Polly and Her Pals — September 18, 1920

In this four-panel daily strip, Polly and Dick wade at the shoreline—he promises not to let go of her—then, onshore, Polly's stout, flower-hatted father listens as she brags that Dick taught her to swim in ten minutes. The punchline: the father notes a "good-looking Goodrich guy" needed two hours to teach her the day before. Sterrett's linework is economical and confident, the figures bold against simple beach backgrounds, with speech balloons carrying the entire comedic timing. Launched in 1912 by Cliff Sterrett for the Hearst syndicate, *Polly and Her Pals* was among the earliest strips to build comedy around a recurring family ensemble, and Sterrett's later work would evolve into some of the most formally inventive draftsmanship in the history of American comics.