Monday, November 4, 2024

Comics: Rome Siemon, Clerk, Jazz Pianist, Hotel Manager, Cartoonist and Letterer


Jerome Emil “Rome” Siemon was born on August 8, 1900, in Rock Island, Illinois. His first name, Jerome, was recorded in the 1910 United States Census and Social Security application. The middle name was on his World War I and II draft cards.

According to Illinois marriage records at Ancestry.com, his parents were Peter Siemon and Emma Johnson who married on September 25, 1899 in Rock Island County, Illinois. The 1900 census was enumerated in June. Siemon’s mother was living with her mother, Anna, siblings, niece and nephew in Rock Island at 613 Ninth Street. The whereabouts of Siemon’s father is not known.

The Rock Island Argus, December 17, 1906, said “Romie Siemons [sic]” was one of the guests at a birthday party. 

The 1910 census said Siemon (line 67) and his mother, who was divorced and a nurse, were living with his maternal grandmother and aunt in Rock Island at 613 9th Street.


The Rock Island Argus, January 20, 1914, published the names of the Hawthorne School eighth grade graduates. “Romie Siemon” was one of 35 graduates. The name Romie was used in city directories and in later censuses. 

The 1916 Rock Island city directory said Siemon was a clerk residing at 613 9th Street. The 1916 Davenport, Iowa city directory listed Siemon as Rock Island resident working as a clerk at R. G. Dun & Company. The 1917 Rock Island city directory said Siemon was working at a Rock Island manufacturing company. 

According to the Rock Island Argus, August 10, 1918, Siemon was a jazz musician. 
Surprised on Birthday.
Jerome Siemon was pleasantly surprised at his home, 613 Ninth street, Thursday evening, by the members of the Jazz orchestra, of which he is the leader, the occasion being his birthday anniversary. The evening was spent with Jazz music and later refreshments were served. They presented Mr. Siemon with a purse of money, wishing him many happy returns of the day.
Siemon signed his World War I draft card on September 12, 1918. His home address was 1125 3rd Street A in Moline, Illinois. He was a clerk at the Rock Island Plow Company. He was described as medium height and build with blue eyes and brown hair. 


The 1919 Moline directory said he was a clerk at the “Peo Power Company” in Rock Island. His address was 1125 3rd Street A, and in parentheses was the name of his wife, Olga.

Siemon’s address was the same in the 1920 census. He (line 74) and his mother were counted together but not his wife whose status is unknown. Siemon was employed at a power company. Siemon’s address in the 1920 directory was 1809 3rd Avenue.


Bix: Man & Legend (1975) said Siemon was a pianist in the Plantation Orchestra. When the band’s cornet player went home, he was replaced by Bix Beiderbecke. Bix: The Leon Bix Beiderbecke Story (1998) chronicled Beiderbecke’s gigs including with the “Plantation Jazz Orchestra” in 1921 and 1922 (see pages 59 to 61). Siemon is quoted several times in the recollections.

On July 24, 1923, Siemon married Beatrice Vogel in Clinton, Iowa as recorded in the Iowa marriage index at Ancestry.com. The Dispatch (Moline, Illinois), August 1, 1923, said 
Mr. and Mrs. Romie Siemons [sic] of Moline left for Chicago this morning where they will make their home. Mr. Siemons has accepted a position in that city. The young couple were married Tuesday, July 24, in Clinton the nuptials coming as a surprise to their many friends. Mr. Siemons is a son of Mrs. Emma Siemons and his bride, who was Miss Beatrice Vogel, a daughter of Thomas Vogel of Rapids City. 
According to the 1930 census, the couple resided in Moline at 1602 3rd Avenue. Siemon (line 2) was a hotel manager. In a few years Siemon moved to the West Coast.


In 1940, Siemon, his wife, two sons and mother were at 6336 1/2 Homewood Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Siemon (line 36) was a hotel manager and his wife a hotel maid. The census said Siemon was  in Los Angeles in 1935 and his highest level of education was the eighth grade. 


On February 14, 1942, Siemon signed his World War II draft card. His address was 1248 Cherokee Street in Los Angeles. He was employed at the St. Paul Hotel. Siemon was described as five feet eleven inches, 180 pounds with blue eyes and brown hair.


Siemon’s address was unchanged in the 1950 census. He was a hotel manager (line 27). 


Information about Siemon’s art training has not been found.

