As an aid to those readers who may not catch the strip's occasional era-specific references, the book includes an appendix of annotations by comic historian Allan Holtz. The asterisks aiming the reader to these annotations could be more immediately accessible to the reader, but this is a small grouse. I found myself going through the appendix after I finished my first reading of the book and looking back to the references they explicate. In many cases, these notes were necessary—I knew from The Untouchables about the practice of bringing beer home in a bucket—but they did occasionally illuminate a gag, as when Jiggs busts up what he thinks is a collapsible top hat.
As a prime example of early American strip work, "Bringing Up Father" is not a comic for those who might be bothered by its sexist parameters and occasional ethnic caricatures. (Though they're not in a lot of strips, the occasional big-lipped darkie servant does appear in the first two years.) McManus himself was of Irish-American descent, so his take on his beer-swilling lug of a hero was anything but critical. If anything, Jiggs' fight to stay his illiterate, fun-loving self has a comic nobility to it—one that McManus fruitfully and successfully mined for decades.
Article comments
1 - Golf Blog
Is George related to Patrick E. McManus? I love Patrick's work from the The Grasshopper Trap!
--Chris S
2 - Bill Sherman
They're not directly related. Patrick's father died when he was a boy, while George lived a ripe old life well into Patrick's adulthood. Don't know if there's a less direct family connection.
3 - Bill Sherman
I have since heard from Alan Holtz, incidentally, who tells me that the one instance of mechanical lettering I noticed was an editorial change inserted by the newspaper back when the strip was first being published - and not something done by NBM.
4 - REBECCA REYES
Hi! I am from Puerto Rico and I just want to say that Jiggs and Marge were named Pancho and Ramona, the comic strip's name was Educando a Papa..they were published in a newspaper named El Mundo, by the 60's. It was one of my favorite comic strips...imagine a country girl with no tv at home...those characters were my like my extended family, and even though I couldn't understand the cultural and social differences , I really had a lot of fun with them. Your review is very interesting..thank you!