{"id":10308,"date":"2021-08-12T11:46:36","date_gmt":"2021-08-12T15:46:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/?p=10308"},"modified":"2021-08-12T15:01:38","modified_gmt":"2021-08-12T19:01:38","slug":"cy-hungerford-cartooning-pa-wheeling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.archivingwheeling.org\/blog\/cy-hungerford-cartooning-pa-wheeling","title":{"rendered":"Cartooning “Pa Wheeling”"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Cy Hungerford Hones His Craft in the Friendly City<\/h1>\n
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\u2014 written by <\/em>Terri Blanchette<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Few people in Pittsburgh today know of an institution who once graced their city with his people-centered perspective and sensitivity, and his great talent. Even fewer know that without five pivotal years spent in Wheeling, West Virginia<\/a>, he would not have become the icon he was.<\/p>\n

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East Main St, Manilla, Indiana, ca. 1908. Courtesy Shelby County Indiana History & Genealogical.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cyrus Cotton \u201cCy\u201d Hungerford<\/a> was born in the small town of Manilla, Indiana, located halfway between two of southeast Indiana\u2019s more major cities of Rushville and Shelbyville, on June 27, 1888. Both of his parents were part of the agrarian pioneers and were raised on significant farmsteads \u2013 Addison Hungerford\u2019s family being one of the first to settle Manilla, and Florence Cotton\u2019s prominent family a major force in developing Shelbyville into a notable city. Neither parent wanted to stay on the farm and so met, married in 1884 and began a life together.<\/p>\n

Leaving their homesteads was only the first move in what would become a trend with the little family. In 1890, when Cy was two, his parents again felt the need to move on and headed for Parkersburg, West Virginia. Addison had many of the traits one associates with his profession of salesman. He was gregarious, a \u201cdandy\u201d when it came to his impeccable dress, and if his son was any reflection, Addison had the gift of gab. He took those traits and combined them with his deep knowledge of farming to sell reapers and other farming equipment. Of course, Florence was the homemaker and that allowed her to form a strong bond with her only child. That bond determined much of his future until the day she died.<\/p>\n

While in Parkersburg, Cy began his career in drawing and cartooning. He had a natural draw to the effort, if not the natural talent. But talent can come with time and so it was with Cy. In 1903, at the age of 15, he sold his first cartoon to the Parkersburg Sentinel<\/em>. Like many boys of the time, he was initially a paperboy for the publication. One of the areas he worked was the \u201cred light\u201d district where he was teased by the inhabitants of the local brothel. Cy knew he wanted to have his cartoons in the Sentinel<\/em>, but was often told that the paper couldn\u2019t afford to take a chance with his untested talents. At the time, printing a cartoon meant creating and carving an image in reverse which would then be carved from a wood block<\/a>. The block was used as a stamp onto the newspapers.<\/p>\n

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Example of chalk plate and the image created from its lead casting. Example images from Commercial Engraving and Printing: A Manual of Practical Instruction and Reference<\/em>, Commercial Engraving Publishing Company, 1924.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, it was an expensive and time-consuming method that only lasted so long as the wooden block held together. That old method was giving way to a new and improved chalk plate method<\/a>. The cartoonist would draw an image on tissue paper, invert it and carve it onto a fine layer of chalk adhered to a metal plate. When the drawing was complete, lead was poured into the grooves on the plate and ultimately created a metal stamp with a much longer lifespan, thereby saving costs. To make himself more saleable to the paper, Cy decided to learn the new method and successfully sold himself as not only a cartoonist, but one who could save the paper time and money. They bought the idea.<\/p>\n

Cy had a healthy dose of his parent\u2019s wanderlust and following his graduation from Parkersburg High School, in 1907, he headed for Wheeling.<\/p>\n

Like Parkersburg, Wheeling was a boomtown thanks to the natural oil and gas that was found in the region. Iron, tobacco, tin, and glass were also elements of Wheeling\u2019s success at the time. Cy, like his father, was attracted to the promise that a new town offered. Just months following his high school graduation, he was hired by the Wheeling Register<\/em> and his first illustration (literally, of a train wreck) appeared in the Wheeling Register<\/em> Sunday paper on September 29, 1907.<\/p>\n