June 2021 Museum Corner
Bedford Indiana, July 1948—(Image above left ) Cartoonist, Ham Fisher, is at the microphone during the dedication of the eighteen-foot Joe Palooka statue. Behind Fisher are Limestone Centennial Queen, Peggy Sowders (Bush), statue carvers, Harry Easton and George Hitchcock. Mayor Ivan Brinegar is seated at Fisher’s left. Pictures of this scene were distributed to all Palooka subscribers by McNaught Syndicate and also appeared in the German edition of the Army publication, Stars and Stripes.
(Image above right) The Winnah and Champeen! A 1948 Times-Mail newspaper advertisement that the comic strip would be in the paper every day.
Who or what is Joe Palooka?
By Becky Buher
A palooka is often defined as a clodhopper, a hulk, a rookie or an inexperienced boxer. The actual origin of “palooka” is unknown, but beginning in 1930, Joe Palooka, was neither incompetent nor clumsy; he was the Champion of Democracy.
Joe Palooka was the brainchild of cartoonist Ham Fisher in 1921, and his comic strip debuted in 1930.
Fisher said he was able to sell the sports and adventure comic strip idea to 30 big city newspapers, and after that, Joe was no palooka. McNaught Syndicate syndicated the comic strip and by 1948, it had become one of the most popular newspaper comic strips. At one time, 900 daily and Sunday newspapers printed it.
During World War II, Joe Palooka became a favorite GI to people both around the world and here at home in America. Fisher said, “The armed services used Joe for recruiting, hygiene, languages and custom guides during World War II. Goebbels (Nazi minister of propaganda for the Third Reich) called Joe ‘the most vicious of anti-Nazi propagandists.’ ” So, it would appear that Joe helped America to win World War II.
Advertising and merchandising for Joe was big business, too. Comic books were published monthly and Joe Palooka, America’s most famous comic hero, drawn by Ham Fisher, was recorded on comic book covers as having over 50,000,000 readers every day.
Some of the Joe Palooka products were boxing board games, candy and trading cards, a metal lunchbox featuring Joe and his friends Humphrey and Little Max. In 1946, the back of the Wheaties cereal box had a Joe Palooka facemask to cut out and wear. New Haven Clock and Watch Co. produced a Joe Palooka wristwatch. Fans could punch a Joe Palooka “Bop Bag,” and could themselves become a champion with Joe Palooka boxing gloves.
The comic strip was adapted to a short-lived 15-minute CBS radio series. Phonograph records of the shows can still be purchased online. And, of course, there were movies—twelve feature-length films by Monogram Pictures and nine Vitaphone film shorts. In 1954, “The Joe Palooka Story” was a syndicated television series.
In Ham Fisher’s comic strip, Joe was carved at Mt. Rushmore, but in1948, Joe’s buddies, Humphrey Penneyworth and Virgil Mipply removed the likeness of Joe and his manager, Knobby Walsh, from the memorial. Readers were upset!
Cartoon to reality—Indiana Limestone Company and the city of Bedford proposed a statue of Joe Palooka to be sculpted during the Indiana Limestone Centennial celebration in June 1948.
Cartoonist Ham Fisher was touched, saying that thousands from all over the world had written, wired or phoned him and bemoaned that the cartoon story line had removed the characters from Mt. Rushmore. Fisher expressed his gratitude to Bedford and the great Indiana limestone industry for providing a new likeness of Joe and agreed to attend the local celebration.
The Joe Palooka statue was introduced nationally in the comic strip on Sept 5, 1948.
William G. Riley, president of Indiana Limestone Company, Inc., announced Joe would have a permanent location. After the celebration, the statue and base, together weighing 10 tons, were installed at Dickinson Park positioned atop the hill. For decades, drivers and their passengers enjoyed seeing Joe as they traveled between Bedford and Oolitic. I personally remember my brother and I waving to Joe as we looked to the hilltop as we passed by in the car with our parents.
But permanent was not to be. The statue was vandalized in its isolated location. Thankfully, Joe was repaired and the Kiwanas Club of Oolitic rededicated the Champion of Democracy statue in 1984 locating it in Oolitic between the Post Office and the Oolitic Town Hall.
Ham Fisher died in 1955. Fisher’s assistant, Moe Leff, who had been ghost writing the strip for years, began officially creating the Palooka comic strip in 1956. He continued for four years. From 1960 to early 1970, Tony DiPreta illustrated the comic and Morris Weiss wrote the scripts. In 1970, Ed Moore began writing scripts and DiPreta continued illustrating until the comic strip was cancelled in 1984.
Look for the Joe Palooka exhibit at the museum including local pictures of cartoonist Ham Fisher when he was featured at the Limestone Centennial, pictures of carving models and notes for the statue. The Joe Palooka comic strip, which introduced Joe’s limestone statue to America, appeared on Sunday, Sept. 5, 1948. An enlarged copy of the strip is shown in the museum display.
Source: “Collier’s” magazine, Oct. 16, 1948, “Indianapolis Star” news clippings, Indiana Limestone Centennial scrapbook, museum records.