Cal Alley
Encyclopedia
Cal Alley was the editorial cartoonist
for The Commercial Appeal
in Memphis, Tennessee
from 1945 until 1970.
. Hambone's Meditations ran on the front page of The Commercial Appeal. When the elder Alley died April 16, 1934, Cal Alley and his brother James took over Hambone's Meditations. Pressure from Civil Rights groups brought the long-run cartoon series to an end in 1968. Tom Hunley told a WPA
interviewer how he met J. P. Alley:
. When the Journal folded in 1942, he moved on to the Nashville Banner
.
Three years later, he signed on with The Commercial Appeal, where he launched a comic strip, The Ryatts, syndicated from 1954 to 1994. Comics historian Don Markstein
noted:
Cal Alley's sister, Elizabeth Alley, was married to Frank Ahlgren, editor of The Commercial Appeal from 1936 to 1968.
contribution to their communities and region, or the state, through newspaper journalism."
Alley retired in 1965 and died of cancer five years later at the age of 54.
Editorial cartoonist
An editorial cartoonist, also known as a political cartoonist, is an artist who draws editorial cartoons that contain some level of political or social commentary....
for The Commercial Appeal
The Commercial Appeal
The Commercial Appeal is the predominant daily newspaper of Memphis, Tennessee, and its surrounding metropolitan area. It is owned by The E. W. Scripps Company, a major North American media company. Scripps also owned the former afternoon paper, the Memphis Press-Scimitar, which it folded in...
in Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
from 1945 until 1970.
Hambone's Meditations
Born in Memphis, Cal Alley was the son of James Pinckney Alley, creator of the syndicated cartoon panel, Hambone's Meditations, and the first editorial cartoonist at The Commercial Appeal in 1916. The character of Hambone was inspired by J. P. Alley's encounter with a philosophical ex-slave, Tom Hunley, of Greenwood, MississippiGreenwood, Mississippi
Greenwood is a city in and the county seat of Leflore County, Mississippi, United States, located at the eastern edge of the Mississippi Delta approximately 96 miles north of Jackson, Mississippi, and 130 miles south of Memphis, Tennessee. The population was 15,205 at the 2010 census. It is the...
. Hambone's Meditations ran on the front page of The Commercial Appeal. When the elder Alley died April 16, 1934, Cal Alley and his brother James took over Hambone's Meditations. Pressure from Civil Rights groups brought the long-run cartoon series to an end in 1968. Tom Hunley told a WPA
Works Progress Administration
The Works Progress Administration was the largest and most ambitious New Deal agency, employing millions of unskilled workers to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads, and operated large arts, drama, media, and literacy projects...
interviewer how he met J. P. Alley:
- Mr. J.P. really did stay here in Greenwood once. You say you heard dat an' didn't know whether to believe or not? Well, yes ma'am, he was here sho nuff. Dat's been somethin' like 25 year ago. He had a office over de Crumont—does you remember de Crumont? You mus' have been jest a li'l chile when it closed up. Well, upstairs, dat was where Mr. J.P. had his office—leastways his li'l room where he did his drawin' at. Twan't no regular office. I cleant up that place in dem days, an' I come trompin' up de stairs wit my mop an' bucket de fust time Mr. J.P. ever seed me. He cotch one glimpse of me, an' he jump an' holler: "Bless goodness, uncle! You stand right there 'til I can git yo' picture." Den he hole up his fingers like dis and squinch he eye at me, and fus' thing I knowed he had my picture. "Now," he says, "I got to get a name for you." And sho nuff, I'se comin' up de stairs one day a-gnawin' on a big ham-bone what a white lady had guv me. "I got it!" he hollers, "Hambone! From now on yo' name is Hambone!" An' dats what I been ever since, wit my picture in de Commercial Appeal ever' morning. Mr. J.P. he went on back to Memphis, and he dead now, but Young Mister an' his momma what was Mr. J.P.'s lady, dey draws my picture now. Hambone! Yassuh, Mr. J.P. Alley was sho one fine young white man.
Editorial cartoons and The Ryatts
In 1939, Cal Alley began his cartoon career in Missouri where he was an editorial cartoonist with the Kansas City JournalKansas City Journal-Post
The Kansas City Journal-Post was a newspaper in Kansas City, Missouri from 1854 to 1942 which was the oldest newspaper in the city when it folded....
. When the Journal folded in 1942, he moved on to the Nashville Banner
Nashville Banner
The Nashville Banner is a defunct daily newspaper of Nashville, Tennessee, United States, which published from April 10, 1876 until February 20, 1998...
.
Three years later, he signed on with The Commercial Appeal, where he launched a comic strip, The Ryatts, syndicated from 1954 to 1994. Comics historian Don Markstein
Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Don Markstein's Toonopedia was a web encyclopedia of print cartoons, comic strips and animation. Don D...
noted:
- Besides Mom and Dad Ryatt, there were five kids: Missy, Kitty, Pam, Tad and Winky. If there was one family member who could be singled out as the star, it was Winky, the youngest. In fact, for a while during the late 1960s and early 1970s, the strip had the alternate title Winky Ryatt. Like many working in the domestic comedy genre, Alley drew inspiration from his own family. Alley retired in 1965, and died in 1970. The Ryatts was taken over by Jack Elrod, who later also took over Mark TrailMark TrailMark Trail is a newspaper comic strip created by the American cartoonist Ed Dodd. Introduced April 15, 1946, the strip centers on environmental and ecological themes. In 2006, King Features syndicated the strip to nearly 175 newspapers....
from creator Ed DoddEd DoddEdward Benton Dodd was a 20th century American cartoonist known for his Mark Trail comic strip.-Early years:...
. The syndicate folded the strip in 1994.
Cal Alley's sister, Elizabeth Alley, was married to Frank Ahlgren, editor of The Commercial Appeal from 1936 to 1968.
Awards
Cal Alley received the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for a 1955 editorial cartoon. He was inducted into the Tennessee Hall of Fame which "honors those who have made an outstanding contribution to Tennessee Newspaper journalism or, through Tennessee journalism, to newspaper journalism generally, or who have made an extraordinarycontribution to their communities and region, or the state, through newspaper journalism."
Alley retired in 1965 and died of cancer five years later at the age of 54.