Camera-ready comic art drawing for Our Boarding House

This pen-and-ink drawing prepared for the single-panel comic Our Boarding House shows Martha Hoople listening to ways to be more efficient with finances, even at the expense of further difficiencies in the quality of her service.

Les Carroll (around 1910- ) began his career as a background animator for Fleischer Studios in the 1930s. As a staff artist for the Newspaper Enterprise Association, he transitioned to comic book artwork, and then in 1945, he created his first syndicated comic strip, The Tillers, which ran until 1960. Afterward, Carroll took over the Boots and her Buddies strip after creator Abe Martin died. In 1971 Carroll began drawing Our Boarding House, which he continued until the end of the strip’s run in 1984.

Our Boarding House (1921-1984) was a daily panel comic starring Martha Hoople, who didn't accept any disrespectful behavior from her boarders. Creator Gene Ahern was known for his "screwball comedy" style of cartooning and writing. After a series of short-lived strips, he developed Our Boarding House. At about four months into the run, Major Hoople, Martha’s estranged husband, was introduced. Major Hoople was an irritable, old man whose stuffy attitude made for some of the strip’s most memorable scenes. He eventually became the most popular character in the strip, to the point where many people began referring to the strip by his name. Major Hoople was eventually adapted for a radio show and a comic book in 1943.

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