McClure Newspaper Syndicate

McClure Newspaper Syndicate

Formerly	T. C. McClure Syndicate
Company type	Subsidiary
Industry	Print syndication
Founded	1884(1884)
Founder	Samuel S. McClure
Defunct	September 1952(1952-09)
Fate	absorbed intoBell Syndicate
Headquarters	75 West Street (1930s), New York City,New York , U.S.
Area served	United States
Key people	John Sanborn Phillips, Henry Herbert McClure, Robert McClure,Allen Sangree,Adelaide P. Waldo, James L. Lenahan, Ernest Cuneo, Louis Ruppel
Products	Comic strips, newspaper columns, editorial cartoons
Owner	Samuel S. McClure(1884–1914) J. C. Brainard (1914–1928) Richard H. Waldo (1928–1946) James L. Lenahan (1946–1952) Bell Syndicate-North American Newspaper Alliance(1952)

In 1943, the McClure Newspaper Syndicate promoted theBatmancomic strip with a 12-page booklet.

McClure Newspaper Syndicate,the first Americannewspaper syndicate,introduced many American and British writers to the masses. Launched in 1884 by publisherSamuel S. McClure,it was the first successful company of its kind. It turned the marketing ofcomic strips,columns,book serials and other editorial matter into a large industry, and a century later, 300 syndicates were distributing 10,000 features with combined sales of $100 million a year.

History

In 1886, McClure's college friend, John Sanborn Phillips, joined the Syndicate, and his cousin, Henry Herbert McClure, was also on the staff. Samuel McClure's brother, Robert McClure, was in charge of the London office.Allen Sangreehad a position with the McClure Syndicate in 1892.

In 1914, the McClure family sold the Syndicate to J. C. Brainard, who acquired theWheeler Syndicatein 1916. Brainard sold the McClure Syndicate to Richard H. Waldo in 1928.After Waldo died in 1943, his widow, Adelaide P. Waldo, ran the syndicate for three years, passing it on to James L. Lenahan in 1946. Lenahan's failure to meet a due payment on the stock led to a September 1952 auction when it was acquired byErnest Cuneo,head of theBell Syndicate-North American Newspaper Alliancegroup, with Louis Ruppel installed as president and editor.

The company briefly dabbled into comic book production in 1936 under the leadership of Max Gaines, where partnered withDell Publishing,to produce three of Dell's comic books,The Funnies,Popular ComicsandThe Comics,and Dell would finance and distribute these comics, until Gaines quit McClure to startAll-American Publicationsin 1939.

Writers

As America's first profitable literary syndicate, the company bought an author's work for about $150 and then sold the right to print it to a newspaper for five dollars. The company lost money during its first few years, eventually turning a profit while distributing and promoting such American luminaries asGeorge Ade,John Kendrick Bangs,William Jennings Bryan,Joel Chandler Harris,William Dean Howells,Fannie Hurst,Sarah Orne Jewett,Jack London,Theodore Roosevelt,Mark TwainandWoodrow Wilson.The roster of British writers includedG. K. Chesterton,Arthur Conan Doyle,Rudyard Kipling,Robert Louis StevensonandH. G. Wells.

Columnists

McClure carried the first "behind the news" column from Washington, along with columns on fashions, interior decorating and international affairs, as well as a column byCalvin Coolidge.In the 1930s, the syndicate distributed a number of "Whirligig"columns: Louis M. Schneider'sFinancial Whirligig,Frederic Sondern'sEuropean Whirligig,Ray Tucker'sWashington Whirligig,andNational Whirligig(1934–1936).

Cartoonists

One early McClure comic strip artist wasCarl Thomas Anderson,who drewHerr Spiegelberger, the Amateur Cracksmanbeginning in 1903. In 1916, McClure purchased the Wheeler Syndicate fromJohn Neville Wheeler.Another early comic strip artist with McClure wasPercy Crosby.Commissioned a second lieutenant in the Officer Reserve Corps in 1916 and being called to active service the following year, Crosby was in training at a camp in Plattsburgh, New York. While in training, Crosby created a daily comic panel,That Rookie from the Thirteenth Squad,for the McClure Syndicate, writing and drawing it from the front in France while serving as a first lieutenant in the 77th Division, AEF. The panel was collected into his first two books,That Rookie of the Thirteenth Squad(1917) andBetween Shots(1919). The syndicate also introduced newspaper readers to the art ofJames Montgomery Flaggand the early cartoons ofClare Victor DwigginsandRube Goldberg.

