Substantial archive of cartoon artwork by American comics artist Reamer Keller

N.p. N.p., Circa 1950s-1970s. Significant archive of over 2350 original cartoon artworks and cartoon sketches by American comic artist Reamer Keller, circa 1950s-1970s. Nearly all the illustrations are Keller’s characteristic one-frame cartoons, and nearly all are signed and/or with Keller's stamps.

An exhibition-size overview of the Keller's work, including:

Over 575 preliminary sketches, including approximately 225 pencil or charcoal sketches and over 350 pencil sketches with yellow gouache.

Over 750 developed pencil and ink cartoons.

Approximately 250 developed pencil, ink, and black and gray wash cartoons.

Nearly 750 developed pencil, ink, and blue gouache cartoons.

27 xerographically reproduced cartoons, two over-painted with blue gouache, and four magazine proofs.

Keller’s various series work represented in the archive includes:

Over 110 teen and collegiate sketches and cartoons for Keller's Family Weekly series, "Addle-essence," circa 1950s-1960s.

19 preliminary pencil sketches for Keller’s Boy’s Life series “Pedro,” circa 1950s-1960s, about the adventures of a donkey named Pedro.

Over 75 hillbilly sketches and cartoons, the majority for Keller’s Collier's series, “Kennesaw,” circa 1950s.

Nearly 60 sketches and cartoons relating to doctors and psychiatrists for Keller’s syndicated “Medicare” series, circa 1960s-1970s.

Twelve multi-panel sketches and developed artworks, including ten sketches for the aforementioned “Kennesaw” series.

18 unsigned sketches by (or done in the style of) cartoonist Fred Neher, five with Neher’s name neatly written in the top margins, and thirteen others in the same style with Keller stamps.

Two paste-up cartoons on card stock produced for publication.

Among the many subjects in the archive lampooned by Keller include: women, marriage and couples, sex, babies and parenting, jobs and office work, kids and school, adolescence and college, crime, courtrooms and prison, hillbillies, soldiers and sailors, the beach, ethnic humor, animals and pets, automobiles, ladies’ hats, art, cavemen, desert islands, golf, information and help desks, fortune tellers and fortune-telling weight scales, the circus, and bums.

Also:

Two memos, undated, on “Worth Gatewood” letterhead noting selected cartoons by number for publication.

Typed letter signed from Joy Winters on “The News” letterhead, dated January 7, 1970, selecting cartoons by number for publication.

Short typed list on onionskin of five cartoons listed by number for “half-page horizontal” publication with the title “Fresh Heir Fund.”

Detailed inventory available upon request.

Keller was raised in the region between Massanutten, Virginia, and the Blue Ridge Mountains. As a young man he honed his distinctive cartooning style while working in Portsmouth at the Compton Engraving and Printing Company. He went on to study architecture at University of Cincinnati, finishing his degree at Ohio State University. He sold his first cartoon in the late 1920s to The Columbus Citizen in Columbus, Ohio. Keller eventually settled in Staten Island, New York, having realized the majority of his work was selling to Manhattan-based magazines.

Keller did his earliest work for Collier's, and his first big success was a cartoon syndication between 1952-1955 of his Collier's character "Kennesaw," a hillbilly to end all hillbillies, based on the artist's experiences as a youth in the American South.

Keller was quite prolific, and is today credited with creating over 22,000 drawings over the course of his career, most being one-frame cartoons. His work was published in magazines including The New Yorker, Esquire, Forbes, Life, Playboy, The Saturday Evening Post, McCall's, Collier's, College Humor, Reader's Digest, and This Week, among many others. Other notable cartoon series included his feature "Addle-essence” for Family Weekly, and his series character, “Pedro,” created for Boys' Life.

Keller's single-panel work was largely devoted to human relationships, satirizing relationships between men and women in particular. His characters varied widely, from simple country folk to sophisticated wealthy city dwellers. He also took a wry look at crooked behavior, jailed convicts, and the comical side of criminals and law enforcement.

Altogether, the archive represents over 2350 leaves of original artwork, executed variously in pencil, charcoal, ink, and yellow and blue gouache, on various 8.5 x 11 inch paper stock, including newsprint and bristol drawing paper. One grouping of eleven leaves (“Stone Quarry”) bound with a single staple, and one grouping of 23 (“Stars and Gripes”) bound with a large paper clip. Most material quite well preserved in Very Good plus to Near Fine condition, with occasional (but infrequent) examples of a damaged leaf. In sum, one linear foot of material.

[Book #168776]