'The Flibbertys' (28 March 1965).
Ray Helle was an American cartoonist, known for his magazine cartoons and his daily comic and cartoons series 'The Flibbertys' (1954-1972) and 'Box Seat' (1964-1966) for the Chicago Tribune. During the 1970s and 1980s, he turned to self-syndicating and created the crossword feature 'Bible/Crostics' and the comic strips 'Sam & Ellie', 'Pet Parade' and 'Life with Lucky'.
Early life and career
Raymond Helle was born in 1917 in Brooklyn, New York City, as the son of Norwegian immigrants. From age 12, he desired to become a cartoonist. However, in adulthood he first worked in the type design department of Mergenthaler Linotype. His first printed cartoon appeared in 1939 in Judge magazine. At the Pratt Institute in New York City, Helle took evening classes in perspective and figure drawing. After being rejected by several magazines, his gag cartoons were eventually accepted by Colliers, The American Legion and The Saturday Evening Post.
"Daddy got the sails wet!" (Saturday Evening Post, 9 September 1950).
World War II
In 1941, the United States entered World War II and Helle was drafted, serving with the 99th Infantry Battalion. In the period 1944-1945, he fought in Europe, among others during the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium. Thanks to his Norwegian roots, he served in five campaigns with a Norwegian ski battalion, despite never mastering skiing himself. In the military, Helle made it to the rank of captain. In 1946, he returned to civilian life and continued drawing magazine gag cartoons until 1954.
'The Flibbertys' (2 January 1967).
The Flibbertys
After years of doing gag cartoons, Helle created his daily family comic 'The Flibbertys' (1954-1972). First printed on 20 September 1954, the feature revolved around a young couple, Stan and Fran Flibberty, and their three children, teenager Wendy and younger kids Butch and Sis. However, their anthropomorphic pets, Geddown the Dog and Preston the Cat, quickly stole the spotlight. The animals often argue with each other, while their dialogues cannot be heard by the humans. One of the comic's running gags was that Preston always tries to catch a mouse, who outsmarts him at every opportunity. In later decades, Helle focused more on the pets than the humans. 'The Flibbertys' ran in The Evening Independent and was for 18 years syndicated by The Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate. For the creation of his comic, Helle took a lot of inspiration from his own family life and pets. On 20 August 1972, the final episode appeared in the papers.
'Box Seat' cartoons of 2 December 1964 (Sun-Tattler) and 20 August 1966 (Chicago Tribune).
Other comics
Also for the Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate, Helle created the daily one-panel cartoon series 'Box Seat' (1964-1966), which poked fun at theater, film and television. He subsequently left his syndicate and became a freelance cartoonist and self-syndicated his new creations. While assisting on publications for the Presbyterian church, where he served as deacon, he came up with the idea of 'Bible/Crostics', a biblically-themed crossword puzzle feature. Self-syndicated to mostly Florida newspapers during the 1970s, the feature was also published in booklet form.
In the early 1980s, Helle created 'Sam & Ellie', a comic strip about an elderly couple living in a sunny environment. Many editors believed that a newspaper comic about old people wouldn't sell. However, Helle managed to self-syndicate his strip to newspapers like The Evening Independent and Senior Voice magazine (some papers like the Tampa Bay Times ran it as simply 'Ellie'). Helle attributed the success to the fact that he presented an honest, but light-hearted look at retirement and aging. Later in his career, Helle created the features 'Life With Lucky' and 'Pet Parade' for The National Enquirer. He went into semi-retirement in 1989.
'Bible/Crostic' puzzle from the Tampa Bay Times (22 June 1974).
Personal life and death
Ray Helle spent the majority of his early career in Northport, New York City. Between 1961 and 1984, he lived in St. Petersburg, Florida, and then moved to the town of Holiday in the same state. In 1982, Helle underwent a heart-bypass operation. He was a member of the Community United Methodist Church in Holiday, as well as the Cartoonist Society, the Vasa Order of America, the Finnish American Club and Sons of Norway. He passed away from congestive heart failure in 1999.
'Sam & Ellie' (25 February 1987).