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Bell Syndicate

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</style><table class="infobox ib-company vcard"><caption class="infobox-title fn org" style="font-size: 125%;">Bell Syndicate</caption><tbody><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Formerly</th><td class="infobox-data nickname">Bell Syndicate-North American Newspaper Alliance Bell-McClure Syndicate</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Company type</th><td class="infobox-data category"><a href="Subsidiary" title="Subsidiary">Subsidiary</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Industry</th><td class="infobox-data category"><a href="Print_syndication" title="Print syndication">Print syndication</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Predecessor</th><td class="infobox-data">Wheeler Syndicate</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Founded</th><td class="infobox-data">1916 (1916)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Founder</th><td class="infobox-data agent"><a href="John_Neville_Wheeler" title="John Neville Wheeler">John Neville Wheeler</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Defunct</th><td class="infobox-data">1972 (1972)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Fate</th><td class="infobox-data">absorbed into <a href="United_Feature_Syndicate" title="United Feature Syndicate">United Feature Syndicate</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Headquarters</th><td class="infobox-data label">229 West 43rd Street, <div class="ib-company-locality locality"><a href="New_York_City" title="New York City">New York City</a>, <a href="New_York_(state)" title="New York (state)">New York</a></div>, <div class="ib-company-country country-name"><a href="United_States" title="United States">U.S.</a></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Area served</div></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="United_States" title="United States">United States</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><div style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.2em; padding: .1em 0;">Key people</div></th><td class="infobox-data agent"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1126788409">

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</style><div class="plainlist"><ul><li><a href="John_Neville_Wheeler" title="John Neville Wheeler">John Neville Wheeler</a> (1916–1966)</li><li>Kathleen Caesar (editor)</li><li>Henry M. Snevily (president)</li><li>Joseph P. Agnelli (executive VP & GM)</li><li>Muriel Agnelli a.k.a. Muriel Nissen (columnist)</li><li>Louis Ruppel (President & Editor, 1952–c. 1958)</li></ul></div></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Products</th><td class="infobox-data">columns, fiction, feature articles, and <a href="Comic_strip" title="Comic strip">comic strips</a></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Owners</th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="North_American_Newspaper_Alliance" title="North American Newspaper Alliance">North American Newspaper Alliance</a> (1930–1966) Koster-Dana (1966–1972) <a href="United_Features_Syndicate" class="mw-redirect" title="United Features Syndicate">United Features Syndicate</a> (1972)</td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="Subsidiary" title="Subsidiary">Subsidiaries</a></th><td class="infobox-data"><a href="Metropolitan_Newspaper_Service" title="Metropolitan Newspaper Service">Metropolitan Newspaper Service</a> (1920–1930) <a href="Associated_Newspapers_(U.S.)" title="Associated Newspapers (U.S.)">Associated Newspapers</a> (1930–c. 1966) <a href="McClure_Syndicate" class="mw-redirect" title="McClure Syndicate">McClure Syndicate</a> (1952–1972)</td></tr></tbody></table>

The Bell Syndicate, launched in 1916 by editor-publisher <a href="John_Neville_Wheeler" title="John Neville Wheeler">John Neville Wheeler</a>, was an American syndicate that distributed columns, fiction, feature articles and <a href="Comic_strip" title="Comic strip">comic strips</a> to newspapers for decades. It was located in <a href="New_York_City" title="New York City">New York City</a> at 247 West 43rd Street and later at 229 West 43rd Street. It also reprinted comic strips in book form.<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="History">History</h2></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Antecedent:_the_Wheeler_Syndicate">Antecedent: the Wheeler Syndicate</h3></div>

In 1913, while working as a sportswriter for the <a href="New_York_Herald" title="New York Herald">New York Herald</a>, Wheeler formed the <a href="Wheeler_Syndicate" class="mw-redirect" title="Wheeler Syndicate">Wheeler Syndicate</a> to specialize in distribution of sports features to newspapers in the <a href="United_States_of_America" class="mw-redirect" title="United States of America">United States</a> and <a href="Canada" title="Canada">Canada</a>. That same year his Wheeler Syndicate contracted with pioneering comic strip artist <a href="Bud_Fisher" title="Bud Fisher">Bud Fisher</a> and cartoonist <a href="Fontaine_Fox" title="Fontaine Fox">Fontaine Fox</a> to begin distributing their work.<a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a> Journalist <a href="Richard_Harding_Davis" title="Richard Harding Davis">Richard Harding Davis</a> was sent to Belgium as war correspondent and reported on early battlefield actions, as the Wheeler Syndicate became a comprehensive news collection and distribution operation. In 1916, the Wheeler Syndicate was purchased by <a href="S._S._McClure" title="S. S. McClure">S. S. McClure</a>'s <a href="McClure_Syndicate" class="mw-redirect" title="McClure Syndicate">McClure Syndicate</a>, the oldest and largest news and feature syndicate in America. (Years later, Wheeler's company would in turn acquire the McClure Newspaper Syndicate.)

