George Matthew Adams

George Matthew Adams
Born	(1878-08-23) 23 August 1878 Saline, Michigan, U.S.
Died	29 October 1962(1962-10-29) (aged 84)
Occupation(s)	Newspaper columnist, syndicate founder
Known for	Creator of the George Matthew Adams Newspaper Service

George Matthew Adams (August 23, 1878 – October 29, 1962) was a prominent American columnist and the creator of the George Matthew Adams Newspaper Service, a syndication enterprise that distributed comic strips and columns to newspapers over a span of fifty years. His own written works were widely featured in publications such as The Gettysburg Times and numerous others.

Early life and education

Hailing from Saline, Michigan, Adams completed his studies at Ottawa University in Kansas. Beginning his career at an advertising agency in Chicago, he initially operated the elevator before advancing to the role of copywriter.

George Matthew Adams Newspaper Service

In 1907, Adams secured funds to lease and furnish an office, launching what was initially called the Adams Newspaper Service. This syndicate was based at 8 West 40th Street in Manhattan. During a 1908 meeting in Chicago with Emporia Gazette publisher William Allen White, Adams enlisted White to contribute political commentary. Adams had come across Walt Mason's light verse clipped from the Gazette and expressed interest in syndicating it more broadly. White encouraged him, suggesting Mason would gladly participate for about $18 weekly. Following this arrangement, Mason’s column Rippling Rhythms gained popularity, leading Adams to raise Mason’s compensation to $15,000 annually.

The syndicate underwent a rebranding in 1916, becoming the George Matthew Adams Service. Among the writers syndicated were notable figures such as Thornton Burgess, Edgar Guest, and Robert Ripley. The service also offered single-panel cartoons that occasionally featured jokes, rustic wisdom, light poetry, or inspirational messages characteristic of Adams' style. Comic strips distributed included Billy DeBeck’s Finn an' Haddie, Percy Crosby’s The Clancy Kids, Edwina Dumm’s Cap Stubbs and Tippie, Ed Wheelan’s Minute Movies, and Robert Baldwin’s Freddy. Additionally, from 1934 to 1938, Adams syndicated Johnny Gruelle’s illustrated Raggedy Ann panels, which conveyed themes of sincerity, kindness, honesty, and thrift. The philosophical strip The Cheerful Cherub by Rebecca McCann was also part of the syndicate’s offerings.

Around 1936 to 1937, Lloyd Jacquet served as art director before departing to establish Funnies, Inc.. Giordano Bruno Pascale held the position of long-term manager for the syndicate. The company reached its height during the 1920s and 1930s but gradually declined as Adams grew older. In its final years, Harry E. Elmlark fulfilled the roles of president and general manager.

Following Adams' death in 1962, the remaining features were acquired by The Washington Star Company in May 1965, leading to the creation of the Washington Star Syndicate.

Writing

During the 1910s, Adams marketed the widely read Four Minute Essays authored by Dr. Frank Crane (1861–1928). After losing Crane's work to a rival syndicate, Adams began composing his own brief motivational essays while journeying between cities to promote his offerings to newspapers. By the 1950s, Crane's influence had largely diminished, yet Adams' inspirational columns, named Today's Talk, appeared in nearly 100 newspapers and were also compiled into several book editions.

Books

• You Can: A Collection of Brief Talks on the Most Important Topic in the World — Your Success (Frederick A. Stokes Company, 1913)
• Take It: Suggestions as to Your Right to the World and the Great Things That are in It (Frederick A. Stokes, 1917)
• Up: A Little Book of Talks on how to Wake Up, Get Up, Think Up, Climb Up, Smile Up, Cheer Up, Work Up, Look Up, Help Up, Grow Up! (Reilly and Lee Company, 1920)
• Just Among Friends (William Morrow and Company, 1928)
• Better Than Gold (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1949)
• The Great Little Things (Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1953)

Adams Service strips and panels

Introduced in the 1910s:

• Cap Stubbs and Tippie created by Edwina Dumm (1918–1965; later managed by The Washington Star Syndicate)
• The Cheerful Cherub by Rebecca McCann (circa 1916–1927)
• The Clancy Kids drawn by Percy Crosby (1916–around 1919)
• Finn an' Haddie by Billy DeBeck (1916)
• Miss Information by Wood Cowan (1919–1922; subsequently transferred to the Ledger Syndicate)
• Not Now illustrated by Richard W. Dorgan (circa 1916–1917)
• The Young Lady Across the Way by Robert O. Ryder and Harry J. Westerman (1913–1919; later moved to McClure Newspaper Syndicate)
• Zimmie by Arch Bristow (1912–1913)

Introduced in the 1920s:

• Billy's Uncle by Ben Batsford (October 9, 1922 – August 2, 1924)
• In Our Office by Wood Cowan (early 1920s)
• Sports cartoons by Lank Leonard (circa 1927–circa 1936)
• Minute Movies created by Ed Wheelan (1921–1935)
• Pecos Bill developed by Tex O'Reilly and Jack Warren (1929–1938)
• Reg'lar Fellers, credited to Gene Byrnes but ghostwritten by Tack Knight (1924–1929; originally from the Bell Syndicate, later moved to King Features Syndicate)

Introduced in the 1930s:

• Alec the Great, another work by Edwina Dumm (1931–1965; continued under The Washington Star Syndicate)
• Cap'n Cloud by Robert Weinstein (1935)
• Decks Awash illustrated by Augustus J. Robinson (November 16, 1935 – April 4, 1936)
• Doctor Remedy created by Adolph Schus (1939)
• The Enchanted Stone by Adolphe Barreaux (1935)
• Hector Hicks drawn by Lank Leonard (1933)
• Loco Luke illustrated by Jack Warren (July 5, 1935 – April 4, 1936)
• Raggedy Ann, crafted by Johnny Gruelle (1934–1938)
• Ted Strong created by Al Carreno (1935–1939)

Introduced in the 1940s:

• Miki developed by Tom Morrison (circa 1945–circa 1950)

Introduced in the 1950s:

• Barkis and Family, created by Crockett Johnson (1955)
• Freddy, illustrated by Robert Baldwin (1955–1966; later continued under Publishers-Hall Syndicate)
• Mr. Holiday, a collaboration between Chad Kelly and Fran Matera (1950–1951)
• The space-themed strip Sky Masters of the Space Force, produced from 1958 to 1961 with contributions from Jack Kirby, Marvin Stein, David Wood, Dick Wood, and Wally Wood
• Uncle Charlie, drawn by Peter Laing circa 1955 to circa 1965; continued under The Washington Star Syndicate from 1965 to 1978

Introduced in the 1960s:

• Joe Appalucci's strip titled The Birds debuted in 1963
• Buenos Dias, created by Ed Nofziger, ran from 1963 to 1965 before continuation under The Washington Star Syndicate until 1967
• Joe Appalucci also produced Cuppy the Newsboy, which was published from October 8, 1962 through March 7, 1964

Adams Service columnists

• George Matthew Adams's Today's Talk (approximately 1913–around 1955)
• Bedtime Stories by Thornton Burgess (1912–1960)
• Dr. Frank Crane's Four Minute Essays (circa 1913)
• Edgar Guest (circa 1917–unknown end date)
• Rippling Rhythms by Walt Mason ("Uncle Walt") (starting 1908, end date unspecified)
• Robert Ripley
• William Allen White

External links

• You Can authored by George Matthew Adams
• Up by George Matthew Adams
• Quotes attributed to George Matthew Adams
• Information on the George Matthew Adams House
• Collection of essays by George Matthew Adams
• Archival collection of George Matthew Adams papers, D.47, housed at Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester