Walter R. Allman

Walter Rease Allman (February 27, 1884 – July 8, 1924) was an American cartoonist who created the newspaper gag comic The Doings of the Duffs.^[1] The strip was launched on July 30, 1914. Allman's last strip was dated January 16, 1924, but the strip returned in 1925^[2] under other artists until August 15, 1931.^[3]

Biography

Walter Allman worked in the grain business at a young age, but didn't have much interest in the trade, spending his time drawing on the sides of boxes and crates. His talent soon landed a job at an engraving company; he later found employment with the Toledo News-Bee newspaper.

His cartoon "work was picked up by the Scripps syndicate NEA Service and his comic Doings of the Duffs became a nationwide feature".^[4] An example of his work with the Toledo paper can be seen in 1912, honoring victims of the Titanic disaster.^[5]

An Allman cartoon about the Titanic disaster from the Toledo Bee

The Doings of the Duffs cartoon, sample from 1917

His The Doings of the Duffs comic strip gained a similar level of fame with the public as the Mutt and Jeff strip had.^[6] In 1917, Rembrandt Studios produced a The Doing of the Duffs film.^[7] A stage musical followed in 1920.^[8]

Allman was a cartoonist from 1915 to 1924. He died in Cleveland on July 8, 1924 at age 42 after suffering a nervous breakdown in 1923.^[4][9]