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Foundation_of_the_Bell_Syndicate">Foundation of the Bell Syndicate</h3></div>

Immediately upon the sale of his Wheeler Syndicate, John Neville Wheeler founded the Bell Syndicate, which soon attracted Fisher, Fox, and other cartoonists.

<a href="Ring_Lardner" title="Ring Lardner">Ring Lardner</a> began writing a sports column for Bell in 1919.

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Mergers_and_acquisitions">Mergers and acquisitions</h3></div>

In the spring of 1920, the Bell Syndicate acquired the <a href="Metropolitan_Newspaper_Service" title="Metropolitan Newspaper Service">Metropolitan Newspaper Service</a> (MNS), continuing to operate it as a separate division.<a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a> MNS launched such strips as <a href="William_Conselman" title="William Conselman">William Conselman</a>'s <a href="Good_Time_Guy" title="Good Time Guy">Good Time Guy</a> and <a href="Ella_Cinders" title="Ella Cinders">Ella Cinders</a>, and the <a href="Tarzan_in_comics" title="Tarzan in comics">Tarzan</a> comic strip. In March 1930, <a href="United_Feature_Syndicate" title="United Feature Syndicate">United Feature Syndicate</a> acquired MNS and its strips from the Bell Syndicate.<a href="#cite_note-EP30-4">[4]</a><a href="#cite_note-Booker-5">[5]</a>

In 1924, Wheeler became executive editor of <a href="Liberty_(general_interest_magazine)" title="Liberty (general interest magazine)">Liberty</a> magazine, and served in that capacity while continuing to run the Bell Syndicate.

In 1930, Wheeler became general manager of <a href="North_American_Newspaper_Alliance" title="North American Newspaper Alliance">North American Newspaper Alliance</a> (NANA), established in 1922 by 50 major newspapers in the United States and Canada which absorbed Bell, both continuing to operate individually under joint ownership as the Bell Syndicate-North American Newspaper Alliance. That same year, Bell acquired <a href="Associated_Newspapers_(U.S.)" title="Associated Newspapers (U.S.)">Associated Newspapers</a>, founded by S. S. McClure's cousin Henry Herbert McClure. Keeping Associated Newspapers as a division, at that point the company became the Bell-McClure Syndicate.<a href="#cite_note-Saunders-6">[6]</a>

In 1933, just as the concept of "<a href="Comic_books" class="mw-redirect" title="Comic books">comic books</a>" was getting off the ground, <a href="Eastern_Color_Printing" title="Eastern Color Printing">Eastern Color Printing</a> published <a href="Funnies_on_Parade" title="Funnies on Parade">Funnies on Parade</a>, which reprinted in color several comic strips licensed from the Bell-McClure Syndicate, the <a href="Ledger_Syndicate" title="Ledger Syndicate">Ledger Syndicate</a>, and the <a href="McNaught_Syndicate" title="McNaught Syndicate">McNaught Syndicate</a>,<a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a> including the Bell Syndicate & Associated Newspaper strips <a href="Mutt_and_Jeff" title="Mutt and Jeff">Mutt and Jeff</a>, Cicero, S'Matter, Pop, Honeybunch's Hubby, Holly of Hollywood, and <a href="Keeping_Up_with_the_Joneses_(comics)" title="Keeping Up with the Joneses (comics)">Keeping Up with the Joneses</a>. Eastern Color neither sold this periodical nor made it available on <a href="Newsstands" class="mw-redirect" title="Newsstands">newsstands</a>, but rather sent it out free as a promotional item to consumers who mailed in coupons clipped from <a href="Procter_%26_Gamble" title="Procter & Gamble">Procter & Gamble</a> soap and toiletries products. The company printed 10,000 copies, and it was a great success.<a href="#cite_note-brown-8">[8]</a><a href="#cite_note-ron-9">[9]</a>

An April 1933 article in <a href="Fortune_(magazine)" title="Fortune (magazine)">Fortune</a> described the "Big Four" American syndicates as <a href="United_Feature_Syndicate" title="United Feature Syndicate">United Feature Syndicate</a>, <a href="King_Features_Syndicate" title="King Features Syndicate">King Features Syndicate</a>, the <a href="Tribune_Content_Agency" title="Tribune Content Agency">Chicago Tribune Syndicate</a>, and the Bell-McClure Syndicate.<a href="#cite_note-jh-10">[10]</a>

