BUD FISHER - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 05/04/1928 - HFSID 287143

BUD FISHER
TLS thanking a fan of Mutt and Jeff, but declining to send the requested cartoon
Typed Letter signed: "Bud Fisher", 1 page, 8½x11. New York, N.Y., 1928 May 4. On letterhead of the Bell Syndicate, with the figures of Mutt and Jeff printed on the paper. To Frank I. Morse, West Roxbury, Massachusetts. In full: "Thanks very much for the pamphlet and for the interest you are taking in Mutt and Jeff. It's always very nice to receive letters from Mutt and Jeff admirers. However, I will be unable to supply you with the cartoon you asked for because of contract restrictions. Best wishes". Bud Fisher (1885-1954), was creator of Mutt and Jeff, the first successful comic strip, the first comic strip artist to make his fortune off of comic strips. Fisher was a theatre, sports and news cartoonist at the San Francisco Chronicle when he came up with the idea for a comic strip. The strip, A. Mutt, began on Nov. 15, 1907; a Sunday strip was later added and the name changed to Mutt and Jeff. Fisher cagily copyrighted the strip, which allowed him to peddle the strip and its characters to the highest bidder. By 1921, Fisher received $4,600 a week for drawing Mutt and Jeff for the Wheeler Syndicate, even though much of the work was done by assistants. With assistants slaving away on the strip, Fisher was free to squander his money on the good life before dying in seclusion in 1954. One horizontal two vertical mailing folds. Lightly toned and creased. Stain at lower right edge. Otherwise, fine condition.