Comics: Carl Burgos

Carl Burgos was born Max Finkelstein on April 18, 1916, in New York, New York. The birth date is based on the Social Security Death Index and his parents’ petitions for naturalization at Ancestry.com.

Burgos’s father was Isidor Finkelstein, a tailor, whose naturalization petition, dated December 13, 1923, said he was born in Moghielev, Russia, on October 25, 1886. (Isidor’s World War II draft card said his birth was October 15, 1886 in Zlobin, Russia.) He sailed on the steamship Merion which departed Antwerp, Belgium, on November 16, 1907. The ship arrived in New York City on November 29, 1907. Isidor became a naturalized citizen February 14, 1927.

Burgos’s mother was Ester Bielin, a dressmaker, whose naturalization petition said she was born in Stressin, Russia, on March 2, 1886. She sailed on the steamship Samland which departed from Antwerp, Belgium. The ship arrived in New York City on April 2, 1907. She married Isidor on August 26, 1911. On the petition, dated June 27, 1941, her first name was spelled Esther. She became a naturalized citizen July 16, 1942.

Burgos’s brother, Rubin Finkelstein, was born March 2, 1912, in New York City. Rubin married Clara Cantor on March 30, 1935 in Manhattan, according to the New York, New York, Marriage Index at Ancestry.com. Clara passed away May 22, 1996. Rubin passed away May 20, 2003.

The 1920 U.S. Federal Census recorded the Finkelsteins in Manhattan, New York City at 191 East 100 Street.

The same address was in the 1925 New York state census.

In the 1930 census, the Finkelstein family resided in the Bronx at 945 Faile Street.

In the Steranko History of Comics (1970), page 58, Steranko wrote:

The man responsible for the inflammable fury [The Human Torch] was Carl Burgos. Born in New York in 1917 [sic], his childhood was little different than most others except for his natural artistic talent and unruly imagination. In his early teens he enrolled in the National Academy of Design. “I quit after one year because I couldn’t learn enough,” Burgos says.

At 17, he took a job with the Franklin Engraving Company which just happened to be the firm that engraved the plates for a line of comic books produced by Harry A. Chesler. For the first time, Burgos was exposed to stacks of original comic art. Whenever possible, he took the time to study the artist’s techniques, their pen styles and brush strokes. He discovered he could draw as well as some and better than a few who already worked in comics. He formulated an idea about becoming a comic artist. What could he lose?

An overview of Burgos’s comics career is at Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999. Many of his comic book credits are at the Grand Comics Database. A collection of images from Google is here.

According to the 1940 census, Burgos and his parents lived at 602 West 157th Street in Manhattan. Burgos’s occupation was artist in the newspaper industry. He had completed four years of high school.

A 1942 Manhattan city directory had this listing: “Burgos Carl 602W157…..AU dubn 3-4117”.

During World War II, Burgos enlisted as Max Finkelstein. In the Steranko History of Comics, Burgos said “I started in the Air Force, took infantry ranger training, went overseas as a rifleman, was transferred to the Signal Corps, and came back in the engineers. It sounds crazy, but it could only happen to a comic book man.” The Department of Veterans Affairs Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File, at Ancestry. com, said he was discharged March 18, 1946.

Alter Ego #49, June 2005, published “The Privacy Act of Carl Burgos”, Jim Amash’s interview with Burgos’s daughter Susan, a teacher and animation artist. She mentioned her mother, Doris, sister, Linda, grandparents and uncle. Doris’s Social Security application, at Ancestry.com, had her full maiden name. In July 1947 her name was Doris Finkelstein, then in September 1948 she was Doris Burgos.

In 1968 Burgos filed copyright renewals on his creation, the Human Torch. The renewal registrations were published in the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 22, Part 1, Number 1, Section 1, Books and Pamphlets, Current and Renewal Registrations, January–June 1968, on page 1256 

and in the Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 22, Part 1, Number 2, Section 1, Books and Pamphlets, Current and Renewal Registrations, July–December 1968, on pages 2761 and 2762. 

Burgos’s copyright renewal filings were mentioned in the article “The true story of life at Marvel Comics in the glory days of Jack Kirby and Stan Lee”.

Burgos passed away March 5, 1984, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS file. American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s (2013) said Burgos died on March 7. The Social Security Death Index said Burgos’s last residence was Franklin Square, New York. His wife, Doris, passed away January 2, 2002.