The Bell Syndicate was one of the many syndicates that rejected <a href="Jerry_Siegel" title="Jerry Siegel">Jerry Siegel</a> in 1934 when he proposed a <a href="Superman" title="Superman">Superman</a> comic strip. The syndicate stated, "We are in the market only for strips likely to have the most extraordinary appeal, and we do not feel that Superman gets into that category."<a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a> (Superman's subsequent debut in <a href="Action_Comics" title="Action Comics">Action Comics</a> #1 in 1938 was a huge success.)

The Bell Syndicate-North American Newspaper Alliance acquired the <a href="McClure_Newspaper_Syndicate" title="McClure Newspaper Syndicate">McClure Newspaper Syndicate</a> in September 1952 — making it the second McClure-family-owned syndicate to be acquired by Bell — with Louis Ruppel installed as president and editor.<a href="#cite_note-Knoll-12">[12]</a>

The syndicate's greatest success with comic strips was in the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. The company had some strips in syndication through the 1950s but the only ones to have success into the 1960s were <a href="Uncle_Nugent's_Funland" class="mw-redirect" title="Uncle Nugent's Funland">Uncle Nugent's Funland</a>, <a href="Hambone's_Meditations" title="Hambone's Meditations">Hambone's Meditations</a> and Joe and Asbestos.

In 1964, the publishing and media company Koster-Dana Corporation was identified as controlling both North American Newspaper Alliance and the Bell-McClure Syndicate.<a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a> and by 1970 the syndicate was no longer distributing comic strips.

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Final_years">Final years</h3></div>

In 1972, <a href="United_Features_Syndicate" class="mw-redirect" title="United Features Syndicate">United Features Syndicate</a> acquired NANA / Bell-McClure and absorbed them into its syndication operations.<a href="#cite_note-14">[14]</a>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Bell_Syndicate_/_Bell-McClure_Syndicate_strips_and_panels">Bell Syndicate / Bell-McClure Syndicate strips and panels</h2></div>

<ul><li>Beauregard by <a href="Jack_Davis_(cartoonist)" title="Jack Davis (cartoonist)">Jack Davis</a> (1961) — never successfully syndicated and soon dropped<a href="#cite_note-15">[15]</a></li>

<li>Beautiful Babs by <a href="Chic_Young" title="Chic Young">Chic Young</a><a href="#cite_note-16">[16]</a> (July 15, 1922–c. Nov. 1922)</li>

<li>Ben Webster's Career by George Storm<a href="#cite_note-17">[17]</a> (1925–1926)</li>

<li>Betty by <a href="Charles_Voight" class="mw-redirect" title="Charles Voight">Charles Voight</a> (c. 1919-c. 1920) — Sunday-only strip; moved to the <a href="New_York_Herald_Tribune_Syndicate" title="New York Herald Tribune Syndicate">New York Herald Tribune Syndicate</a><a href="#cite_note-18">[18]</a></li>

<li><a href="The_Adventures_of_Rocky_and_Bullwinkle_and_Friends" title="The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends">Bullwinkle</a> by <a href="Al_Kilgore" title="Al Kilgore">Al Kilgore</a> (July 23, 1962 – 1965)<a href="#cite_note-19">[19]</a></li>

<li>Cash and Carrie - <a href="Lou_Skuce" title="Lou Skuce">Lou Skuce</a> (c. 1926)</li>

<li>Cicero's Cat (Cicero) - <a href="Bud_Fisher" title="Bud Fisher">Bud Fisher</a> and then <a href="Al_Smith_(cartoonist)" title="Al Smith (cartoonist)">Al Smith</a> (1930s-1940s)</li>

<li>Dan Flagg by <a href="Don_Sherwood_(cartoonist)" title="Don Sherwood (cartoonist)">Don Sherwood</a> (c. 1966–July 5, 1967) — originally with the <a href="McNaught_Syndicate" title="McNaught Syndicate">McNaught Syndicate</a></li>

<li><a href="Don_Winslow_of_the_Navy_(comic_strip)" title="Don Winslow of the Navy (comic strip)">Don Winslow of the Navy</a> - <a href="Ken_Ernst" title="Ken Ernst">Ken Ernst</a> (1934–1955)</li>

