'Tuff the Pup' (Playbox, 9 December 1939).
Arnold Warden was a mid 20th-century British comic artist, who worked for the Amalgamated Press. His signature comics were the long-running children's features 'Snowdrop's Zoo' (1938-1955) and 'Tuffy and his Magic Tail' (1939-1955), which appeared in Playbox. His name is sometimes misspelled as "Arnold Walden".
Early life
Arnold Henry F. Warden was born in 1892 in Prestwich, Lancashire. His father died before the boy's birth. Warden's aunt, Sarah Jane Heywood, taught painting and was perhaps an influence on his eventual career choice. In 1911, he was trained as a graphic designer. Not much else is known about his early life, let alone what he did up until the late 1930s.
'Snowdrop's Zoo' (Playbox, 9 December 1939).
Amalgamated Press
By the end of the 1930s, Arnold Warden was hired by the Amagamated Press and became a prominent contributor to their children's magazines, aimed at young boys and girls who just learn to read, like Playbox and The Chick's Own. Because his style was so similar to another cartoonist hired by this publisher, Freddie Crompton, Warden often ghosted drawings for him.
Snowdrop's Zoo
One of Warden's own comic features in Playbox was 'Snowdrop's Zoo' (1938-1955). Despite the title, the comic was set in the menagerie of a circus, where a pretty young girl called Snowdrop was the zookeeper, and the little clown Chic her best friend. They are able to talk with the animals, who can also talk back. 'Snowdrop's Zoo' was a combination between a balloon comic and a text comic, with text captions underneath the images.
Tuffy and His Magic Tail
Warden's other recurring feature in Playbox was 'Tuffy and his Magic Tail' (1939-1955), which also ran under the titles 'Tuffy, Our Puppy', or 'Tuff the Pup'. The series revolved around a young boy and girl who own a white dog with a black spot on its back, named Tuffy. Tuffy's tail is magical and whenever it wiggles, people's wishes come true. Bert Wymer possibly also worked on this series, since some sources credit him with drawing 'Tuffy, Our Puppy' in 1941.
Sunshine Farm
Warden also drew a short-lived comic for The Chick's Own, titled 'Sunshine Farm' (1940), about a group of barnyard animals.
Final years and death
In 1955, Playbox published its final issue and merged with another children's magazine, Jack and Jill. The Chick's Own disappeared from the market in 1957 and merged into a new magazine, Playhour. Arnold Warden retired that same year, and passed away in Cheshire in 1963.
'Tuffy and his Magic Tail' (Playbox, 20 May 1950).