'Neighborly Neighbors' (5 June 1949).
John Milt Morris, also referred to under his full name John Milton Morris, was a mid- to late-20th century American editorial cartoonist. His cartoons were syndicated by the Associated Press from 1931 until 1987. During his long career as a political cartoonist, Morris also found the time to work on comics, for instance the Christmas-themed comic 'Christmas with Dot and Dick' (1935). Between 1938 and 1955, he was the second and final artist to draw the slice-of-life comic 'Neighborly Neighbors', while he was also the 10th and last artist to continue the newspaper aviation comic 'Scorchy Smith' (1959-1961).
Early life and career
John Milton Morris was born in 1906 in Santa Barbara, California. At age 13, he earned his earliest dimes as a newspaper boy in San Bernardino, selling daily newspapers to passersby in the street. His career was abruptly discontinued when young John was accidentally hit by a truck. While he was lucky to survive, he was severely injured and had to stay in bed for almost two years. During his recuperation period, Morris spent most of his time reading. Understandably, he wanted to do something more constructive after a while and decided to take up a correspondence course in drawing. By the time he had fully recovered, Morris knew what he wanted to do for the rest of his life: become a cartoonist.
After graduating from high school, Morris got a job with the Los Angeles Herald-Express. Working in their archival library, nicknamed the “morgue” in journalistic terminology, he had to file away all the old articles for potential future use. After hours, Morris took evening art classes. Within two years, he moved up the ladder, joining the paper's art department. However, in 1929 the Wall Street Stock Market Crash caused a global economic crisis. During the Great Depression, many people were suddenly swung into poverty, without a job or, at best, still at work but uncertain about their future. Morris decided to move to the epicenter of the U.S. newspaper industry, New York City, in the hope of finding a more stable financial vocation. After five months, he was down to 45 dollars, not even enough to take a trip back home. But right at this dire moment, he was finally hired by the New York Journal American, owned by the famous newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 20 February 1992. John Milt Morris seated next to the U.S. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan.
Editorial cartooning
Morris' long editorial career took off in 1931, at the New York Journal American. His breakthrough cartoon was made when Al Capone was convicted for tax evasion. In 1935, Morris joined the Associated Press, allowing his cartoons to be syndicated to over 125 daily newspapers until his retirement in 1987. From 1940 on, Morris also provided cartoons whenever his colleague Henry "Hank" Barrow was sick or on holiday. When in July 1949 Barrow left the syndicate to join the Omaha World-Herald in Nebraska, Morris became his official successor.
One notable cartoon by Morris was drawn in 1947 to commemorate the passing of U.S. automobile magnate Henry Ford: it shows a desert with two tire tracks going across them. Whenever Morris drew a common man in his cartoons, it was always a caricature of his own father. According to him: "He gets a kick out of it when I don't make him too milktoasty looking." His character 'Andy Jarnsen' was the spitting image of his brother-in-law Andy Johnson, an enthusiastic fisherman. Morris described his profession as follows: "An editorial cartoon is mainly pointing up human frailties on a big scale. The other is pointing up the human frailties of 'the little citizens'."
When he retired in 1987, he had drawn over 14,000 one-panel cartoons.
'Neighborly Neighbors' (Fairbanks Daily News Miner, 1 May 1941).
Neighborly Neighbors
Morris' earliest comic strip was a Christmas-themed one-shot story, 'Christmas with Dot and Dick', syndicated by the Associated Press throughout December 1935. In August 1938, Morris succeeded Oscar Hitt as the artist of the AP's daily gag cartoon/comic 'Neighborly Neighbors'. Running since 1930 under various titles before its final one, the feature visualized everyday village life. Every daily episode was a one-panel cartoon in which a bald, white-mustached man named Peters played the starring role. In October 1941, Morris also launched a Sunday comic version, following a more traditional two-strip gag format. He continued both the daily and Sunday versions until 30 January 1955, after which the feature was discontinued.
'Scorchy Smith'.
Scorchy Smith
In June 1959, Milt Morris was assigned to take over the aviation comic 'Scorchy Smith'. Originally created by John Terry in 1930, the series had been drawn by various artists over the following years, most notably Noel Sickles. By the late 1950s, it had run out of steam. Its then-current artist, George Tuska, was already busy working on a far more enduring adventure comic, 'Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, and passed the pencil to Morris in late July 1959. Morris continued Scorchy's tales of flight for another two years, but couldn't prevent the series from being canceled on 30 December 1961.
Other comics
Milt Morris was a fast worker. While drawing 'Neighborly Neighbors', he had built up such an advantage that it left him with enough time to do other projects and take other graphic assignments. In 1943, he traveled to Washington D.C. to make portraits of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and other high-profile politicians. Two years later, he did the same, only to draw the new president, Harry S. Truman, and his cabinet. He adapted his travels into an illustrated diary, following a comic strip format and serialized in the papers.
Morris also drew a gag comic titled 'Steve Barlow', but it is unknown whether it was ever published, let alone where.
Recognition
John Milton Morris was a member of the National Cartoonists Society. In 1956, he received the National Headliners Club Award.
Final years and death
In 1969, John Milton Morris donated a large part of his personal archives to the Syracuse University Library in Syracuse, New York. He died in 1994 from pneumonia in a retirement home. He was 87 years old. A celebrity admirer of his work was U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson: eight Morris cartoons are kept in Johnson's Presidential Library.
John Milton Morris.