As I think I mentioned recently, digitalization is nothing new in my line of work, but it still amazes me. The most glaring difference has been in the transporting of the artwork itself. When I started and for years afterward the original art was bundled up and shipped to the syndicate headquarters where it was reproduced in an old-school print shop and, in turn, mailed to client newspapers. Now, everything moves almost instantaneously with the push of a button, not to mention the old-school print shop is long gone. Of course, some quality is lost in digital reproduction, but it’s the difference in mp3 files and vinyl records: most people can’t tell and don’t care. There are other, more subtle differences for the better, as in the third panel of the above cartoon. In the old days, I would have had to pencil in the “chalk” outline of Ludwig and painstakingly ink around it with a brush, emphasis on the pain. Today, it’s a simple chore to draw the thought balloon and the cat outline normally, and use an easy combination of select/invert/deselect/fill. You get the idea. It’s great!
50 responses to “Second Thoughts”
Field rats? Cotton rats or rice rats? I’m guessing both occur in/near Austin. I’ve never seen either in the wild, though we do have Sigmodon hispidus [cotton rats] in the college collection. Some cheek teeth are definitely S-shaped [or reverse S-shaped], hence the generic name. Genus has related spp. s. of the border.
Technology has made a huge difference in the printing industry overall. I started out as an apprentice in small daily with a job shop on the side. The job shop still did work with a California case and Linotype. The newspaper side was modern with a new phototype setter. The trades were full of articles saying that phototype would never replace hot lead for quality printing. When I was forced into retirement (by a girl driving and playing with her cell phone) My little shop was running computer to plate after somewhere in there hearing the argument that this laser printer thing would never replace phototype for quality printing. My plates were basically made by a 3000dpi laser printer. Color printing used to be a big deal to do. You sent off to a specialty house for the separations and then had to do a quite careful merging of them and the type. Now full color printing is easy. Push a button easy almost. Printing changes more in the last 40 years than it did in the 400 years before.
Dennis, I have heard that USA Today is composed in one location. Then sent electronically to local printers for printing and distribution.
Today’s retro strip reminds me of two lines:
From a movie: “We are their gods!” – said by a Native American to an Anglo-American.
My own: “If you lived in a house ruled by giants, you would pray that they will be kind.”
My own line was written in response to a news article about child abuse.
It also applies to our pets, though.
Drat.
I forgot to mention that the Native American was admonishing the Anglo-American who was trying to turn a work dog into a pet by spoiling him with extra food.
Debbe 😉 There was one other possibility besides it being a bootblack and customer, but since this a family-oriented cartoon blog, I decide to go with “bootblack”. 😉
Dennis, I was thinking about exactly what you said and the color separations. I was in high school and somehow had ended up drawing full color cartoons to be used on the high school’s football programs. Each one was that week’s opponent vs. our tiger mascot.
Did this in a shop exactly as you described and remember how complex and difficult my cartoons were to print on that glossy program magazine. Any kid with a computer could probably do that now but in the 1950’s this was pretty high tech. I remember having to do drawings for each color too?
Love, Jackie Monies
Go ahead Ghost. I was going to do a joke about a camel walking into a bar but you have me curious now.
Sandcastler That is correct. The trade magazines at one time had articles about them. The NY Times does the same thing. In fact it is common now for papers to have editorial and composing in one location and the press lines in another. Even weeklies like the Fredericksburg Standard in Fredericksburg, TX does it. Sent the whole layout across town to the printing plant and they image plates from the files and on to the press. You can cut a lot of time from deadlines by comparison the the days of film and plate burners. Same as the difference between hot lead and stereotype and phototype and film. Each advancement shaves time off the set up.
One of my early jobs involved me setting up by hand the type, using wood type and hand rolled ink. Now that’s basic.
Don’t think I mentioned but when we went back for my mother in law’s funeral, the most popular Sunday brunch spot with long lines was the old print shop where I used to sit in the dark, dirty recesses and read proof on the lead plates from the linotype machines! It was even named “The Print Shop” if I remember rightly in it’s new life. Don’t know how good the food was, the lines were too long to wait out.