<li>Famous Fiction by J. Carroll Mansfield, Chad Grothkopf, <a href="Harry_Anderson_(artist)" title="Harry Anderson (artist)">Harry Anderson</a>, <a href="Jack_Binder" title="Jack Binder">Jack Binder</a>,<a href="#cite_note-20">[20]</a> and Barye Phillips (1940–1946) — weekly serial adaptations of famous works of literature, including <a href="The_Murders_in_the_Rue_Morgue" title="The Murders in the Rue Morgue">The Murders in the Rue Morgue</a> (23 July 1944-27 Aug 1944), <a href="The_Legend_of_Sleepy_Hollow" title="The Legend of Sleepy Hollow">The Legend of Sleepy Hollow</a> (3 Sept 1944-8 Oct 1944), <a href="A_Midsummer_Night's_Dream" title="A Midsummer Night's Dream">A Midsummer Night's Dream</a> (15 Oct 1944-5 Nov 1944), <a href="Arabian_Nights" class="mw-redirect" title="Arabian Nights">Arabian Nights</a> — "The Fisherman and the Genie" (12 Nov 1944-17 Dec 1944), <a href="Hansel_and_Gretel" title="Hansel and Gretel">Hansel and Gretel</a> (24 Dec 1944-28 Jan 1945), <a href="Treasure_Island" title="Treasure Island">Treasure Island</a> (4 Feb 1945-25 Mar 1945), <a href="Strange_Case_of_Dr_Jekyll_and_Mr_Hyde" title="Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde">Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde</a> (1 Apr 1945-20 May 1945), <a href="Sinbad_the_Sailor#Seventh_and_Last_Voyage" title="Sinbad the Sailor">The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad the Sailor</a><a href="#cite_note-21">[21]</a> (27 May 1945 – 15 July 1945), <a href="Huckleberry_Finn" title="Huckleberry Finn">Huckleberry Finn's Trip Down the Mississippi</a> (July 22, 1945-9 Sept 1945), <a href="A_Connecticut_Yankee_in_King_Arthur's_Court" title="A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court">A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court</a> (16 Sept 1945-4 Nov 1945), <a href="Aladdin" title="Aladdin">Aladdin's Lamp</a> (11 Nov 1945-30 Dec 1945), <a href="The_Minotaur" class="mw-redirect" title="The Minotaur">The Minotaur</a> (6 Jan 1946-1946), and <a href="King_Arthur" title="King Arthur">King Arthur</a> (1946-19 May 1946)</li>

<li><a href="Flyin'_Jenny" title="Flyin' Jenny">Flyin' Jenny</a> by Russell Keaton (1939–1946)</li>

<li><a href="Fu_Manchu" title="Fu Manchu">Fu Manchu</a> by Leo O'Mealia<a href="#cite_note-rg-22">[22]</a> (1931–1933)</li>

<li><a href="Funnyman_(comics)" title="Funnyman (comics)">Funnyman</a> - <a href="Jerry_Siegel" title="Jerry Siegel">Jerry Siegel</a> and <a href="Joe_Shuster" title="Joe Shuster">Joe Shuster</a> (1948)</li>

<li><a href="Gentlemen_Prefer_Blondes_(novel)" title="Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (novel)">Gentlemen Prefer Blondes</a> - <a href="Anita_Loos" title="Anita Loos">Anita Loos</a>, <a href="Virginia_Huget" title="Virginia Huget">Virginia Huget</a> and Phil Cook<a href="#cite_note-23">[23]</a> (1926)</li>

<li><a href="Hambone's_Meditations" title="Hambone's Meditations">Hambone's Meditations</a> - originally by <a href="James_Pinckney_Alley" class="mw-redirect" title="James Pinckney Alley">James Pinckney Alley</a> and then by his sons <a href="Cal_Alley" title="Cal Alley">Cal Alley</a> and James Alley (1916–1968) — came over from the <a href="McClure_Syndicate" class="mw-redirect" title="McClure Syndicate">McClure Syndicate</a></li>

<li>Highlights of History - J. Carroll Mansfield (1924–1942)</li>

<li>Honeybunch's Hubby — <a href="C._M._Payne" title="C. M. Payne">C. M. Payne</a> (November 27, 1909—March 30, 1911; April 19, 1931–c. 1934) — alternated as a <a href="Topper_(comic_strip)" title="Topper (comic strip)">topper strip</a> with S'Matter, Pop?<a href="#cite_note-Holtz-24">[24]</a></li>

<li>Joe and Asbestos (originally called Joe Quince) by Ken Kling<a href="#cite_note-25">[25]</a> (1923–1926; 1931–1970)<a href="#cite_note-26">[26]</a></li>

