Jeffrey Lindenblatt has been researching Gasoline Alley strips in 1919; his interest was in comparing how the Chicago Tribune and New York Daily News ran the feature. He sent me the data he collected, which seems to show that not only were the two papers inconsistent until mid-December, but the Daily News wasn’t even consistently late, which would seem like the most likely scenario considering that King was producing the feature in Chicago. There’s even a single strip (December 22) that apparently never ran in the Tribune.
Jefffrey says that part of the problem stems from Gasoline Alley running as part of King’s Sunday Rectangle until September, which sometimes made for seven panels in one week. Even after that, though, the Daily News maintained a stubborn independent streak not only in timing but even sometimes changing the strip’s subtitle.
| Strip Title | Chicago Tribune | Daily News | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| (In the First Place I’d say the Tire Has Good 7000 Miles) | 24-Aug | ||
| The Ladies Have A Word to Say | 25-Aug | 25-Aug | Same |
| The Bunch Has Had A Dip | 26-Aug | 27-Aug | Minus 1 |
| The Home Garden | 28-Aug | 26-Aug | Plus 2 |
| The Bunch Stays Downtown To Dinner | 27-Aug | 28-Aug | Minus 1 |
| Avery And His Wife Have Just Left | 29-Aug | 29-Aug | Same |
| On the Fair Green | 30-Aug | 30-Aug | Same |
| (And He Sneaks Up Beside) | 31-Aug | ||
| H.C. Of L. Under Discussion | 1-Sep | 1-Sep | Same |
| Walt Weakens | 2-Sep | 2-Sep | Same |
| Planning A Getaway | 3-Sep | 3-Sep | Same |
| Arranging the Camping Party | 4-Sep | 4-Sep | Same |
| Walt is For Personal Liberty | 5-Sep | 5-Sep | Same |
| Collecting The Camp Outfit | 6-Sep | 6-Sep | Same |
| (What You Doin Walt Working Up An Appetite) | 7-Sep | ||
| The Bunch is Off | 8-Sep | 8-Sep | Same |
| They All Know The Road | 9-Sep | 9-Sep | Same |
| And Where Are the Ham and Eggs? | 10-Sep | 10-Sep | Same |
| The Bunch Censors Walt’s Outfit | 11-Sep | 11-Sep | Same |
| Three Men in A Boat | 12-Sep | 12-Sep | Same |
| A Line To the Folks | 13-Sep | 13-Sep | Same |
| A Breakdown on the Road | 14-Sep | 15-Sep | Minus 1 |
| Found Walt’s Mustache | 15-Sep | 16-Sep | Minus 1 |
| The Girls At Home Try to Start Something | 16-Sep | 17-Sep | Minus 1 |
| Walt’s Other Initials K.P | 17-Sep | 18-Sep | Minus 1 |
| Avery’s Luck Goes Bad | 18-Sep | 19-Sep | Minus 1 |
| Breaking Camp | 19-Sep | 20-Sep | Minus 1 |
| Stuck! | 20-Sep | 22-Sep | Minus 2 |
| The Bunch Arrived Safely Yesterday | 22-Sep | 23-Sep | Minus 1 |
| Walt Does His Fall Cleaning (Chicago)/Walt Does His Bit On-Machine (NY) | 23-Sep | 24-Sep | Minus 1 |
| Avery May Spend Some Money | 24-Sep | 25-Sep | Minus 1 |
| Walt is Still Contented | 25-Sep | 26-Sep | Minus 1 |
| Speaking of Help | 26-Sep | 27-Sep | Minus 1 |
| Walt Has Been Experimenting | 27-Sep | 29-Sep | Minus 2 |
| Like New Speed Guaranteed | 29-Sep | 2-Oct | Minus 3 |
| Shade Tree Diplomacy | 30-Sep | 1-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Now What Can A Man Say? | 1-Oct | 30-Sep | Plus 1 |
| A Lesson in Spelling and Hot Latin | 2-Oct | 3-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Of Course It’s His Own Wife | 3-Oct | 4-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Crepe Hangers | 4-Oct | 6-Oct | Minus 2 |
| Hard Drinkers of Soft Drinkers | 6-Oct | 7-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Don’t Breathe A Word of This! | 7-Oct | 8-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Watch This Drive It’ll Be a Whale! | 8-Oct | 9-Oct | Minus 1 |
| And Besides Avery Always Shaves Himself | 9-Oct | 10-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Avery Knew A Good Place | 10-Oct | 11-Oct | Minus 1 |
| The Water Hole | 11-Oct | 13-Oct | Minus 2 |
