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Krazy Kat and Ignatz in Kollectibles
The daily strip debuted in 1913, but the characters had actually made their first appearance about three years earlier. The first time America saw the mouse meet the kat was at the bottom of a George Herriman Sunday page in early 1910. The Sunday strip was actually known by two names, either The Family Upstairs or The Dingbat Family. Herriman needed something to fill up space at the bottom and the kat and mouse seemed to fit the bill. The characters, as simple as they seemed, grew quickly. When, on July 26, 1910, the mouse hurled a brick at the kat, the elements began to fall into place. The daily allowed Herriman to expand on the characters that surrounded Krazy and Ignatz as well as display a level of writing that had not really been seen in comics before. When the Sunday page began appearing in April of 1916, it was printed in black and white, and in an unusual move, featured in the Arts and Drama section of the Hearst papers instead of the comics section. At the time, comics were still looked down upon by the intelligentsia. Many prided themselves on never visiting that "common" section of the newspaper. However, once exposed to Krazy and the rest of the Kokonino Kounty residents, these elite few found themselves enjoying a strip that worked on many different levels. Some were entranced by the backgrounds. The art seemed to be surrealistic, yet grounded in an understandable reality. The word play and dialogue was miles above what many respected novelists of the day were capable of. With the exposure from being in the Arts and Drama section, Krazy built a slightly different audience than other strips. While, with the hindsight provided by many comic historians, many believe that Krazy's audience was low and in fact limited, it didn't matter. (The strip was actually carried by less than fifty papers, but they were fifty good papers). That audience was probably a bit better off than the normal comic reader's. Their children were just as likely to want toys based on popular comic characters as any other parent's. Another factor in Krazy's popularity was the characters presence on the silver screen. While the screen versions carried none of the strip's wit or subtlety, their mere existence would have created a better public awareness of the characters. The cartoons first appeared in the late 1910's and had their heyday from 1929 until 1940 This added boost provided by their animated adventures would certainly have given Krazy a better image in the public's eye. So, there is no reason to assume that the strip's intellectual vision would have limited the potential of a toy's ability in the marketplace. Several manufacturers produced Krazy toys. the most successful was J. Chein. The company seemed to have a good relationship with the company responsible for the Krazy license, King Features as they also had success with a line of Popeye toys as well. Chein wasn't limited to just King Features characters, they made everything they could for children. Pull toys, tin wind-up ducks, toy drums, globes and pails for the beach or mud pies. Krazy toys were also manufactured by Knickerbocker, who was especially known for their dolls. They produced some of the most popular and highest quality dolls of their day. In addition to Krazy, they are also responsible for some of the best looking early Disney dolls in the collector's market. The toy hobbyist knows that a good looking Krazy doll or toy is a real find. It isn't often that they come into the marketplace and when they do, they often reach top dollar. Krazy Kat, with it's ability to appeal to both college professors and 7 year olds, is often recognized as the best comic strip in history.
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