Buster brown baby shoes series#

In other media 21-year old dwarf actor 'Master Gabriel' plays the title role of Buster Brown, with George Ali as Tige, in the 1905 Broadway production. The characters were revived with an updated, more contemporary look for a brief advertising campaign in the 1980s and 1990s. The comics featured the characters on the cover, but contained different adventure features, such as Robin Hood. In the 1940s and '50s The Brown Shoe Company made a foray into the comic book publishing industry with Buster Brown Comics, on which a retailer could rubber-stamp their address. Richard Barker played Buster Brown in many of these Brown Shoe Company advertising campaigns his story is told in a biography called Buster Brown and the Cowboy. These actors, each accompanied by a dog, performed in department stores, theaters and shoe stores from 1904 until 1930.

to play Buster in tours around the United States. Little people were hired by the Brown Shoe Co. Buster Brown's association with shoes began with John Bush, a sales executive with the Brown Shoe Company he persuaded his company to purchase rights to the Buster Brown name, and the brand was introduced to the public at the 1904 World's Fair. Louis World's Fair, selling licenses to up to 200 companies to use the Buster Brown characters to advertise their products. This popular character was the subject of a book in 1905 with the title, 'Tige' His Story. Tige is thought to be the first talking pet to appear in the comics, and, like that of many of his successors, his speech goes unnoticed by adults. Tige from the 1905 book, 'Tige' His Story In the last panel the boy has written a message beginning, 'Resolved! That druggists are legalized robbers they sell you soda and candy to make you ill, then they sell you medicine to make you worse.' Horrified by his clumsy misadventure, Buster's mother takes him home and flogs him with a stick. The drink splashes, not only the front of his own clothes, but the skirts of a woman's splendid dress. For example, a strip from May 31, 1903, shows him giving Tige a soda from a drugstore soda fountain. Many strips end with Buster delivering a self-justifying moral which has little or nothing to do with his crime. The trick or transgression is discovered and he is punished, usually by being spanked by his mother, but it is unclear if he ever repents. He is a practical joker who might dress in a girl's outfit and have her wear his clothes, break a window with his slingshot, or play a prank on a neighbor. He is disturbingly pretty (contrast him to Outcault's own The Yellow Kid, or Frederick Opper's creations), but his actions belie his looks.

Buster brown baby shoes series#

The series was translated into Portuguese and published in the Brazilian children's magazine O Tico-Tico (where Buster Brown was known as Chiquinho) its stories were loosely adapted by Brazilian writers.īuster Brown is a young city-dwelling boy with wealthy parents. The character of Buster Brown inspired many imitators, including Perry Winkle from the Winnie Winkle newspaper strip, and the Bobby Bumps animated film series. The latter lasted until January 1911, and Outcault's version until May 13, 1923. Outcault left for William Randolph Hearst's employ in January 1906, and after a court battle, Outcault continued his strip, now nameless, in Hearst papers, while the Herald continued their own version of Buster Brown with other artists. The comic strip began in the New York Herald on May 4, 1902. In Outcault's own words-and his daughter's-she was the only character drawn from life in the Buster Brown strip, although 'Mrs. The character of Mary Jane was also drawn from real life, as she was also Outcault's daughter of the same name. Another boy, Roger Cushman Clark (1899–1995) of Deadwood, South Dakota, was also described as the 'original model' for the Buster Brown character. The name 'Buster' came directly or indirectly from the popularity of Buster Keaton, then a child actor in vaudeville. Fisher's physical appearance, including the characteristic pageboy haircut, was copied by Outcault and given to Buster Brown. The character of Buster Brown was loosely based on Granville Hamilton Fisher, a son of Charles and Anna Fisher of Flushing, New York. The character's name was used to describe a popular style of suit for young boys, the Buster Brown suit, that reflected his outfit. Adopted as the mascot of the Brown Shoe Company in 1904, Buster Brown, along with Mary Jane, and with his dog Tige, became well known to the American public in the early-20th century. Buster Brown is a comic-strip character created in 1902 by Richard F.