Bringing Up Father — buf430606f

Jiggs, the Irish-immigrant-made-good, has tied a ribbon on his finger to remember something his wife Maggie wants — and promptly forgets what it was. Nine panels follow him through a department store elevator, past floors announced in dense lettered lists, as saleswomen, a doorman, and other shoppers buffet him along. He exits laden with hats, perfume, and bubble bath, none of it right. McManus's linework is immaculate: Art Nouveau curves on doorframes, crosshatched crowd scenes, and speech balloons whose typography mirrors each character's personality. Launched in 1913, *Bringing Up Father* was among the longest-running American strips and a direct ancestor of the comic book, its recurring characters and sequential panel grammar shaping the medium's foundational visual language.