Working Woman
Barbara and Jim Dale
1985
For a hot minute, I thought this Jim Dale was the actor who read the Harry Potter series on audio books. I was wrong. This Jim Dale partnered with his then wife Barbara Dale and made a few of these humor/cartoon books about working, marriage, and parenting, etc. They also started a cartoon strip in the 1990s that tried to capitalize on the parenting, marriage, family thing. It didn’t really go anywhere and was probably a bit too edgy for the newspaper. The Dales were also involved with creating greeting cards. The Dales divorced and Barbara bought Jim out of the greeting card business. These cartoons are dated, but they are also on point and probably a bit edgy for the time.
Cartoon books, and other types of literature probably should be weeded based on circulation or condition. If it works in your library, than keep it. I won’t stop you.
Mary
Naturally, the house is a mess because the husband never helps with the housework. That “rule” seems to have been lost on my own parents, though.
These are just cringe nowadays. WEED!
Did what’s her name who did “Cathy” ever sue the Dales?
I was just wondering that! There’s a strong similarity there, but you can’t really copyright a style, I believe.
The Dales did noses–unlike Cathy Guisewite.
I was going to say, this looks and feels very Cathy-ish!
I feel like this comic was everywhere for a while, and seeing the drawing style along with that font really takes me back.
That “smile” on the cover – I’ve seen it before and I don’t like it again.
“The Stanley Family” ran for about a year in 1990-91, and Barbara Dale, in Baltimore, is still at it with greeting card work:
https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2021/07/21/local-cartoonist-barbara-dale-documents-pandemic-using-toilet-paper-tubes/
It’s an interesting idea, but I don’t think I’d take toilet paper tubes from other people’s houses at any time, particularly not during a pandemic.
Still, good for her for keeping busy. She seems to be definitely liberal, which I find refreshing in an older white person. I LOL at the Rudy’s hair dye one.
Cool and edgy for it’s day, but doesn’t apply now. I’m 43 and have a relatively senior role in insurance, and have never had any negative remarks from men. It must have been a refreshing read for women who were having to put up with such nonsense at the time, though.