Further Reading
Timely-Atlas-Comics: Happy 100th Birthday To Carl Burgos
Comics Alliance
The Weird World of Eerie Publications: Comic Gore That Warped Millions of Young Minds
The Beat: When Carl Burgos tried to sue for the Human Torch
Tales to Astonish: Jack Kirby, Stan Lee, and the American Comic Book Revolution
Sub-Mariner & The Original Human Torch, Volume 1
Alter Ego #108, April 2012: “With the Fathers of Our Heroes”
Find a Grave
Lambiek Comiclopedia
Wikipedia


(Next post on Monday: Hollywood Type Casting)

Creator: J. F. Griswold “The Rude…” Artist

Marcel Duchamp’s “Nude Descending a Staircase, No. 2” was exhibited in the 1913 International Exhibition of Modern Art at New York City’s 69th Regiment Armory. Some of the art in the “Armory Show” was parodied by cartoonists. A parody of Duchamp’s painting, published in the New York Evening Sun on March 20, 1913, was J. F. Griswold’s “The Rude Descending a Staircase (Rush Hour at the Subway)”. Griswold’s illustration was part of the series “Seeing New York With a Cubist”. The previous day the Evening Sun published Griswold’s “A Spring Day on Fifth Avenue”.

“The Rude Descending a Staircase” has been reproduced and referenced in numerous books, periodicals and websites but no one has identified who Griswold was. There was a cartoonist named Bert J. Griswold who was based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but his style looks nothing like the two Evening Sun drawings signed J. F. Griswold. Circumstantial evidence in censuses, city directories and periodicals point to Julia Frances Griswold as the artist.

According to the New Jersey, Births and Christenings Index, at Ancestry.com, Griswold was born April 12, 1881, in Chatham, Morris County, New Jersey. Her parents were Warren Griswold (1845–1887) and Lydia Griswold (1847–1920). The 1880 U.S. Federal Census recorded Griswold’s parents, two older brothers, Ralph and Chauncey, and paternal grandmother, Frances, in Chatham, New Jersey. Griswold’s father was a bookkeeper.

The 1895 New Jersey state census listed Griswold, her mother, brothers and grandmother as residents of Chatham, New Jersey.

According to the 1900 census, the quintet lived in Madison, New Jersey at 38 Fairview Avenue. The birth month and year of each person were also recorded. The census said 1882 was the birth year for Griswold who was at school. Her mother and grandmother were unemployed; Ralph was a draftsman; and Chauncey, a cashier. They had a servant.

Information regarding Griswold’s art training has not been found. Griswold has not been found in the 1910 census. A 1912 New York City directory listed Griswold as an artist who lived at 100 West 76 Street in Manhattan. She was not in the 1913 and 1914 directories.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 15, 1912, published an article, “Idleness in Women Menace to Society”, that reported the happenings at the Central Evening High School for Women. Griswold and two others were judges of the costume design category and they chose three women for the roll of honor.

The Armory Show was in New York City from February 17 to March 15, 1913. Five days after the exhibition, Griswold’s “The Rude Descending a Staircase” was published. (Her cartoon was reprinted in The Literary Digest, April 19, 1913.) It’s a mystery as to how Griswold was chosen for the series “Seeing New York With a Cubist”.

Seven months after the exhibition, The New York Times, October 10, 1913, reported the names of appointed teachers in the evening, high, trade, and elementary schools. Griswold taught Design for Dressmaking at the Manhattan Trade School.

The New York Times, April 26, 1914, covered the exhibition by members of the New York Paint Club. The artists included Griswold, Frank A. Nankivell, Howard Heath, Adele Klaer, Israel Doskow, David Robinson, George W. Parker, C. W. Fairchild, Harriet S. Phillips, Laetitia Herr and W. W. Faucett.

It’s not clear how and when Griswold met the Schneider sisters: Sophie the artist, and Frances the writer. They traveled together starting July 24, 1914 as recorded on their Emergency Passport Applications. Also notable is Griswold’s birth year on the application, 1882, that is a year later than the birth index date. At the time of the application, the trio stayed at Suttie’s Hotel, Bedford Park, London.

A passenger list, at Ancestry.com, had Griswold’s full name and said she departed Liverpool, England on October 7, 1914, and arrived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania October 19. According to the passenger list, Griswold was an artist who was born in Madison, New Jersey and whose home address was 38 Fairview Avenue, Madison, New Jersey. The Schneider sisters were on the same ship and their address was 100 West 76 Street, Manhattan, New York City.

Griswold was listed at 100 West 76 Street in the 1915, 1916 and 1917 New York City directories. In 1915, she was a school teacher, then in 1916 and 1917, an artist.

Griswold was at the same address in the 1920 census. She shared an apartment with four women. The head of the household was artist Sophie Schneider; Frances Schneider was a writer. Mary Smith did housework; and Dorothy H. Purinton was a commercial artist.

On December 23, 1922, Griswold and Thomas E. McCoy married in Manhattan according to the New York, New York, Marriage Index at Ancestry.com.

The 1925 New York state census listed Griswold (as Julia McCoy), her husband McCoy, an electrician, and Sophie Schneider in Manhattan at 423 West 23 Street.

The 1930 census said the trio resided in Manhattan at 439 West 21 Street and both women were commercial artists.

