Dwiggins, Clare Victor, 1874-1958

Dwiggins was born in 1874 in Wilmington, OH; in 1890, began work as a cartoonist, drawing for the St. Louis post dispatch, New York journal, Philadelphia inquirer, North American and telegraph, and international syndicate; became art editor for publisher M. Walter Dunne; illustrator for Crankisms (1901), Brevities (1903), and Completed proverbs (1904), all by Lisle De Vaux Matthewman, and for Whimlets (1903) by Samuel I. Stinson; author of Rubáiyát of an egg (1905) and The skull toast book (1904); he died in Oct. 1958.

From the description of Papers, 1903-1953. (University of California, Los Angeles). WorldCat record id: 40970487

Biography

Dwiggins was born in 1874 in Wilmington, Ohio; in 1890, began work as a cartoonist, drawing for the St. Louis post dispatch, New York journal, Philadelphia inquirer, North American and telegraph, and international syndicate; became art editor for publisher M. Walter Dunne; illustrator for Lisle De Vaux Matthewman's Crankisms (1901), Brevities (1903), and Completed proverbs (1904), also for Samuel I. Stinson's Whimlets (1903); author of Rubáiyát of an egg (1905) and The skull toast book (1904); He composed a number of nationally syndicated comic strips including, “Ophelia,” “Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer,” “Peter Tumbledown,” “School Days,” “Footprints on the sands of time,” and “Zeke Carsie says”; he died in October 1958.

From the guide to the Clare Victor Dwiggins papers, 1891-1958, (University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Dept. of Special Collections.)

Clare Victor Dwiggens (1874-1958) was born in Union Township, Ohio in 1874. At the age of sixteen he went to work at an architectural firm. After a year, he hit the hobo trail with a friend and traveled around the country for four years. In 1897, Dwiggens settled in St. Louis where he met and married Bessie Lindsay. He worked as a cartoonist for the Post Dispatch, and was also employed by the Philedelphia Inquirer and the New York World.

Dwiggens found acceptance as a cartoonist in New York. His comic strips were syndicated by McClure, McNaughts and Ledger. His first strip, "School Days," ran for five years in the New York World. Dwiggens was selected by the Mark Twain Estate to draw "Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn" for the McClure Syndicate. This strip ran for ten years. Dwiggens authored and illustrated many other comic strips, wrote a monthly cartoon feature, wrote and illustrated books, and illustrated WWII posters. At the time of his death in 1959 Dwiggens was working on illustrations for the "Rubaiyat."

From the guide to the Clare Victor Dwiggins papers, 1932-1958, (Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries)