Dave Breger

Dave Breger's Mister Breger (1945-1970) was originally Private Breger Abroad during WWII.

David Breger (April 15, 1908 – January 16, 1970) was an American cartoonist who created the syndicated Mister Breger (1945–1970), a gag panel series and Sunday comic strip known earlier as Private Breger Abroad and G.I. Joe. The series led to widespread usage of the term "G.I. Joe" during World War II and later.^[1]

Dave Breger was his signature and the byline on his books. During World War II, his cartoons were signed Sgt. Dave Breger.

Growing up in Chicago, where he was born of native Russian parents, Breger had encounters with the local gangsters while working at his father's sausage factory. He went to a technical high school, where he drew for the school paper. He studied architectural engineering at the University of Illinois and then transferred to Northwestern University, where he edited the humor magazine while studying pre-med and psychology. He had no schooling in art or cartooning.

Graduating from Northwestern in 1931 with a degree in psychology, he spent a year traveling the world, and during that period he sold cartoons to the German magazine, Lustigeblaetter. He returned to Chicago and the sausage stockyard, rising to the position of office manager of his father's firm, which used the slogan, "Our Wurst Is the Best".

In 1937, after receiving a $30 check from The Saturday Evening Post, Breger arrived in New York and began freelancing to Collier's, Parade, This Week, Esquire, Click and The New Yorker. In 1941, he was drafted into the United States Army and sent to Camp Livingston in Louisiana, where he repaired trucks. He drew at night while sitting in a truck with netting overhead to keep the bugs away. The Army became aware of his talent and transferred him to the Special Services Division in New York, where he married Dorathy Lewis in 1942.^[2] In June 1942, he was shipped to England to serve as an artist-photographer for Yank, the Army Weekly.^[3]

Private Breger

Private Breger panels first appeared in The Saturday Evening Post.^[1] King Features syndicated the gag panel Private Breger Abroad from 19 October 1942 to 13 October 1945, but this syndication meant that when he began doing the character for Yank, a new name was necessary. He came up with the title G.I. Joe from the military term "Government Issue", and he arrived in the UK in 1942 as a Yank correspondent. His G.I. Joe cartoon series began 17 June 1942 in Yank. He soon became one of the most famous and widely read of the WWII cartoonists, and the term "G.I. Joe" was adopted first by soldiers and then the homefront as the popular term for the American foot soldier. (Hasbro's G.I. Joe is a different character, trademarked as "G.I. Joe, A Real American Hero.") In 1942, Breger illustrated the sheet music for Irving Berlin's "I Left My Heart at the Stage Door Canteen".^[4]

G.I. Jerry

Breger also produced G.I. Jerry, satirical cartoons about Hitler and others in the Nazi regime. There also was a postcard series titled Private Breger.^[5] The character remained a private throughout WWII, while Breger himself was promoted through the ranks to corporal, sergeant and eventually lieutenant. His August 25, 1945 cartoon was signed Lt. Dave Breger, indicating his final military rank. From 1943 to 1946, Private Breger Abroad was reprinted in David McKay's Ace Comics (1943–46) and Magic Comics (1945).

Mister Breger

Returning to civilian life after WWII, Breger also had his character become a civilian. Private Breger was discharged, and on October 15, 1945, the title was altered from Private Breger to Mister Breger. The Mister Breger Sunday strip was added 3 February 1946. Vacationers could write friends with the set of Mister Breger postcards, Mister Breger on Vacation.^[6] Recurring themes in the strips and panels included jail, weddings and Breger employed as a bank teller. In one cartoon, Breger predicted that since television showed so many old movies, the day would come when movie theaters would turn to vintage television for product. This prediction came true with the advent of such TV-based films as Mission: Impossible and Star Trek.

Mister Breger also received comic book reprints in The Katzenjammer Kids (1947), Popeye (1967), Beetle Bailey (1969) and Flint Comix And Entertainment (2009–10).

In 1946, Breger became a founding member of the National Cartoonists Society. Dave and Dorathy Breger settled in West Nyack, New York, where they had three children—Dee, Lois and Harry. They were, according to Breger, "all three artistic".^[2]

When Breger died in 1970, he was cremated at Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. Mister Breger continued to run as a daily panel until 21 March 1970. The final Sunday was published the following day, two months after his death.

Books

Between 1942 and 1951, Breger did five books collecting his Army cartoons. Private Breger in Britain (1944), published in London by Pilot Press Ltd., included an introductory discussion on Anglo-American humor between Breger and Michael Barsley. Squads, Write was a 1951 postcard book with 32 cards printed 6 1/2" x 11" on postcard quality paper.

In But That's Unprintable (1955) Breger wrote about newspaper and magazine taboos and illustrated his text with dozens unpublished cartoons by leading cartoonists, including Bo Brown, Milton Caniff, Irwin Caplan, Eric Ericson, Stan Fine, Rube Goldberg, Leo Garel, Don Flowers, Phil Interlandi, Reamer Keller, Fred Lundy, Jack Markow, Charles E. Martin, Fred Neher, Russell Patterson, Mort Walker and George Wolfe.

Awards and exhibitions

Northwestern University honored him in 1946 with an Alumni Merit Award for distinguishing himself in his field of endeavor. An exhibition of Breger cartoons, WWII and Private Breger, was displayed at Syracuse University's Ernest S. Bird Library from February 28 to April 6, 1979.

The Special Collections Research Center at the Syracuse University Library has Breger’s papers (more than 90 items of correspondence) plus 2,414 of his cartoons, including 377 of the WWII cartoons.

Bibliography

Dave Breger's WWII Private Breger postcard #306. Caption: "That soldier's here, Sir, about a new paratrooper uniform to deceive the enemy."

• Private Breger: His Adventures in an Army Camp. Rand McNally and Co., 1942.
• Private Breger's War: His Adventures in Britain and at the Front. Random House, 1944.
• Private Breger in Britain. London: Pilot Press Ltd., 1944.
• Give Out: Songs of, by and for the Men in Service. Femack Company, 1942.
• G.I. Joe. Garden City, New York: Blue Ribbon Books, 1945.
• Squads, Write! (1951)^[7]
• But That's Unprintable. Bantam Books, 1955.
• How to Draw and Sell Cartoons. G.P. Putnam's, 1966.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Famous Artists and Writers, King Features Syndicate, 1949.
2. ^ ^{a b} National Cartoonists Society
3. ^ "The Press: Cartoonist Soldier". Time, April 5, 1943.
4. ^ Markstein, Don. Toonopedia: Private/Mister Breger (aka G.I. Joe)
5. ^ Private Breger Postcards
6. ^ Mister Breger on Vacation
7. ^ Squads, Write!

Sources

• Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, California: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1

External links

• 14 G.I. Jerry panels
• Syracuse University: Dave Breger Papers 1942-1969

Persondata
Name	Breger
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	April 15, 1908
Place of birth
Date of death	January 16, 1970
Place of death