Page 6 - GC-Mar-Apr-24-final

6 • The German Citizen •March - April 2024
The Katzenjammer Kids

By Martin Ederer family. Rudolph found some suc‐
on-Germans rarely place cess in Chicago as an illustrator.
comedy high on the list of Both he and his brother Gus moved
Ncommon German talents. to New York. There, Block noticed
Fairly or not, a few fictitious Ger‐ Rudolph Dirks’ talent.
man kids kept Americans enter‐ Responding to Block’s request
tained for decades, evidently in spite for a cartoon, Dirks submitted
of growing sensitivities about ethnic sketches. Block named them The
humor in more recent decades. Katzenjammer Kids. “Katzenjam‐
Meet the Katzenjammer Kids and a mer” literally means a cat wail or
second spinoff with a more English caterwaul. In German, the meaning
title, The Captain and the Kids. is associated with depression or be‐
There are multiple German-Ameri‐ wilderment, often after things end
can aspects to The Katzenjammer badly. It has come over into English
Kids – and even a bizarre plot twist to mean a hangover. Indeed it is
in the story worthy of a Katzenjam‐ closely related to the colloquial Ger‐
mer comic strip itself. man word for the same: Der Kater
The story starts with a German (literally means tomcat). Either
inspiration in the heyday of Ameri‐ way, things ain’t good!
can Yellow Journalism and the The first Katzenjammer Kids
newspaper circulation wars be‐ rolled out in 1897. Major characters
tween William Randolph Hearst – among others – included Hans
(New York Journal) and Joseph and Fritz, Der Captain, Der Inspec‐ ready been drawing a similar strip, also rebranded as The Shenanigan Winner took over. For the Captain,
Pulitzer (New York World) in the tor and Mama. More unhinged The Fineheimer Twins, which was an Kids for the same reason. Dirks’ son John took over the draw‐
1890s. Not to be outdone by the characters joined the cast later, in‐ imitation of The Katzenjammer Kids After the anti-German hysteria ing in 1955, although the father
success of Pulitzer’s Yellow Kid car‐ cluding Ginga Dun (no typo) the anyway. Knerr’s father was a physi‐ subsided, Knerr’s Katzenjammer continued to sign the strips until his
toon, which launched cartoons as a Indian and King Bongo. The core cian and an immigrant from Ger‐ Kids name returned at the Journal, death in 1968. John Dirks contin‐
fact of life in newspapers, New York cast all spoke a German-American many. but Dirks’ Captain and the Kids be‐ ued the strip until 1979. Both man‐
World’s editor Rudolph Block asked immigrant English. As things Anyhow, two years of lawsuits came permanent. During both aged to appear as shorts for the big
Rudolph Dirks to launch a Sunday turned out, Dirks transformed the and legal wrangling followed after world wars, the characters of both screen. The Captain even had a
comic based on Wilhelm Busch’s cartoon world, showing people see‐ Dirks sued Hearst. The final ruling strips were identified as Dutch short run on television. The Katzen‐
Max und Moritz, a German chil‐ ing stars to show pain, and sawing was that Dirks retained rights to his rather than German. jammer Kids ended its run as the
dren’s story dating to the 1860s. wood to denote snoring. His work characters and could therefore cre‐ The fact that there were dueling longest running newspaper cartoon
Max and Moritz were two boys al‐ also helped to further standardize ate an almost identical strip, but identical strips didn’t seem to harm in 2006; it continues to be distrib‐
ways intent on getting into trouble the use of panels and speech bal‐ Hearst retained rights to the Katzen‐ either one of them. Knerr contin‐ uted in syndication reprints. The
until they are ultimately executed loons. jammer Kids title. Dirks signed on ued to produce Katzenjammer until Captain ended its run in 1979.
for their pranks. Child psycholo‐ Now for the Katzenjammer- with Pulitzer’s syndicate (Hearst’s his death in 1949. Then Charles
gists could now have a field day with worthiness of this story. In 1912, competitor) and began his new
that. Dirks asked for time off from the strip, Hans und Fritz. World War I
Rudolph Dirks was a German strip. Hearst’s Journal steadfastly re‐ hostility to German-Americans
immigrant from Heide who grew up fused the request, but Dirks walked brought about a name change in
in Chicago. His father was a wood‐ anyway. The Journal reassigned the 1918: The Captain and the Kids.
carver. Artistic ability ran in the strip to Harold Knerr, who had al‐ Knerr’s Katzenjammer Kids were