American Newspaper Comics (2012) said Siemon drew the panel Collection Day Chuckles from 1948 into the 1950s for the Newspaper Boys of America. The panel appeared in the Owosso Argus-Press herehere and hereIn 1949, Siemon produced Little Moonfolks for N.E.W.S. in Beverly Hills, California. The Catalog of Copyright Entries, Third Series, Volume 3, Parts 7–11 A, Number 1, Works of Art, etc., January–June  1949 had this entry: “Siemon, Rome © The little folks of Circleville. [Caricatures] Print. © 4Feb49; K19004.” In 1952 the Associated Press was syndicating Little Moonfolks

The Dispatch, December 4, 1952, explained Siemon’s involvement in their Christmas fund raising. 
Rome Siemon, the fairly widely known cartoonist who got his start in his working life pounding a piano in a nickel movie in Rock Island (he was just a kid and his family was poor) apparently has been doing some Christmas shopping and thinking of poor orphan youngsters. For several years Mr. Siemon, who lives in Hollywood, Calif., has been, taking time out from a busy working career to draw cartoons to help the Moline Good Fellow Christmas fund sponsored by the Dispatch. Rome knows what it is to be up against it at one stage in his career that was in Moline he found the piano playing picking so poor that he thought he was lucky to get a part-time job as a LeClaire hotel elevator operator. If Siemon’s cartoon plea appeals to you, send a contribution to this Christmas program to bring some cheer to needy children and widows to Good Fellow Fund, Moline Dispatch, or drop in with buck or two (or more) and some one at the Dispatch office will be glad to take it.
Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 said Siemon did lettering for Western Publishing in the early 1950s into the 1960s. In the Jack Kirby Collector #71, Spring 2017, Mark Evanier said 
…Mike [Royer] learned to letter from Mike Arens. Mike Arens learned lettering largely from a man named Rome Siemon, who was the house letterer at Western Publishing, on the West Coast books for years….
The Grand Comics Database has many of Siemon’s credits here and hereHeritage Auctions sold two pages of Siemon’s unpublished comic book story for Harvey Comics. 

Siemon passed away October 6, 1969, in Los Angeles according to the California death index. He was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park

 
Further Reading
Todd’s Blog


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(Next post on Monday: 1930 Syllabus Yearbook)

Monday, October 28, 2024

Typography: The Forbidden Planet Halloween Ads, 1982–1989


Village Voice, October 6, 1982

Village Voice, October 6, 1982
 
Village Voice, October 11, 1983

Village Voice, October 18, 1983

 Show Business, October 31, 1983
 
 Village Voice, November 1, 1983


Village Voice, October 9, 1984

Village Voice, October 16, 1984

Village Voice, October 23, 1984

Village Voice, October 30, 1984

Village Voice, October 22, 1985

The New York Times Magazine, October 19, 1986

Village Voice, October 28, 1986

Village Voice, October 27, 1987

Village Voice, October 12, 1988

Village Voice, October 19, 1988

Village Voice, October 25, 1988

New York Magazine, October 31, 1988

Village Voice, November 1, 1988

Paper Magazine, October 1989

Village Voice, October 31, 1989

Village Voice, October 31, 1989

Advertisements by Alex Jay/Studio J
for Michael Luckman/Forbidden Planet



 

Monday, October 21, 2024

Comics: A Few Details About Les Zakarin, Inker

Les Zakarin was born Lester Sam Zakarin on March 17, 1929, in Brooklyn, New York. The birth information is from the New York, New York Birth Index, at Ancestry.com, and Army draft card. Zakarin’s full name was on his Social Security application. 

In the 1930 United States Census, Zakarin was the only child of Alex, a Russian immigrant, and Mollie. They lived in Brooklyn at 334 Bradford Street. 

Lines 64–66

The 1940 census said Zakarin was the oldest of three boys. The Zakarins were Brooklyn residents at the same address. 

Lines 25–29

Zakarin attended the School of Industrial Art in Manhattan and graduated in 1947. His classmates included Jon D’Agostino, Hal Fromm, John Romita and Herbert Tauss

The Palette yearbook

On March 24, 1947, Zakarin signed his draft card. His Brooklyn address was 1398 East 49th Street. He was employed at the Pyramid Belt Co. in Manhattan. Zakarin’s description was five feet seven inches, 130 pounds, with brown eyes and hair.


In Alter Ego, #9 July 2001, Roy Thomas interviewed John Romita who explained how he got into comics. 
RT: You mentioned at the 1995 Stan Lee Roast in Chicago how in ’49 you started out penciling for a guy who was really an inker, but who pretended to Stan that he was penciling material which you ghosted for him. Don’t you think it's time you finally told us who that artist was?

ROMITA: The reason I never gave his name was, I didn’t want to embarrass him. His name was Lester Zakarin. I met him for the first time in forty years in 1999, at a convention in New York, and he told me he wasn’t offended by any of the interviews I’d given. I’d always say that this artist I was ghosting for would tell Stan he could pencil, but actually I’d do the penciling for him, and he just inked my pencils.

But Stan was one of the few editors who’d ask guys to make changes. And when he asked Lester Zakarin to change something, he would panic. So I would go into the city with him and I’d wait at the New York Public Library, which was very close to where Timely was, at the Empire State Building. Zakarin would get the corrections from Stan and tell him, “I can’t draw in front of people. It has to be absolutely quiet. I’m going to a friend’s office. I’ll do these corrections and bring them back in the afternoon.” Then he’d meet me at the library, and I’d do the corrections, and then he’d go back to Stan. [laughs]
Zakarin’s comics credits are at the Grand Comics Database and Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999

According to the 1950 census, Zakarin was a cartoonist at a magazine publisher. He earned $2,000 in 1949. Zakarin lived with his parents in Brooklyn at 1398 East 48th Street.

