Collection inventory

Overview of the Collection
Creator:	Drake, Stan, 1921-
Title:	Stan Drake Papers
Inclusive Dates:	1954-1971
Bulk Dates:	1957-1967
Quantity:	9 linear ft.
Abstract:	2,037 original daily and Sunday cartoons from the newspaper comic strip The Heart of Juliet Jones, clippings, correspondence and photographs.
Language:	English, French (1 item)
Repository:	Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries 222 Waverly Avenue Syracuse, NY 13244-2010 https://library.syracuse.edu/special-collections-research-center

Biographical History

Stanley Drake (1921-1997), commonly known as Stan Drake, was an American cartoonist. He was co-creator of the newspaper comic strip The Heart of Juliet Jones.

Drake was born in Brooklyn and studied at the Art Students League of New York. His career began with work on comic books and pulp magazines such as Popular Detective and Popular Sports. He served in World War II and afterwards worked in advertising for a time. In 1953 he ventured into newspaper comics, collaborating with writer Elliot Caplin to create the long-running dramatic strip The Heart of Juliet Jones for King Features Syndicate. In 1989, Frank Bolle succeeded Drake on The Heart of Juliet Jones.

In 1984 Dean Young, who had taken over the comic strip Blondie when his father Chic Young died, invited Drake to join his team. Drake worked on Blondie until his death in 1997.

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Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Stan Drake Papers consists primarily of original cartoons. There are 1,740 original daily cartoons, 297 original Sunday cartoons and 1 proof sheet (6 daily strips) from the newspaper story strip The Heart of Juliet Jones (1957-1963, 1965-1967). Daily cartoon: traces of graphite, blue pencil, opaque white, zipatone, pen and ink on illustration board (some on Craftint board), dimension vary approx. 6 x 20 in. to 5 ¾ x 22 ¾ in. Sunday cartoon: traces of graphite, opaque white, pasteovers, brush, pen and ink on illustration board, dimensions vary approx. 14 x 20 in. to 16 ¾ x 22 ½ in. Proof sheet: 8 ½ x 16 ½ on newsprint.

In addition to original cartoons, this collection also contains incoming correspondence from readers (1955-1971), a letter from French film director Alain Resnais (1965), photographs of Drake at various social functions (including photos of Mrs. Drake and family) (1954-1966), and newspaper and magazine clippings by and about Drake (1962-1966). Many of these items are accompanied by hand written explanatory notes from Drake.

A note on the story lines for The Heart of Juliet Jones: starting October 18, 1965, the daily and Sunday versions ran on a single continuity; previously, each ran separate stories.

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Arrangement of the Collection

Daily and Sunday cartoons are arranged separately in chronological order. Other materials are foldered by type (with the Alain Resnais letter foldered separately).

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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.

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Related Material

Special Collections Research Center has collections of over one hundred cartoonists. Please refer to the SCRC Subject Index for a complete listing.

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Subject Headings

Persons

Associated Titles

Subjects

Genres and Forms

Occupations

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Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Stan Drake Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Stan Drake, 1966-1971.

Finding Aid Information

Created by: --
Date: Jan 1967
Revision history: 18 Nov 1969 - 1969 accession added (SBM); 26 Apr 1978 - 1978 accession added (DB); 19 Mar 2007 - converted to EAD, packages numbered (MRC); 10 Apr 2009 - revised (MD)

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Inventory

	The Heart of Juliet Jones (2,037)
		Click here for detailed inventory.
		Daily cartoons (1,740)
Box 1			1957 Jan - 1958 Jul
Box 2			1958 Aug - 1959 Jul
Box 3			1959 Aug - 1960 Jul
Box 4			1960 Aug - 1961 May
Box 5			1961 Jun - 1962 May
Box 6			1962 Jun - 1963 Jan
Box 7			1965 Jan - 1965 Sep
Box 8			1965 Oct - 1966 Sep
Box 9			1966 Oct - 1967 Aug
		Sunday cartoons (297)
Oversize 1			1957 Jun - 1960 Dec
Oversize 2			1961 Apr - 1963 Dec
Oversize 3			1964 Jan - 1966 Jan
Oversize 4			1966 Jan - 1967 Jul
		Proofs (1)
Oversize 1			24 Jan 1966 - 29 Jan 1966

	Alain Resnais letter [in French] (1)
		film director Resnais, also head of French comics society, thanks Drake for loan of several original pieces sent for display in an international forum in Italy (includes hand written note from Drake)
Box 10		12 Feb 1965

	Clippings (approximately 25)
		most with hand written explanatory notes by Drake
Box 10		Al Capp interview from Playboy (Dec 1965) (7 pages)
			in which Capp discusses Stan Drake; also includes clip of subsequent letter to the editor from Drake
Box 10		Newspaper clippings 1961-1966
			clippings of Drake at various social events, including clips of Mrs. Drake and family
Box 10		Tear sheet from comic strip Big Ben Bolt 16 Feb 1961
			Drake filled-in for John Cullen Murphy on this date using wife as model (includes hand written note from Drake)

	Correspondence (approximately 60 letters)
		incoming correspondence from readers, in chronological order
Box 10		1955-1971

	Photographs (6)
		photos of Drake at misc. public events; includes photo of Mrs. Drake modeling for Juliet Jones; hand written captions by Drake
Box 10		1954-1966, undated

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