Thomas A. Dorgan
Encyclopedia
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
who signed his drawings as Tad. He is known for his cartoon panel Indoor Sports and the many words and expressions he added to the language.
He was born in San Francisco on April 29, 1877. He was one of at least ten children—six sons and four daughters—of Thomas J. and Anna Dorgan. His brother John L. "Ike" Dorgan
John L. Dorgan
John L. Dorgan, known as Ike Dorgan, was a bookbinder, boxing manager, press agent, and publicity manager for the Madison Square Garden. He was a founding partner of The Ring magazine.-Biography:...
(born April 1879) was publicity manager for the Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, and his brother Richard W. "Dick" Dorgan (born September 1892) was an illustrator and cartoonist.
Polytechnic High School teachers Rosey Murdoch and Maria Van Vieck recognized and encouraged Tad's talent as an artist. When he was 13 years old, he lost the last three fingers of his right hand in an accident with a factory machine. He took up drawing for therapy. A year later at the age of 14 he joined the art staff of the San Francisco Bulletin
San Francisco Call
The San Francisco Call was a newspaper that served San Francisco, California. Because of a succession of mergers with other newspapers, the paper variously came to be called The San Francisco Call & Post, the San Francisco Call-Bulletin, San Francisco News-Call Bulletin, and the News-Call Bulletin...
.
Strips and panels
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
at the New York Journal as a sports writer and cartoonist. Jack Dempsey
Jack Dempsey
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey was an American boxer who held the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Dempsey's aggressive style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first...
described him as "the greatest authority on boxing." In addition to sports, he did a humor feature, "Daffydills". His dog cartoons, including Judge Rummy, evolved into the strip Silk Hat Harry's Divorce Suit. This was accompanied by a one-panel gag series called Indoor Sports which became his main feature, along with an occasional Outdoor Sports.
Slang
Dorgan is generally credited with either creating or popularizing such words and expressions as "dumbbellDumbbell
The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It can be used individually or in pairs .-History:...
" (a stupid person); "for crying out loud" (an exclamation of astonishment); "cat's meow
Cat's meow
Cat's meow may refer to:*Meow , an onomatopoeia for the voiced sound made by cats...
" and "cat's pajamas" (as superlatives); "applesauce
Applesauce
Apple sauce or applesauce is a purée made of apples. It can be made with peeled or unpeeled apples and a variety of spices . Fruit flavorings or sweeteners such as sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, or sucralose are also commonly added...
" (nonsense); "cheaters'" (eyeglasses); "skimmer
Boater
Boater may refer to:*Boater, a type of hat*Boater, one of the first disposable diapers*Someone involved in boating...
" (a hat); "hard-boiled" (a tough person); "drugstore cowboy
Drugstore Cowboy
Drugstore Cowboy is a 1989 crime drama directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Van Sant and Daniel Yost, based on a novel by James Fogle. Matt Dillon stars in the title role, and Kelly Lynch, Heather Graham, and William S. Burroughs are also featured. Drugstore Cowboy was filmed mainly around...
" (loafers or ladies' men); "nickel-nurser" (a miser); "as busy as a one-armed paperhanger" (overworked); and "Yes, we have no bananas," which was turned into a popular song
Yes, We Have No Bananas
"Yes! We Have No Bananas" is the title of a novelty song by Frank Silver and Irving Cohn from the 1922 Broadway revue Make It Snappy. Sung by Eddie Cantor in the revue, the song became a major hit in 1923 when it was recorded by Billy Jones, Arthur Hall, Irving Kaufman, and others...
.
In The New York Times obituary, he was bracketed with George Ade
George Ade
George Ade was an American writer, newspaper columnist, and playwright.-Biography:Ade was born in Kentland, Indiana, one of seven children raised by John and Adaline Ade. While attending Purdue University, he became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity...
and Ring Lardner
Ring Lardner
Ringgold Wilmer Lardner was an American sports columnist and short story writer best known for his satirical takes on the sports world, marriage, and the theatre.-Personal life:...
as a popularizer of "a new slang vernacular." His obituary also credited him as the originator of "Twenty-three, Skidoo," "solid ivory," "Dumb Dora
Chic Young
Murat Bernard Young , better known as Chic Young, was an American cartoonist who created the popular, long-running comic strip Blondie. His 1919 William McKinley High School Yearbook cites his nickname as Chicken, source of his familiar pen name and signature...
," "finale hopper," "Benny" for hat, and "dogs'" for shoes. W. J. Funk, of the Funk and Wagnall's dictionary company, placed Dorgan at the top of the list of the ten "most fecund makers of American slang."
Dorgan was erroneously credited with coining the usage of the phrase "hot dog
Hot dog
A hot dog is a sausage served in a sliced bun. It is very often garnished with mustard, ketchup, onions, mayonnaise, relish and/or sauerkraut.-History:...
" in reference to sausage (see "Hot dog: Etymology"). Although he is credited for the phrase "hot dog" it is widely disputed. Historians have been unable to find the particular cartoon that coined this phrase, despite (or perhaps because of) Dorgan's enormous body of work.
Life in Great Neck
Tad Dorgan and his wife, Izole M., lived in a Great Neck, New YorkGreat Neck, New York
The term Great Neck is commonly applied to a peninsula on the North Shore of Long Island, which includes the village of Great Neck, the village of Great Neck Estates, the village of Great Neck Plaza, and others, as well as an area south of the peninsula near Lake Success and the border of Queens...
house valued at $75,000. They had no children, but they raised two Chinese children to adulthood. Dorgan retired in the early 1920s because of poor health, and a heart ailment kept him at home for the last eight years of his life. He died in Great Neck of heart disease
Heart disease
Heart disease, cardiac disease or cardiopathy is an umbrella term for a variety of diseases affecting the heart. , it is the leading cause of death in the United States, England, Canada and Wales, accounting for 25.4% of the total deaths in the United States.-Types:-Coronary heart disease:Coronary...
, hastened by pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
. Izole Dorgan, a writer before she married, was the vice-president of the National Doll and Toy Collectors Club. After Tad's death, she started a successful business manufacturing doll furniture.
Books
Dorgan's first book collection was Daffydills, published by Cupples & Leon in 1911. This was followed by several Indoor Sports collections.Awards
Tad Dorgan was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of FameInternational Boxing Hall of Fame
The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame is located in Canastota, New York, United States, within driving distance from the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown and the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Oneonta...
in 2007 in the category of "Observer"; that is, print and media journalists, publishers, writers, historians, photographers, and artists.
Sources
- McCrory, Amy. "Sport Cartoons in Context: TAD Dorgan and Multi-Genre Cartooning in Early Twentieth-Century Newspapers," American Periodicals: A Journal of History, Criticism, and Bibliography - Volume 18, Number 1, pp. 45-68. The Ohio State University Press, 2008.