<li><a href="Life's_Like_That" title="Life's Like That">Life's Like That</a> - <a href="Fred_Neher" title="Fred Neher">Fred Neher</a> (1934–1941)</li>

<li>Looie the Lawyer - <a href="Martin_Branner" title="Martin Branner">Martin Branner</a> (1919)</li>

<li>Mescal Ike - Art Huhta and S. L. Huntley<a href="#cite_note-rg-22">[22]</a> (December 6, 1926 – August 24, 1940)</li>

<li><a href="Black_Fury_(comics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Black Fury (comics)">Miss Fury</a> - <a href="June_Tarp%C3%A9_Mills" title="June Tarpé Mills">Tarpé Mills</a> (1941–1952)</li>

<li><a href="Mutt_and_Jeff" title="Mutt and Jeff">Mutt and Jeff</a> - <a href="Bud_Fisher" title="Bud Fisher">Bud Fisher</a> and then <a href="Al_Smith_(cartoonist)" title="Al Smith (cartoonist)">Al Smith</a> (1916–c. 1944; moved to <a href="Field_Syndicate" class="mw-redirect" title="Field Syndicate">Field Syndicate</a>)</li>

<li>The Nebbs - <a href="Sol_Hess_(writer)" title="Sol Hess (writer)">Sol Hess</a> and <a href="Wallace_Carlson" title="Wallace Carlson">Wallace Carlson</a><a href="#cite_note-27">[27]</a> (1923–1947)</li>

<li>Phil Hardy / Born to Win - "Edwin Alger" (Jay Jerome Williams) and George Storm<a href="#cite_note-28">[28]</a> (1925–1934)</li>

<li><a href="Reg'lar_Fellers" title="Reg'lar Fellers">Reg'lar Fellers</a> (1917–1924) — moved on to <a href="George_Matthew_Adams_Service" class="mw-redirect" title="George Matthew Adams Service">George Matthew Adams Service</a><a href="#cite_note-29">[29]</a></li>

<li><a href="Sad_Sack" title="Sad Sack">Sad Sack</a> - <a href="George_Baker_(cartoonist)" title="George Baker (cartoonist)">George Baker</a><a href="#cite_note-30">[30]</a> (1942–1957)</li>

<li>Sergeant Stony Craig and His US Marines - Frank H. Rentfrow and Don L. Dickson<a href="#cite_note-31">[31]</a> (1937–1946)</li>

<li><a href="Adaptations_of_Sherlock_Holmes" title="Adaptations of Sherlock Holmes">Sherlock Holmes</a> - Leo O'Mealia <a href="#cite_note-rg-22">[22]</a> (1930–1931)</li>

<li><a href="Sir_Bagby" title="Sir Bagby">Sir Bagby</a> by Rick and Bill Hackney (1959-1966)</li>

<li>S'Matter, Pop? (Nippy's Pop) - <a href="C._M._Payne" title="C. M. Payne">C. M. Payne</a> (1911–1940)</li>

<li><a href="Straight_Arrow" title="Straight Arrow">Straight Arrow</a> - John Belfi and Joe Certa<a href="#cite_note-rg-22">[22]</a> (1950-1952)</li>

<li><a href="Tailspin_Tommy" title="Tailspin Tommy">Tailspin Tommy</a> - <a href="Hal_Forrest" title="Hal Forrest">Hal Forrest</a> (1928–1940; moved to <a href="United_Feature_Syndicate" title="United Feature Syndicate">United Feature Syndicate</a>)</li>

<li>That's Different by <a href="Walter_Berndt" title="Walter Berndt">Walter Berndt</a> (c. 1921)</li>

<li>Teena A Go Go — writer Bessie Little and artist <a href="Bob_Powell" title="Bob Powell">Bob Powell</a> (August 14, 1966 – February 18, 1967)</li>

<li><a href="Toonerville_Folks" title="Toonerville Folks">Toonerville Folks</a> by <a href="Fontaine_Fox" title="Fontaine Fox">Fontaine Fox</a> (1916–c.1930) — originated with Wheeler Syndicate; later moved to the <a href="McNaught_Syndicate" title="McNaught Syndicate">McNaught Syndicate</a> where it ran until 1955</li>

<li>True Comics - Ed Smalle and <a href="Jack_Sparling" title="Jack Sparling">Jack Sparling</a> (early 1940s)</li>

<li><a href="You_Know_Me_Al" title="You Know Me Al">You Know Me Al</a> - <a href="Ring_Lardner" title="Ring Lardner">Ring Lardner</a> with art by <a href="Will_B._Johnstone" title="Will B. Johnstone">Will B. Johnstone</a> and Dick Dorgan (1922–1925)</li>

