Piece-O-History

It's been said a million times before, but I gotta say it again: You never know who you're working with. Even at a grocery store.

Just the other day, one of my co-workers surprised me with this:

(crappy photo, sorry)

This is an original Gasoline Alley strip from 1935, hand-drawn and signed by Frank O. King, complete with a stamp on the back from the Chicago Tribune's engraving room. Holding this strip is like holding a piece of history in my (gloved, for protection) hands. I can even see the places where he goofed and had to scrape the ink off of the paper.

I forget what my co-worker said her exact relation was. I think she said Frank was her great-granddad or great-great uncle, or something of the sort. Either way, she said a whole mess of these strips were passed down through the family, and I'm incredibly psyched that she decided to give one to me. It'd be enough to have an original piece from any comic, but Gasoline Alley is a classic.

More than that, it's nice to have someone have enough faith in my work that they're willing to give me a gift with as much meaning as this.

Now I need to find a trustworthy framer. Or someone with framing equipment. Oh boy.

On a completely unrelated note, I'm sorry for that last, terribly short post. My electricity was completely out and my only window to the outside world was my cell phone which I'm too cheap to buy a data package for.

Yay for SMS.