembers the indignation meeting when the first burlesque show hit; panel two: a gaudy billboard advertises the John, sixty beauties, ten cents at the Colosseum — Jiggs grins appreciatively. Panel three: Jiggs confesses borrowing a horse and rig to drive Maggie past the laundry where she worked, making the girls jealous. Panel four: the children catch Jiggs sneaking home, as Maggie says he could always be found by looking up at the window. McManus's assured brushwork, elaborate crosshatching, and elegant lettering exemplify the newspaper daily strip at its peak — the direct ancestor of the comic book page, whose panel sequencing and speech balloons this strip helped standardize across American popular culture from 1913 onward.