Little Nemo in Slumberland

On October 15, 1905, Winsor McCay's Little Nemo in Slumberland appeared in the New York Herald and New York American newspapers.  Back in the day...comics were used as a way to sell papers, and they did them in an epic style.  These papers were larger than todays newspapers, and each of these stories took an entire page.

In each episode, Little Nemo would be in a dream that involved some wild adventure in Slumberland, only to wake up with comments like, "Oh, I don't want to go to sleep again. No! No!  Oh!"....or from his mother, "There's that boy again, I wish you wouldn't let him eat turkey dressing at bedtime!"

Shown here is an episode from April 8, 1906 from the New York Herald.  It has Little Nemo with the Princess of Slumberland awaiting a marching band.  The character playing the tuba can't seem to stop playing and his instrument starts to grow and flay wildly out of control!  Nemo wakes up to the first comment I mention above.

A few years ago, a Bay Area guy by the name of Peter Maresca edited a book called Little Nemo in Slumberland So Many Splendid Sundays!  It reprinted, in full size, a selection of these stories.  It's a huge book given the format of the original comics (and a tad pricey, too) , but great to read while lying on the living room floor with the kids!

Until next time...