<li><a href="Uncle_Nugent's_Funland" class="mw-redirect" title="Uncle Nugent's Funland">Uncle Nugent's Funland</a><a href="#cite_note-32">[32]</a> by <a href="Art_Nugent" title="Art Nugent">Art Nugent</a> (1950–1972; became part of <a href="United_Feature_Syndicate" title="United Feature Syndicate">United Feature Syndicate</a>)</li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Key_people,_writers,_and_columnists">Key people, writers, and columnists</h2></div>

Henry M. Snevily was the firm's president. Kathleen Caesar was the Bell Syndicate's editor. Film critic <a href="Mordaunt_Hall" title="Mordaunt Hall">Mordaunt Hall</a> was a Bell copy editor, and he also contributed articles. In 1964, <a href="Will_Eisner" title="Will Eisner">Will Eisner</a> was appointed president of NANA and Bell-McClure, replacing Harry Spiess.<a href="#cite_note-nyt1964-01-17-33">[33]</a>

Late in life, after moving over from the <a href="Ledger_Syndicate" title="Ledger Syndicate">Ledger Syndicate</a>, <a href="Elizabeth_Meriwether_Gilmer" class="mw-redirect" title="Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer">Elizabeth Meriwether Gilmer</a> wrote the Dorothy Dix advice column, which ran in 160 newspapers, until her 1951 death, when Muriel Agnelli took over the column. In 20 newspapers it appeared under the byline "Muriel Nissen," Agnelli's maiden name. Born in Manhattan, Muriel Agnelli attended <a href="Hunter_College" title="Hunter College">Hunter College</a> and also studied journalism and psychology at <a href="Columbia_University" title="Columbia University">Columbia University</a>. After marrying Joseph P. Agnelli in 1929, she began editing Bell's four-page children's tabloid, The Sunshine Club, and she later wrote a column about <a href="Postage_stamps" class="mw-redirect" title="Postage stamps">postage stamps</a> and <a href="Stamp_collecting" title="Stamp collecting">stamp collecting</a>. Joseph Agnelli was the Bell Syndicate's executive vice-president and general manager.

The syndicate also distributed <a href="James_J._Montague" title="James J. Montague">James J. Montague</a>'s column More Truth than Poetry, as well as many other articles and light fiction pieces, from about 1924 until his death in 1941. The liberal Washington columnist <a href="Doris_Fleeson" title="Doris Fleeson">Doris Fleeson</a> wrote a daily Bell political column from 1945 to 1954.<a href="#cite_note-34">[34]</a> <a href="Drew_Pearson_(journalist)" title="Drew Pearson (journalist)">Drew Pearson</a>'s Washington-Merry-Go-Round column (moving over from <a href="United_Features_Syndicate" class="mw-redirect" title="United Features Syndicate">United Features Syndicate</a> in 1944) was carried in 600 newspapers until Pearson's death in 1969.<a href="#cite_note-35">[35]</a>

<ul><li><a href="List_of_comic_strip_syndicates" title="List of comic strip syndicates">List of comic strip syndicates</a></li>

<li><a href="Comic_strip_syndication" title="Comic strip syndication">Comic strip syndication</a></li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2></div>

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<li id="cite_note-1"><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a> Ben Webster's Career or Bound to Win, 1927, in a four-panel horizontal format.

</li>

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</style><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20181121203857/http://www.drawger.com/wiki.php?cat_id=3&sub_cat_id=7&topic_id=25">"Drawgerpedia: Bud Fisher"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.drawger.com/wiki.php?cat_id=3&sub_cat_id=7&topic_id=25">the original</a> on 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2011-02-28.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-3"><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=zNpBAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22Metropolitan+Magazine%22+%22Metropolitan+NEwspaper+Service%22&pg=RA13-PA31">"Feature Services Merged: Bell Syndicate Takes Over Metropolitan Newspaper Service,"</a> Editor and Publisher (April 3, 1920).

</li>

<li id="cite_note-EP30-4"><a href="#cite_ref-EP30_4-0">^</a> "United Feature Syndicate Buys Metropolitan Service From Elser: Both Firms Will Retain Separate Identities, With Elser Remaining as Vice-President — Monte Bourjaily to Direct Both Organizations," Editor & Publisher (March 15, 1930). Archived at <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2010/05/news-of-yore-1930-another-syndicate.html?m=1">"News of Yore 1930: Another Syndicate Gobbled,"</a> Stripper's Guide (May 4, 2010).

