These two sericels depict Betty Boop in a Marilyn Monroe pose over a city grate on one side and Popeye with Olive Oyl on the other. Betty is wearing a red dress, billowing upward with the updraft from the grate as she makes an effort to keep it down, looking up and to the right innocently as she does so. The second print shows Popeye offering Olive Oyl a flower in a spinach-can vase, the latter waving him off in bashful acceptance.

Weight (lbs): 0.25
Height (In.): 16.5
Width (In.): 13.5
Depth (In.):
Size: 16.5 x 13.5"
Maker: Fine Arts Management Corp
Material: Ink
Date: 1999
Provenance:
Condition: No noticed wear or damage.
History: William Randolph Hearst's newspapers began syndicating material in 1895 after receiving requests from other newspapers. In 1914, Hearst and his manager Moses Koenigsberg consolidated all of Hearst's syndication enterprises under one banner. Koenigsberg gave it his own name (the German word König means king) when he launched King Features Syndicate. Production escalated in 1916 with King Features buying and selling its own staff-created feature material. A trade publication — Circulation — was published by King Features between 1916 and 1933. Syndication peaked in the mid-1930s with 130 syndicates offering 1,600 features to more than 13,700 newspapers. In the 1940s, Ward Greene (1893–1956) was King Features' editor, having worked his way up through the ranks. He was a reporter and war correspondent for the Atlanta Journal for 4 years (1913-17), moving to the New York Tribune in 1917 and then the New York Journal as correspondent in France and Germany (1918–19). He joined King Features in 1921, became a writer and editor of the magazine section in 1925, advancing to executive editor and general manager. Vice president Bradley Kelly (1894-1969) was a comics editor during the 1940s. Sylvan Byck (1904–1982) was head editor of the syndicate's comics features for several decades, from the 1950s until his retirement in 1978. A King Features employee for more than 40 years and comics editor for 33 years, Byck was 78 when he died July 8, 1982. Comic strip artist John Celardo (1918–2012) began as a King comics editor in 1973. In 1973, Tom Pritchard (1928–1992) joined King Features, and he became executive editor in 1990, overseeing daily editorial operations and the development of political cartoons, syndicated columns and editorial services for King Features and North America Syndicate. Born in Bronxville, New York, Pritchard arrived at King Features after work as a reporter at The Record-Journal (Meriden, Connecticut), as feature writer with The Hartford Times, as editor-publisher of Connecticut's weekly Wethersfield Post and as executive editor of The Manchester Journal Inquirer in Connecticut. He died of a heart attack in December 1992 at his home in Norwalk. Bill Yates was King Features' comics editor from 1978 to 1988. In 1978, cartoonist Bill Yates (1921–2001) took over as King Features' comics editor. He had previously edited Dell Publishing's cartoon magazines (1000 Jokes, Ballyhoo, For Laughing Out Loud) and Dell's paperback cartoon collections. Yates resigned from King Features at the end of 1988 in order to spend full-time on his cartooning, and he died March 26, 2001. In 1988, Yates was replaced by Jay Kennedy — author of The Official Underground & Newave Comix Price Guide (Norton Boatner, 1982). On March 15, 2007, Kennedy drowned in a riptide while vacationing in Costa Rica. Appointed associate editor Brendan Burford to the position of comics editor on April 23, 2007. Burford, who attended the School of Visual Arts, was employed for a year as an editorial assistant at DC Comics before joining King Features as an editorial assistant in January 2000. Working closely with Jay Kennedy over a 7-year span, he was promoted from assistant editor to associate editor to editor. In 2007, King Features donated its collection of comic strip proof sheets (two sets of over 60 years accumulation) to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum and the Michigan State University Comic Art Collection while retaining the collection in electronic form for reference purposes.
Condition: No noticed wear or damage. History: William Randolph Hearst's newspapers began syndicating material in 1895 after receiving requests from other newspapers. In 1914, Hearst and his manager Moses Koenigsberg consolidated all of Hearst's syndication enterprises under one banner. Koenigsberg gave it his own name (the German word König means king) when he launched King Features Syndicate. Production escalated in 1916 with King Features buying and selling its own staff-created feature material. A trade publication — Circulation — was published by King Features between 1916 and 1933. Syndication peaked in the mid-1930s with 130 syndicates offering 1,600 features to more than 13,700 newspapers. In the 1940s, Ward Greene (1893–1956) was King Features' editor, having worked his way up through the ranks. He was a reporter and war correspondent for the Atlanta Journal for 4 years (1913-17), moving to the New York Tribune in 1917 and then the New York Journal as correspondent in France and Germany (1918–19). He joined King Features in 1921, became a writer and editor of the magazine section in 1925, advancing to executive editor and general manager. Vice president Bradley Kelly (1894-1969) was a comics editor during the 1940s. Sylvan Byck (1904–1982) was head editor of the syndicate's comics features for several decades, from the 1950s until his retirement in 1978. A King Features employee for more than 40 years and comics editor for 33 years, Byck was 78 when he died July 8, 1982. Comic strip artist John Celardo (1918–2012) began as a King comics editor in 1973. In 1973, Tom Pritchard (1928–1992) joined King Features, and he became executive editor in 1990, overseeing daily editorial operations and the development of political cartoons, syndicated columns and editorial services for King Features and North America Syndicate. Born in Bronxville, New York, Pritchard arrived at King Features after work as a reporter at The Record-Journal (Meriden, Connecticut), as feature writer with The Hartford Times, as editor-publisher of Connecticut's weekly Wethersfield Post and as executive editor of The Manchester Journal Inquirer in Connecticut. He died of a heart attack in December 1992 at his home in Norwalk. Bill Yates was King Features' comics editor from 1978 to 1988. In 1978, cartoonist Bill Yates (1921–2001) took over as King Features' comics editor. He had previously edited Dell Publishing's cartoon magazines (1000 Jokes, Ballyhoo, For Laughing Out Loud) and Dell's paperback cartoon collections. Yates resigned from King Features at the end of 1988 in order to spend full-time on his cartooning, and he died March 26, 2001. In 1988, Yates was replaced by Jay Kennedy — author of The Official Underground & Newave Comix Price Guide (Norton Boatner, 1982). On March 15, 2007, Kennedy drowned in a riptide while vacationing in Costa Rica. Appointed associate editor Brendan Burford to the position of comics editor on April 23, 2007. Burford, who attended the School of Visual Arts, was employed for a year as an editorial assistant at DC Comics before joining King Features as an editorial assistant in January 2000. Working closely with Jay Kennedy over a 7-year span, he was promoted from assistant editor to associate editor to editor. In 2007, King Features donated its collection of comic strip proof sheets (two sets of over 60 years accumulation) to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library & Museum and the Michigan State University Comic Art Collection while retaining the collection in electronic form for reference purposes.