From the exhibition
Mr. Wad Couldn't do the George Washington on a Cherry Tree So He Just Chipped In on the Fight
· February 22, 1911
A six-panel Sunday strip following Mr. Wad through escalating mishaps tied to Washington's birthday. Each panel pairs a historical reference—the cherry tree legend, Martha's Bush, golf championship, gasoline, and a horse cabinet—with comic disaster. The strip demonstrates early newspaper comics' reliance on wordplay and sight gags, with speech balloons and sequential panels guiding readers through a narrative of accumulated absurdity. Published in the era when Sunday comics pages were becoming a staple of American newspapers, this strip exemplifies the visual storytelling conventions that would anchor comic strips as a distinct medium.
Public domain, restored and presented by comicbooks.com public-domain
