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Jimmy Hatlo Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: MPK
Date: Sep 1978

Biographical History

James Cecil "Jimmy" Hatlo (1898-1963) was an American sports and editorial cartoonist known for his long-running strip They'll Do It Every Time.

Though born in Providence, R.I. he spent much of his youth in California, attending school in Los Angeles and beginning his newspaper career with the San Francisco Bulletin. In 1929, when a package of cartoons failed to arrive from the syndicate, sports cartoonist Hatlo was called upon to produce something, and the first They'll Do It Every Time appeared on February 5, 1929. It was syndicated in 1936 and in 1943, by popular demand, Hatlo spun off the character of Henry Tremblechin's daughter into her own strip, Little Iodine.

Hatlo went on to work for the Los Angeles Times as a sports and editorial cartoonist and spent fifteen years with the Hearst newspaper chain as an editorial cartoonist. He continued to draw They'll Do It Every Time until his death on November 30, 1963.

Hatlo's works were syndicated in the United States and abroad. He was a charter member of the National Cartoonist Society, who awarded him its Newspaper Panel Cartoon Award for 1957 and 1959.

[Portions of this biography adapted from Contemporary Authors (1998) and from Don Markstein's Toonopedia, http://www.toonopedia.com.]

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Jimmy Hatlo Papers consists of artwork, cartoons, correspondence, memorabilia, and printed material.

Artwork consists of original artwork by Hatlo, for cartoon panels.

Cartoons consists entirely of proof sheets for Little Iodine and They'll Do It Every Time. In many cases there are two different layouts for each item, one horizontal and one vertical.

A small amount of Correspondence relates primarily to suggestions sent in by readers for gags for They'll Do It Every Time. Several are from Glen Wilkinson of San Diego. Responses to Wilkinson are from Bob Dunn, a cartoonist who worked with Hatlo on both They'll Do It Every Time and Little Iodine. There are also a few typed sheets with the lyrics to "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now."

Memorabilia contains clippings about Hatlo, including a reprint of an article that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post, a program and seating list from an awards ceremony in which a group called The Banshees gave Hatlo the Silver Lady award, and a Lucky Strikes cigarette ad in which Hatlo appears.

Printed material contains a variety of printed items featuring Hatlo's work, including calendars, clippings, a published collection of office-related cartoons called Office Party, some publicity for They'll, a postcard, and other items.

Arrangement of the Collection

Clippings and correspondence are arranged chronologically. Cartoons are arranged chronologically for the most part, although due to size differences there is some physical discontinuity. Other material is arranged alphabetically by type.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

Special Collections Research Center has collections of more than one hundred cartoonists. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing. In particular, see also the George Kloek Scrapbook on Jimmy Hatlo.

Subject Headings

Persons

Dunn, Bob, 1908-1989.
Hatlo, Jimmy, 1898-1963.

Associated Titles

Little Iodine.
They'll do it every time.

Subjects

American wit and humor, Pictorial.
Caricatures and cartoons -- United States.
Cartoonists -- California.
Cartoonists -- United States.
Children -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Families -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Fathers and daughters -- Caricatures and cartoons.
Work environment -- Caricatures and cartoons.

Genres and Forms

Calendars (documents)
Cartoons (humorous images)
Clippings (information artifacts)
Proof sheets.

Occupations

Cartoonists.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Jimmy Hatlo Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Eleanor Hatlo Lusignan, 1969.

Table of Contents

Artwork

Cartoons

Correspondence

Memorabilia

Printed material

Inventory