The New York Times, March 22, 1931, published a death notice for Griswold.

Julia Griswold McCoy, wife of Thomas E. McCoy 439 West 21st St., suddenly, on March 20. Funeral services at 38 Fairview Av., Madison, N.J., on Sunday, at 3 P.M.

Griswold was laid to rest at John Hancock Cemetery, Florham Park, Morris County, New Jersey.

The New York, New York, Death Index recorded Thomas McCoy’s passing as December 3, 1946, in Manhattan. The status of Sophie Schneider is not known.


(Next post on Monday: Bierman Heidelberg & Co)

Comics: George Klein, Artist

Courtesy of Diane Boden

GEORGE DUNSFORD KLEIN

1915, Shreveport, Louisiana – May 10, 1969, New York, New York

1920 United States Federal Census
Name: George Kline [sic]
Age: 4
Birthplace: Louisiana
Address: 600 East 11th, Cheyenne, Laramie, Wyoming
Relation to Head of House: Son
Marital Status: Single
Father's name: George Kline [sic]
Father's Birthplace: Missouri
Mother's name: Matilda Kline [sic]
Mother's Birthplace: Missouri
Household Members:
Name / Age
George Kline, 36
Matilda Kline, 30 [maiden name was Dunsford]
Elna Kline, 6
George Kline, 4

Wyoming State Tribune
(Cheyenne, Wyoming)
October 30, 1921
Honor Roll Local Schools for First Six Weeks’ Period
Names of Students Who Made Good Marks in Studies at All the School Buildings.
The honor roll of the Chetenne schools for the first six weeks’ period, which ended October 14, was made public to day by Superintendent A. S. Jessup. It follows: 

Johnson
First grade A—First honors: …George Klein...

1930 United States Federal Census
Name: George D Klein
Age: 14
Birthplace: Louisiana
Address: 3615 House Avenue, Cheyenne, Laramie, Wyoming
Household Members:
Name / Age
George Klein, 46 (Rate Expert/Public Service Commission)
Matilda Klein, 40
Edna L Klein, 17
George D Klein, 14

American Forests and Forest Life
Volume 37, 1931
page 363: A letter from George D. Klein, of Wyoming, came too late to use, but it was so fine in sentiment and form of expression that recognition of some kind should be made. So we are sending him a cruiser's stick. George's favorite tree is the Rocky Mountain white pine. Its botanical name is Pirius flexilis. He likes it because it will grow at the timberline, on the wind slopes where other trees cannot survive the severe climate. Around the timberline it grows into grotesque shapes, but in the lowlands it is a tall and beautiful tree. George has shown good judgment in selecting so versatile a tree. There is a specimen on the campus at the University of Wisconsin, and I went out and renewed its acquaintance after getting George's letter. Needles are still retained on the stem five whorls back, which shows that its needles are deciduous every five or six years….

Nature Notes: The Magazine of Outdoor Information
Volume 4, Issues 1-6, 1939
page 99: Drawing by George Dunsford Klein

National Sportsman
December 1939

Cover by George Dunsford Klein

1940 United States Federal Census
Name: George Kline [sic]
Age: 24
Birthplace: Utah [sic]
Address: 23 Elton Road, Milton, Norfolk, Massachusetts
Inferred Residence in 1935: Milton, Norfolk, Massachusetts
Occupation: Truck Driver
Industry: Wool Manufacturing
Highest Grade Completed: High School, 1st year
Hours Worked Week Prior to Census: 40
Class of Worker: Wage or salary worker in private work
Weeks Worked in 1939: 12
Income: 300
Household Members:
Name / Age
Matilda Kline, 50
Edna Kline, 27
George Kline, 24

Boston Herald
(Massachusetts)
April 1, 1940
New England Artists Show 136 Paintings in Jordan Exhibit
In a fine gallery equipped with special lighting on the fifth floor of the annex, Jordan Marsh Company has again invited local artists to make up their 11th annual spring exhibition of 136 paintings in oils and water colors by native New Englanders….

…Traditional painting with sound workmanship holds up well throughout the show. It is the younger men who prove to be the strict classicists, especially in the studies of pretty women by Elmer Greene, Richard Briggs and George D. Klein....

World War II Army Enlistment Record
Name: George D Klein
Birth Year: 1915
Nativity State or Country: Louisiana
State of Residence: Massachusetts
County or City: Norfolk
Enlistment Date: July 16, 1943
Enlistment State: Massachusetts
Enlistment City: Boston
Branch: No branch assignment
Grade: Private
Term of Enlistment: Enlistment for the duration of the War or other emergency
Component: Selectees (Enlisted Men)
Education: 4 years of high school
Occupation: Commercial artists
Marital Status: Single, with dependents

Nature Notes: The Magazine of Outdoor Information
Volume 8, Number 5, May 1941
page 135: The Bushy-tailed Woodrat
Also known as Pack Rat and Trade Rat
From a drawing by George Dunsford Klein.

