Annie

August 5, 2019 (Monday)
If you are a fan of newspaper comics, then you should know that today is the day we celebrate the debut of “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip. It had its beginning in 1924, and today would have been her 95th anniversary had the comic strip not shut down after 85 years in 2010 . As a child, I loved the comic section of the newspaper, especially the Sunday edition, which was printed in color and expanded to several pages. I started looking at the pictures before I could read, trying to figure out what was happening to the comic characters and making up my own stories. I had someone to read them to me whenever I could pursuade them to help “little ole me.” But wait. Hooray! I found a radio station that featured an announcer who read the comics to non-readers every Sunday morning on KTRH Houston 740 on your dial. You can be sure Little Orphan Annie was among those being read.
When I started to school, like you, I was taught how to read, and a whole new world opened up to me. The same thing happened to you, I’m sure.
Our little jingle about school days provided lyrics that extolled reading, writing and arithmetic (taught to the tune of a hick’ry stick), but I am told that the first schools in America taught more about religion, family and morality than academics. I recently read that Abraham Lincoln was taught at home in a log cabin by his stepmother. Many were home-schooled in those days, but a public school system gradually took shape. By 1900 thirty-one states were requiring children to attend public schools from the ages of 8-14. The demand for a public education continued to grow, and by 1918 all states required that children at least complete elementary school. When I started to school in 1937, adjustments were being made to accommodate a 12th grade in Houston’s public schools.
Well, be all that as it may, back to Little Orphan Annie.
As soon as I learned to read the comics, I was a “happy camper,” but I never really cared much for Little Orphan Annie. “Leapin Lizards and Gee Whiskers,” I don’t know why. I liked “Alley Oop,” “Li’l Abner,” “Nancy and Sluggo,” Popeye, Katzenjammer Kids, and others. But hats off to Little Orphan Annie, who, with her dog, Sandy, was popular with many people. Actually, the cartoonist who created her gave her a subtle conservative political outlook, and many adults liked that. She even became a Broadway star and a 1982 (and 2014) movie star with the musical, “Annie.” Comic strips have lost much popularity with the apparent demise of printed media. T.V. and computers have taken the day, but if you know where to look, you can still find comics.