Monday, April 23, 2007

Ace Reid's Cowpokes Cartoons

Another Trip Down Memory Lane... History and Old Stuff...



Tonight I was poking around on eBay and came across a copy of Ace Reid's Cowpokes Wanted. We had a copy of that book when I was growing up. I think the bank or one of the salebarns sent it at Christmas time. I must have read it thousands of times.

I also knew the Cowpokes from several magazines and newspapers that carried the cartoon and from the Cowpokes calendars we had from time to time.

The Cowpokes are Jake and Zeb. They are hard-working guys (most of the time) who don't have much luck. Their legs are bowed from too many hours spent in the saddle. Their cows are always bony, their fences are always broken, and their cash flow is always negative.

Maw, Jake's wife, is overworked, but don't make the false assumption that she's downtrodden. Every now and then, she lets Jake know who's the boss.

As a ranch kid, I recognized the Cowpokes as authentic characters with true-to-life problems, so it isn't surprising to read that Ace Reid was brought up as a ranch kid himself.

You can see a few Cowpokes cartoons at:

I see that all of the Cowpokes books are available on the Cowpokes homepage and the prices are reasonable, so there's no need for me to get excited about bidding on a used Cowpokes book.

Ace Reid passed away in 1991 at the age of 66. I was sorry to read that.



Wikipedia entry for Ace Reid

8 comments:

ptg said...

Great memories, Genevieve. I think my Grandpa or one of my Great-Uncles had an Ace Reid book or two around.

Ace's drawing style and sense of humor reminds me very much of Bill Mauldin's "Up Front". My Dad was in the service when I was a kid; we had a copy of Mauldin's book at home.

Genevieve Netz said...

Thanks for posting that link, PT. I enjoyed looking at it.

Unknown said...

Nice article. Thanks. I put up a Wiki article on Dad several months ago:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Reid

Stan

Genevieve Netz said...

I enjoyed reading the article, Stan. Thanks for posting the link here.

Someone you may know said...

Genevieve,

Thank you for sharing your memories of this wonderful cartoon. It's so neat to see that other people loved this as much as I did. (And still do!)

My grandpa was a man of few words. Every Christmas we were all given a calendar from the Belle Fourche SD Cenex; and they had the CowPokes cartoons on them. I can remember looking for the "eyeballs", the "patch", and some of them even had a bunny in them.

Thank you for the links, and them information.

Someone you may know said...

Stan,

I am so sorry for your loss. Thank you for allowing us to enjoy your fathers awesome talent today.

Your father united my grandpa and I. Grandpa said so little, and yet when I looked at my calendar, I felt his love through it. I hope that this makes sense.

Thanks again for everyone's contribution!

Genevieve Netz said...

Thanks for stopping by, Grub. I think everyone who grew up with "Cowpokes" remembers them affectionately. It's nice that they remind you of your grandfather.

John said...

Please if anyone has info on Ace Reids printing plates they are etched metal on wood of cowpokes .Thanks john

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