Editors

After employment as a newspaperman in Arizona, California and Hawaii,Harold Matsonworked for the McClure Syndicate as a roving correspondent and became managing editor by 1930.Matson later became a literary agent to some of the most illustrious authors in the world.

Sheldon Mayeralso joined the Syndicate as an editor in 1936. Some the McClure strips were reprinted during the 1930s inFunnies on Parade.In addition to comic strips and feature articles, McClure also syndicated books and stories. In 1938,Theodore Sturgeonsold his first story to the McClure Syndicate, which bought many of his early, mainstream stories before he became known for his science fiction.

In the late 1930s, the company was located at 75 West Street in New York City.

McClure comic strips

• Alfredby Carl Ryman (October 17, 1949 – 1954)— became part of the Bell-McClure Syndicate
• ArchiebyBob Montana(1947–c. 1952)
• Batman and RobinbyBob Kane,Don Cameron,Bill Finger,Jack Schiff,Alvin Schwartz,andFred Ray(1943–1946)
• BettybyCharles Voight(c. 1919–c.1920) — Sunday-only strip; moved to theNew York Herald Tribune Syndicate(where it ran for twenty years)
• Billy BouncebyW. W. DenslowandC. W. Kahles(1901–1906)
• Bobby Thatcherby George Storm (1927–1937)
• Buzz and Snoozeby Ken Kling (1918-1919)
• The District SchoolbyClare Victor Dwiggins(Sunday strip, 1914)
• A Dog's LifebyClare Victor Dwiggins(Sunday strip, 1926–1929)
• Foolish FerdinandbyWilliam F. Marriner(December 1901 – 1904)
• Hambone's Meditationsby James Pinckney Alley (launched in 1916; soon moved to theBell Syndicate)
• Herr Spiegelberger, the Amateur CracksmanbyCarl Thomas Anderson(1903–c. 1905)
• Home Sweet HomebyHarry J. Tuthill(1918–1924)
• Home Wanted for TagsbyClare Victor Dwiggins(1910–1919)
• King AroobyJack Kent(1950–1965) — became part of the Bell-McClure Syndicate
• Mary and Her Little LambbyWilliam F. Marriner(1906–1909)
• Mrs. Bumps Boarding HousebyClare Victor Dwiggins(Sunday gag panel, 1913)
• Noahzark Hotelby Varb (Raoul Barré) (January 12–November 9, 1913)
• O. Henry's Short StoriesbyJohn Hixand Bertram Elliott (June 11–July 28, 1928)
• Once Upon a Timeby Walter J. Enright (June 1, 1925 – August 5, 1926; reprints until 1929) — printed in some newspapers until the titleMake-A-Book
• Ophelia's SlatebyClare Victor Dwiggins(1927–1929)
• Poor Ol' Robinson Crusoeby Everett Lowry (1909–1911) — pre-syndication (launched in 1903) titledPeg Leg Peteand thenBarnacle Bill
• Roger Lincoln, S-Manby Milton Luros (1948-1952)
• Sambo and His Funny NoisesbyWilliam F. Marriner(1905 – 1913)
• School DaysbyClare Victor Dwiggins(1917, 1927–1929) — also known asThe School Days of Tom Sawyer & Huck Finn
• Strange as It SeemsbyJohn Hix(1928–1970)— became part of the Bell-McClure Syndicate
• Supermanoriginally byJerry SiegelandJoe Shuster(1939–1967) — became part of the Bell-McClure Syndicate
• That Rookie from the Thirteenth SquadbyPercy Crosby(c. 1917–c. 1918)
• There Oughta Be a Law!byAl FagalyandHarry Shorten(laterFrank Borth,Warren Whipple andMort Gerberg) (1944–1984) — strip later moved toUnited Feature Syndicate
• Tom Sawyer and Huck FinnbyClare Victor Dwiggins(Daily/Sunday, 1918–1931))
• Uncle Jim and Tad and TimbyClare Victor Dwiggins(Sunday gag panel, 1913–1914)
• YoungFrank MerriwellbyGilbert PattenandJohn Hix(March 26–September 28, 1928)

Further reading

• Cather, Willa.The Autobiography of S.S. McClure.Lincoln; London: University of Nebraska Press, 1997.
• "Henry H. McClure, Syndicated News."The New York Times,November 25, 1938.
• Lyon, Peter.Success Story: The Life and Times of S. S. McClure.New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1963.