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Booker-5"><a href="#cite_ref-Booker_5-0">^</a> Booker, M. Keith. "United Feature Syndicate," in Comics through Time: A History of Icons, Idols, and Ideas (<a href="ABC-CLIO" class="mw-redirect" title="ABC-CLIO">ABC-CLIO</a>, 2014), p. 399.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Saunders-6"><a href="#cite_ref-Saunders_6-0">^</a> Saunders, David. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.pulpartists.com/McClure.html">"SAMUEL S. McCLURE (1857-1949),"</a> Field Guide to Wild American Pulp Artists. Accessed Nov. 1, 2018.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-7"><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.comics.org/issue/783609/">"Funnies on Parade,"</a> Grand Comics Database. Accessed Oct. 29, 2018.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-brown-8"><a href="#cite_ref-brown_8-0">^</a> Brown, Mitchell.<cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20030224164555/http://www.geocities.com/mbrown123/greatest_comics/funniesonparade.html">"The 100 Greatest Comic Books of the 20th Century: Funnies on Parade"</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.geocities.com/mbrown123/greatest_comics/funniesonparade.html">the original</a> on 2003-02-24. Retrieved 2003-02-24.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-ron-9"><a href="#cite_ref-ron_9-0">^</a> <cite id="CITEREFGoulart2004" class="citation book cs1"><a href="Ron_Goulart" title="Ron Goulart">Goulart, Ron</a> (2004). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/comicbookencyclo00goul">Comic Book Encyclopedia</a>. New York: <a href="HarperCollins" title="HarperCollins">Harper Entertainment</a>. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>978-0060538163</bdi>.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-jh-10"><a href="#cite_ref-jh_10-0">^</a> <a href="Jeet_Heer" title="Jeet Heer">Jeet Heer</a>, "Crane's Great Gamble", in Roy Crane, Buz Sawyer: 1, The War in the Pacific. Seattle, Wash.: Fantagraphics Books, 2011. <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>9781606993620</bdi>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-11"><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a> Lamb, David. "Miscellaneous Trivia..." BEM #22 (Jan. 1979), p. 8.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Knoll-12"><a href="#cite_ref-Knoll_12-0">^</a> Knoll, Erwin. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2008/06/news-of-yore-1952-once-mighty-mcclure.html">"McClure Syndicate Sold to Bell-NANA"</a>. Editor & Publisher (September 6, 1952).

</li>

<li id="cite_note-13"><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a> <cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1964/05/13/archives/new-director-selected-by-kosterdana-corp.html">"New Director Selected By Koster-Dana Corp"</a>. The New York Times. 1964-05-13. <a href="ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331">0362-4331</a>. Retrieved 2019-11-01.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-14"><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a> Astor, Dave. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.editorandpublisher.com/news/goldberg-to-retire-from-united-media/">"Goldberg To Retire From United Media,"</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171207140944/https://www.editorandpublisher.com/news/goldberg-to-retire-from-united-media/">Archived</a> 2017-12-07 at the <a href="Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a> Editor & Publisher (December 17, 2001): "The executive joined United in 1972 when it bought Bell McClure Syndicate and North American Newspaper Alliance, where Goldberg was president."

</li>

<li id="cite_note-15"><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://thebristolboard.tumblr.com/post/155162804158/original-beauregard-strip-by-jack-davis-1963">"Original Beauregard! strip by Jack Davis, 1963,"</a> The Bristol Board (Dec. 30, 2016).

</li>

<li id="cite_note-16"><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a> <a href="Maurice_Horn" title="Maurice Horn">Maurice Horn</a>, Women in the Comics, New York : Chelsea House, 1977. (p. 48, 70)

</li>

<li id="cite_note-17"><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://toonopedia.com/benweb.htm">Ben Webster's Career</a> at <a href="Don_Markstein's_Toonopedia" title="Don Markstein's Toonopedia">Don Markstein's Toonopedia</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.today/20150404112147/http://toonopedia.com/benweb.htm">Archived</a> 2015-04-04 at <a href="Archive.today" title="Archive.today">archive.today</a> from the original on March 20, 2015.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-18"><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a> Holtz, Allan. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2013/10/ink-slinger-profiles-ca-voight.html">"Ink-Slinger Profiles: C.A. Voight,"</a> Stripper's Guide (October 22, 2013).

