Obscurity of the Day: The Saga of Mrs. Simpson

Although NEA was undeniably king of the closed-end news strip (gotta come up with a better name for these … ideas?) other syndicates did follow suit and gave the genre a try. Hearst’s Central Press Association, for instance, offered them sporadically in the 1930s. In the mid-1930s they had Clifton H. Crittenden pen at least five of them, including The Saga of Mrs. Simpson. This one was a 6-part series tracing the life of Wallis Simpson, who was about to become the wife of King Edward VIII leading to his abdication from the British throne. The series ran from December 6 to 11 1936* in most papers, though some ran it late.

Crittenden signed the art on these strips, but may well not have been the writer. 

Source: Cuero Record

4 comments on “Obscurity of the Day: The Saga of Mrs. Simpson

  1. More often, these Central Press closed-end news strips, or CENS, to use a never used before term, were done by R.J. Scott, at least in the 1920-35 era.

  2. Excuse it Allan- hope this is allowed-
    An article I wrote about Mr. Scott with some samples of his "CENS" can be glimmed at

    comicskingdom.com/blog/2015/07/16/ask-the-archivist-r-j-scott

  3. You may, you may! The late lamented "Ask the Archivist" is highly recommended reading. Comic strip fans are urged to get over there.

    CENS. Hmm. Well, it ain't zactly got a musicality to it.

    –Allan

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