| How About A Motorcycle? | 13-Oct | 14-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Doc Wants A Night Out | 14-Oct | 15-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Walt is On the Phone | 15-Oct | 16-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Avery Didn’t Intend To Sell But | 16-Oct | 17-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Walt He’ll Say He’s Still Single | 17-Oct | 18-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Bill Does Some Mental Arithmetic | 18-Oct | 20-Oct | Minus 2 |
| It Even Has Tassels on the Curtains | 20-Oct | 21-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Wait, Avery Wants To Putt | 21-Oct | 22-Oct | Minus 1 |
| A Modest Oil Well is Doc’s Idea | 22-Oct | 23-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Walt Wasn’t Born Yesterday | 23-Oct | 27-Oct | Minus 4 |
| One Blow Right After Another! | 24-Oct | 24-Oct | Same |
| Lost Ball | 25-Oct | 25-Oct | Same |
| Man’s Work is Never Done! | 27-Oct | 28-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Doc Hates To Go But | 28-Oct | 29-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Winter Is Coming On | 29-Oct | 30-Oct | Minus 1 |
| No Walt Can’t | 30-Oct | 31-Oct | Minus 1 |
| Here Today Gone Tomorrow | 31-Oct | 1-Nov | Minus 1 |
| How Many Cylinders Are Enough | 1-Nov | 3-Nov | Minus 2 |
| Wanted An Automoblie | 3-Nov | 5-Nov | Minus 2 |
| A Bunch of Sourgraphes | 4-Nov | 6-Nov | Minus 2 |
| The World is Upside Down! | 5-Nov | 4-Nov | Plus 1 |
| Either Way Doc It Will Cost You Money | 6-Nov | 8-Nov | Minus 2 |
| For Sale or Exchange? | 7-Nov | 10-Nov | Minus 3 |
| How Was She to Know? | 8-Nov | 7-Nov | Plus 1 |
| Doc Has A Customer | (Maybe November 10 /Chicago Tribune issue Missing) | 11-Nov | |
| Man’s Intuition (Chicago)/He Has One on the Salesman (New York) | 11-Nov | 20-Nov | Minus 9 |
| Almost Sold! | 12-Nov | 12-Nov | Same |
| Down the Row To Make A Sale (Chicago)/According to Viewpoint (New York) | 13-Nov | 13-Nov | Same |
| Cash Or What Have You | 14-Nov | 14-Nov | Same |
| The Old Car is Still With Us | 15-Nov | 15-Nov | Same |
| Dope on the Coal Situation | 17-Nov | 19-Nov | Minus 2 |
| Avery is No Truck Horse | 19-Nov | 17-Nov | Plus 2 |
| The Cop Must Be Mistakin | 18-Nov | 18-Nov | Same |
| When Do We Eat? | 20-Nov | 21-Nov | Minus 1 |
| No Place To Roost | 21-Nov | 22-Nov | Minus 1 |
| Meeting H.C.L. Half Way | 22-Nov | 24-Nov | Minus 2 |
| Once Overing Somebody’s New House | 24-Nov | 25-Nov | Minus 1 |
| Winter is Coming | 25-Nov | 26-Nov | Minus 1 |
| It’s A Breezy Day | 26-Nov | 27-Nov | Minus 1 |
| After Dinner Stuff | 27-Nov | 28-Nov | Minus 1 |
| A Combination Tool | 28-Nov | 29-Nov | Minus 1 |
| When The Frost is On the Radiator | 29-Nov | 1-Dec | Minus 2 |
| Pinched! | 1-Dec | 2-Dec | Minus 1 |
| Post Mortem on Yesterday’s Arrest | 2-Dec | 3-Dec | Minus 1 |
| What Do You Do in a Pinch? | 3-Dec | 4-Dec | Minus 1 |
| Walt Breaks It Gently | 4-Dec | 5-Dec | Minus 1 |
| Passing the Buck | 5-Dec | 6-Dec | Minus 1 |
| It’s All Arranged | 6-Dec | 8-Dec | Minus 2 |
| Aw Judge Be Reasonable | 8-Dec | 9-Dec | Minus 1 |
| Expense Account | 9-Dec | 10-Dec | Minus 1 |
| Speeders Court | 10-Dec | 11-Dec | Minus 1 |
| Another Post Mortem | 11-Dec | 12-Dec | Minus 1 |
| Inside Stuff | 12-Dec | 13-Dec | Minus 1 |
| Warm and Comfy (Chicago)/Cool and Comfy (New York) | 13-Dec | 15-Dec | Minus 2 |
| Doc Put Two and Two Together | 15-Dec | 16-Dec | Minus 1 |
| The Blamed Thing Won’t Start | 16-Dec | ||
| Avery Enjoys a Movie | 17-Dec | 17-Dec | Same |
| Advice Wanted | 18-Dec | 18-Dec | Same |
| Avery Shops For Emilys Christmas Gift | 19-Dec | 19-Dec | Same |
| What A Dusty Christmas | 20-Dec | 20-Dec | Same |
| Shopping Notes | (Chicago Tribune that Monday did not print a Gasoline Alley Strip) | 22-Dec | |
| Bill’s Foot Slips | 23-Dec | 23-Dec | Same |
| Secrets | 24-Dec | 24-Dec | Same |
| Merry Christmas | 25-Dec | 25-Dec | Same |
| Delayed in the Mail | 26-Dec | 26-Dec | Same |
| Making It Comfy For the Bunch | 27-Dec | 27-Dec | Same |
| A Detail Overlooked | 29-Dec | 29-Dec | Same |
| A Comeback | 30-Dec | 30-Dec | Same |
| Things Aren’t the Same Any More | 31-Dec | 31-Dec | Same |