</li>

<li id="cite_note-19"><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a> "1962 Timeline: July 23. A Bullwinkle newspaper strip by Al Kilgore, based on the animated series, makes its debut." American Comic Book Chronicles: 1960–64 by John Wells. TwoMorrows Publishing, 2012, Page 77.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-20"><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a> Ron Goulart, The Encyclopedia of American Comics. New York : Facts on File, 1990 (p.124)

</li>

<li id="cite_note-21"><a href="#cite_ref-21">^</a> Bell Syndicate, Sunday color supplement, The San Bernardino Daily Sun, San Bernardino, California, Sunday 17 June 1945, Volume 51, page 22.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-rg-22">^ <a href="#cite_ref-rg_22-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-rg_22-1">b</a> <a href="#cite_ref-rg_22-2">c</a> <a href="#cite_ref-rg_22-3">d</a> <a href="Ron_Goulart" title="Ron Goulart">Ron Goulart</a>,The Funnies: 100 Years of American Comic Strips (Holbrook, Mass.: Adams Publishing, 1995). <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>094473524X</bdi>, pp. 87-88, 104, 106, 124, 200.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-23"><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a> <cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2011/10/obscurity-of-day-gentlemen-prefer.html">"Stripper's Guide Obscurity of the Day:Gentlemen Prefer Blondes"</a>. Retrieved Aug 29, 2015.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-Holtz-24"><a href="#cite_ref-Holtz_24-0">^</a> Holtz, Allan. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://strippersguide.blogspot.com/2013/09/obscurity-of-day-honeybunchs-hubby.html">"Obscurity of the Day: Honeybunch's Hubby,"</a> Stripper's Guide (September 16, 2013).

</li>

<li id="cite_note-25"><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a> Stephen D. Becker, Comic Art in America. New York : Simon and Schuster, 1959 (p. 235).

</li>

<li id="cite_note-26"><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.lambiek.net/artists/k/kling_kenneth.htm">Kling entry</a>, Lambiek's Comiclopedia. Accessed Nov. 4, 2018.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-27"><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a> <a href="Robert_C._Harvey" class="mw-redirect" title="Robert C. Harvey">Robert C. Harvey</a>,The Art of the Funnies. Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, 1994. (p. 69, 103). <a href="ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <bdi>0585214212</bdi>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-28"><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.toonopedia.com/phlhardy.htm">Phil Hardy</a> at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.today/20240525221600/https://www.webcitation.org/66xUD1DKP?url=http://www.toonopedia.com/phlhardy.htm">Archived</a> from the original on April 16, 2012.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-29"><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.bailsprojects.com/bio.aspx?Name=KNIGHT%2c+TACK">Tack Knight entry</a>, Who's Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999. Accessed Nov. 1, 2018.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-30"><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a> Hubert H. Crawford, Crawford's Encyclopedia of Comic Books. Jonathan David Publishers, 1978 (p. 408).

</li>

<li id="cite_note-31"><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a> <a href="Maurice_Horn" title="Maurice Horn">Maurice Horn</a>, The World Encyclopedia of Comics. New York : Chelsea House, 1976. (p. 638)

</li>

<li id="cite_note-32"><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://comics.lib.msu.edu/rri/nrri/nuev.htm">"Nueva" to "Nukunuku,"</a> Michigan State University Libraries Special Collections Division: Reading Room Index to the Comic Art Collection. Accessed Jan. 1, 2019.

</li>

<li id="cite_note-nyt1964-01-17-33"><a href="#cite_ref-nyt1964-01-17_33-0">^</a> <cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/1964/01/17/archives/nana-and-bellmcclure-select-a-new-president.html">"NANA and Bell-McClure Select a New President"</a>. The New York Times. 1964-01-17. <a href="ISSN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISSN (identifier)">ISSN</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0362-4331">0362-4331</a>. Retrieved 2019-11-01.</cite>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-34"><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=a7kT7EDFakAC&dq=%22bell+syndicate%22&pg=PA89">Riley, Sam G. Biographical Dictionary of American Newspaper Columnists, Greenwood, 1995.</a>

</li>

<li id="cite_note-35"><a href="#cite_ref-35">^</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://auislandora.wrlc.org/islandora/object/pearson%3A1">"Drew Pearson's Washington Merry-Go-Round,"</a> American University Digital Research Archive. Accessed Nov. 1, 2018.

</li>

</ol></div></div>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2></div>

<ul><li>Wheeler, John Neville. I've Got News for You, 1961.</li></ul>

<div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2></div>

<ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.org/details/definingnewyorke00leej/page/143">Defining New Yorker Humor by Judith Yaross Lee</a></li>

<li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://library.apsu.edu/dix/timeline.htm">Dorothy Dix Papers</a></li></ul></div><div><div class="zim-footer">

This article is issued from <a class="external text" title="Last edited on 2025-04-15" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?title=Bell_Syndicate&oldid=1285658864">Wikipedia</a>. The text is available under <a class="external text" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.

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