Heritage
Fall 2008
page 49: George Klein attended the Timely staff dinner, August 14, 1942.

Wyoming Wild Life
Wyoming, Game and Fish Department, 1942
page 137: Cover, Drawing of Female Marsh Hawk by George Dunsford Klein

Wyoming Wild Life
Volumes 7–9, 1942
page 124: Cover, Bull Moose in Mountain Lake, drawing by George Dunsford Klein

Wyoming Wild Life
1942
page 4: Cover by George Dunsford Klein

South Dakota Conservation Digest
October 1942
page 14: Gracing this month’s cover of the Conservation Digest is an artist's interpretation of Wapiti as drawn by George Dunsford Klein. The picture was furnished through the courtesy of the Wyoming Wild Life, official...

Timely-Atlas-Comics
Martin Goodman: The Crime Digest Paperbacks

Best Detective Novel of the Month / Selection of the Month / Selection
No. 7: “The Corpse Hangs High” by Edward Ronns. Copyright 1943, Select Publications’s Inc., Martin Goodman, President. George Dunsford Klein cover art. (Yes, “that” George Klein).

Crime Novel Selection
No. 4: “Murder For What?” by Kurt Steel; Copyright 1943 by Select Publications, Inc., Martin Goodman, President. George Dunsford Klein cover art.

Wyoming Wild Life
Volume 15, Issue 6, 1951
page 10: Painting by George Dunsford Klein

Wyoming Wild Life
Volume 16–17, 1952
page 16: Drawing by George Dunsford Klein

Wyoming Wildlife Magazine
Bulletin No. 7, 1954
Wyoming Fur-Bearers: Their Life Histories and Importance
page 26: Drawing by George Dunsford Klein

A Manual of Bandaging, Strapping, and Splinting
Augustus Thorndike
Lea & Febiger, 1959
page 10: Grateful appreciation is due to…his associate, George Dunsford Klein, for the drawings and illustrations.

World’s Finest Comics #169, Curt Swan (pencils), George Klein (inks)

The Avengers #58, John Buscema (pencils), George Klein (inks)

The Avengers #63, Gene Colan (pencils), George Klein (inks)

Thor #169, Jack Kirby (pencils), George Klein (inks)

Heritage Auctions
Original art

Mammals of the World

Volume 3
Ernest Pillsbury Walker, John L. Paradiso
Johns Hopkins Press, 1968
page 203: The Bushy-Tailed Woodrat. George Dunsford Klein. Nature Notes, Peoria, vol. 8, no. 5, pp. 133–135, pl. 1, May, 1941.

The New York Times
May 12, 1969
George D. Klein, a landscape and portrait painter, died Saturday [May 10] in St. Vincent’s Hospital after a brief illness. He was 52 years old and lived at 425 East 86th Street.

Mr. Klein was a member of the Salmagundi Club.
[According to Klein’s army enlistment record, he was born in 1915. He was about 54 when he died.]

Boston Herald
(Massachusetts)
May 13, 1969
Klein—Of New York City, a noted artist, George Dunsford Klein; husband of Patricia Klein of 425 East 86th St., died Saturday, May 10 at St. Vincent’s Hospital, following a brief illness. Survived by his mother, Mrs. Matilda L. Klein and sister Mrs. Edna Matthel of Westwood. Graveside services at Mount Wollaston Cemetery, Quincy, Wednesday at 12 noon. Relatives and friends are invited. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to The National Wild Life Society.

The New York Times
May 13, 1969
Klein—George Dunsfort [sic]. The officers and directors of The Salmagundi Club mourn the loss of their esteemed member, George Dunsfort Klein.
The Salmagundi Club.

Boston Record American
(Massachusetts)
May 14, 1969
George D. Klein, Painter, at 52
Last rites for George Dunsford Klein, 52, of New York City, painter of landscapes and wildlife, will be held at noon Wednesday in Mt. Wollaston Cemetery. He died Saturday in St. Vincent’s Hospital, New York.

Klein, a native of Shrevesport [sic], La., had lived in Boston until a few years ago.

He is survived by his widow, Patricia (Perreira); his mother, Mrs. Matilda Klein, and a sister Mrs. Edna Matthol, both of Westwood.

Wikipedia
References, endnote 3: The closest “George Klein” with a 1969 death at the Social Security Death Index is Social Security Number 051-09-0859, born June 14, 1920, died September 1969, death certificate issued in New York state. [This person is at Find a Grave and was named George H. Klein.]

Grand Comics Database
Comics credits

Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999
Career overview
Studied at the New York School of Visual Arts and Kansas City Art Institute


(Next post on Monday: Uncanny Origins)