I did comment that they must have done some incredible cleaning up to get it to pass a restaurant sanitation inspection. So much for nostalgia of one’s youth, it is now trendy to today’s youth.
Love, Jackie Monies
Jackie, that is one trend I like! Reusing old buildings for new business. Much better than tearing down one just because it is old. One building downtown in Tuscaloosa has the date 1871 picked out in big numbers on the front. I always thought it was the date it was built but found out differently. Turns out it was a bank built in the 1890’s and the 1871 date was the founding of the bank.
And sometimes history repeats itself. On River Hill, there was an old hotel which burned down in the 1960’s. Went by there yesterday and they are now building a modern hotel on the same spot. Should have a great view.
Mark, I agree with you there. I was active in New Orleans with preservation efforts, moved to Houston, TX and there seemed to be none. They moved a few buildings to a downtown park and tore down the rest it seemed to me!
Youngest daughter lives in extremely historic town of Quincy, IL where almost entire old town is part of a historic district. She lives in one of most historic homes in town and serves on the preservation board. So, I applaud all efforts to save or repurpose old buildings.
And the food must have been good in that print shop, the lines went around the block!
Love, Jackie Monies
Jerry, was old Herr Gutenberg as crotchety as they say he was?
Jackie, sorry to disappoint you, but the only work of Jimmy’s I own is a print, not an original. But I’m quite proud of it, and it’s framed and hung in my home office. You may recall that he solicited donations of blankets for people living in tents in, as I recall, a city park in Pass Christian after the city was ravaged by Katrina. As thanks, he sent donors copies of an original work that incorporated Arlo, Janis and the blankets. (That sounds vaguely dirty, but it wasn’t.)
If you’ve not seen it, perhaps Jimmy would publish it on the blog some time, if’n you asked real sweet.
And I’m sure you said, but I don’t recall…which A&J cartoon did you purchase?
On Car Talk (NPR show) they keep joking about the Alamo having been moved in order to preserve it. That would be something to behold! Actually, it’s been in 5 different countries over the years: Spain, Mexico, the Republic of Texas, the Confederate States of America, and the United States of America.
And here’s a fun story out of Alabama (where I lived for about 4 years):
http://www.khou.com/news/Man-on-bathroom-break-finds-venomous-snake-coiled-in-toilet-266462841.html
“Car Talk” is still on? Really? I figured that by now Tom would have given himself a cerebral aneurysm from cackling at himself so hard.
To quote Wikipedia:
The show was produced from 1977 to October 2012, until the Magliozzi brothers retired. Edited reruns continue to be available for airing on NPR affiliates.
Since I didn’t discover the show until the late 90s (after which I listened whenever I was near an NPR station), I’m still enjoying those edited reruns.
Good morning Villagers….
Back at the turn of the century, A & E ran a special listing the 100 inventions during the last thousand years….all I can remember is that the printing press was number 1. It was a good documentary, wish I could remember the top 10.m
And the devil is still running amok in the hen houses from a busted water pipe that drowned a couple of hens to a belt busting and I had to pull it out of the pit…arrrggghhhhh. Left it to dry on the aisle.and sew this morning.
Ya’ll have a blessed day
Jackie and Llee…left you both messages on “Now You Know”……thanks for asking 🙂
Debbe! Thanks. Have a good day……….. 🙂
I have encountered that foot.
I just noticed that I had misspelled Missoula. Wonder how long it’s taken me to notice that?
I am reminded of “How to Murder your wife” with Jack Lemmon. For those who might not know the movie – Jack Lemmon is a comic strip creator with a strip about a man’s man who solves crimes. When Jack’s character marries the woman who comes out of the cake at a party, he changes the character to also have a wife, which causes problems with the strip. There is also a glopita, glopita machine that is significant to the plot.