Archibald B. Chapin

Archibald B. Chapin was a prolific newspaper cartoonist and illustrator. He created weekly comic strips for the span of his entire professional career on subjects ranging from social and political commentary to stories from his personal life.

Chapin was born in Mount Vernon, Ohio, on June 22, 1875. His parents moved to Kansas City, Missouri, when he was four years old, and he went on to graduate from Kansas City High School. Although he wanted to study art, he couldn't afford tuition, and so he pedaled a fish wagon to save up enough money to live in New York for a year.

Upon returning, he was determined to make it in the newspaper industry, and he got his first job with the Kansas City Times in 1900. He soon became a cartoonist for the Kansas City Star where he worked alongside local artists Harry Wood, Lester Kimmel and Herbert L. Grout. In 1908, he began teaching newspaper illustration classes at the Kansas City Art Institute, where he was later featured in the 1915 Exhibition of American Illustrators.

In 1913, A. B. Chapin moved to St. Louis with his wife and children where he worked for the St. Louis Republic and the St. Louis Star. During this time, he produced a comic strip called Home Sweet Home documenting stories from his home life. In 1921, Chapin moved to Philadelphia where he worked for The Country Gentleman magazine and The Philadelphia Morning Ledger. He created weekly comic strips titled Uncle Dudley, Chapin's Daily Comic Strip, A.B. Chapin Cartoons and Superstitious Sue.

In 1942, Chapin moved to Schenectady, New York, where he continued his work as a cartoonist with the National Weekly Newspaper Service. He retired at age 87, only three months before his death in 1962. A large collection of his work is held by the St. Louis Public Library, and his illustrations exist in newspaper archives across the country.