Gasoline Alley originated in 1918 as a humorous single-panel cartoon that revolved around the character Walt and his male neighbors discussing automobiles, still considered a novelty at the time. In 1921, perhaps at the behest of Captain Joseph Patterson or his cousin Robert McCormick (both co-publishers of the Chicago Tribune), Frank O. King turned the strip into a domestic drama by dropping a baby onto the doorstep of the bachelor Walt. Walt improbably decides to raise the child himself and names him Skeezix, a word said to have been slang for “motherless calf.”
King demonstrated his mastery of visual storytelling in his later Sunday Gasoline Alley strips. He also introduced real-time continuity to the comics page by having his characters age along with the audience. Baby Skeezix has grown into a young boy in these innovative Sunday pages. Gasoline Alley is the second-longest running comic strip in the U.S. and is still being drawn for syndication.
Frank King
Gasoline Alley
August 25, 1919
Chicago Tribune
Ink on newsprint
San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection
Frank King
Gasoline Alley
February 22, 1921
Chicago Tribune
Ink on newsprint
San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection
Frank King
Gasoline Alley
April 15, 1934
The Los Angeles Times
Ink on newsprint
San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection
Frank King
Gasoline Alley
April 22, 1934
The Los Angeles Times
Ink on newsprint
San Francisco Academy of Comic Art Collection