Lines 1–4; Zakarin’s father was on the previous sheet

Zakarin, a registered voter, was a Democrat. 

In 1952 Zakarin and Iris F. Schulman obtained marriage license number 16084 in Manhattan.

During the Korean War, Zakarin was listed in the 1953 Augusta, Georgia city directory. 


Art Director & Studio News, September 1954, said Zakarin was a winner in the Annual June Exhibition of the Cartoonists and Illustrators School. 

The 1954 Brooklyn telephone directory listed Zakarin and his wife at 642 East 92 Street. 

According to the Board of Elections in the City of New York, List of Enrolled Voters for the Year 1956–1957, Borough of Brooklyn, Zakarin and his wife were Democrats who resided at 446 Kingston Avenue. The 1962 Brooklyn directory had the same address. 

A 1969 issue of the University of the State of New York Bulletin listed Zakarin in the category of Registered Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors. 
Zakarin, Lester Samuel (PE), 1841 Central Park Ave, Yonkers
Zakarin, Lester S. (62, A.M. 62) Proj Engr, Malcolm Pirnie Inc, 226 Westchester Ave, White Plains NY, 10604, (1853 Central Park Ave, Yonkers NY) (28) CO SM
The photograph below is from an event in the early 1970s. (Visit the Tripod site of Yosi Jeff Zakarin: click Zakarins Unite!!! A Family History Site; click Photographs; click Historical Photographs From 1941 to 1980, automatic download.)


In 1994 Zakarin was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers

Zakarin passed away on January 30, 2003, in New York. He was laid to rest at Mount Ararat Cemetery



Related Post


Further Reading
Alter Ego #27, August 2003, preview has first two pages of Zakarin’s interview


 
 

Monday, October 14, 2024

Monday, October 7, 2024

Comics: Bernie Zuber, Artist, Writer, Letterer, Editor, Publisher and Fan

Bernard Anthony “Bernie” Zuber was born on March 4, 1933, in Asnières, Seine, France, according to an American Consular Service report at Ancestry.com and the National Archives. His parents were Anthony F. Zuber, of Brooklyn, New York, and Marie Josephine Giulio Tonolo of Chambery, France. Zuber’s father was a clerk at the American Embassy, Office of Commercial Attaché.


On May 22, 1942, the family sailed aboard the steamship Drottningholm from Lisbon, Portugal. They arrived in the port of New York City on June 1, 1942. Their destination was 62 Hemlock Street in Brooklyn. Presumably Zuber’s education was in Brooklyn. 



Seven years later on August 5, 1949, Zuber and his father departed on the steamship Queen Elizabeth from New York bound to Cherbourg, France. 


Two years later Zuber and his father sailed on September 24, 1951 from Le Havre, France. The steamship America arrived in New York City on October 1, 1951. Their final destination was 62 Hemlock Street in Brooklyn.



A little less than four months had gone by when they were aboard the same steamship headed for Le Havre, France


On March 26, 1953, Zuber was a Pan American flight from Paris to New York. 


It’s not known where Zuber served during the Korean War and the dates of his enlistment and discharge. On March 4, 1954, Private Zuber, serial number 51237501, was on a flight from Chicopee, Massachusetts to Frankfurt, Germany.


Twenty-two days later, Zuber was on a TWA flight for New York.


The Social Security Death Index said Zuber obtained his number in 1955 in Maryland. His employer is unknown. 

The California Voter Registration at Ancestry.com said Zuber, in 1956, was a democrat who lived at 1776 North Las Palmas Street in Los Angeles, California. 

Who’s Who of American Comic Books 1928–1999 estimated Zuber’s comics career from 1950 to around 1981. He started work at Western Publishing. Hey Kids Comics Wiki said “... Bernie Zuber was an editorial artist, a position similar to that of a production artist, from 1957 until 1982.” Information about his art training has not been found. Three of his lettering credits are Wonderworld #9, August 1973, Bernard Prince; Yogi Bear #4, May 1978; and The Flintstones #5, June 1978. 

Samples of Zuber’s fan artwork are here, here, and here (see April). 

On May 27, 1972, Zuber and Ida C. Rule married in Los Angeles, according to the California Marriage Index at Ancestry.com. 

Mark Evanier wrote about Zuber’s personal struggles. 

Zuber passed away on October 14, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. He was laid to rest at Riverside National Cemetery


Further Reading
Tolkien Gateway, Bernie Zuber
Internet Science Fiction Database, Chronological Bibliography: Bernie Zuber
The Internet Archive has many publications that mentioned Zuber here, here and here


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(Next post on Monday: Scotch & Soda)