September 30, 2024

Dick Tracy, Chester Gould & the iPhone

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designed by Chester Gould


Ninety years ago, on September 30, 1935, The Adventures of Dick Tracy debuted on the Mutual Radio Network. Dick Tracy is a fictional police detective in the American comic strip Dick Tracy created by Chester Gould in 1931.             
   
The iconic character beat Apple to the punch by more than 90 years; the iWatch was introduced on April 24, 2015. I remember when I was a kid and thought a two-way wrist radio was totally cool and science fiction (a new word at the time) fodder. As with so many other items, Sci-Fi is now reality! What an amazing time we live in now!          
 
Dick Tracy was the inspiration for the character “Fearless Fosdick” in the Li’l Abner comic strip by Al Capp.
 
Twenty or so years later, General Motors would create a simulation of a wrist radio during their annual Motorama show; but, it was just that, a simulation (link below).   

Chester Gould won the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award in 1959 and 1977, and was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1978. The Mystery Writers of America honored Gould and his work with a Special Edgar Award in 1980. In 1995, the strip was one of 20 included in the Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative postage stamps and postcards. 
Dick Tracy postage stamp - 1993
designed by Chester Gould
 
 
In 2005, artist Chester Gould was inducted into the Oklahoma Cartoonists Hall of Fame in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma.
 
 
date & photographer unknown
 
            
            
            
            
Viewfinder links:         
         
Chester Gould          
Postal stamps on the Viewfinder              
SF Civic Auditorium, Motorama & Arthur Fiedler                   
        
Net links:          
        
Oklahoma Historical Society ~ Chester Gould (1900–1985)                
        
YouTube links:         
        
Dick Tracy links        
        
        
        
        
         
Styrous® ~ Monday, September 30, 2024       






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