Merely Margie, by John Held
'Merely Marge'. 

John Held Jr. sold his first cartoon in 1904 to Life magazine. In 1905, he dropped out of school to work as a sports cartoonist for the Salt Lake City Tribune. In 1910, he was employed by Collier's agency and moved to New York, where he drew his first cartoons under the pseudonym Myrtle Held. During the 1920s, he became renowned for the flat-chested, angular "flapper" girls he drew for the New Yorker. From these cartoons 'Merely Margy' developed, and appeared as a comics feature in 1930, accompanied by 'Joe Prep'. In 1935, 'Merely Margy' folded and was replaced by 'Rah! Rah! Rosalie', but this 1920s-based comic did not catch on during the changing times of the Great Depression. Held went back to illustrating, and died in 1958.

Merely Margy, by John Held 1930
'Merely Margy', 1930. 

Series and books by John Held Jr. you can order today:

X

If you want to help us continue and improve our ever- expanding database, we would appreciate your donation through Paypal.