Springtime Humor from Harvey Peake

Born in 1866 in New Albany, Indiana, Harvey Peake was a jack-of-all-trades. Cartoonist, illustrator, postcard artist, poet, author, humorist, and creator of syndicated features, Peake and his work were regulars in the nation's newspapers and magazines for decades. Here is his clever take on Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky" set in a springtime garden. Unfortunately the illustration is not his, but one by M. Peckham. The date is March 23, 1913. 

Here instead is one of Harvey Peake's own cartoons, "The Easter Parade in Squareville" from the same page of the New York Sun. This was Peake's typical style: simple geometric patterns in black and white.

Harvey Peake was one of a kind and one of Indiana's great unsung cartoonists and humorists. He lived nearly a century and died in 1958. Peake is buried in the city of his birth.

Captions copyright 2015, 2024 Terence E. Hanley