Cavalcade of American Comics (Chronicles)

In 1963 syndicates and newspapers joined forces with cartoonist and comics historian
Gordon Campbell to produce an exhibit of pages from Sunday color comic supplements.

From the October 13, 1963 New York Sunday News:

The show was free as was a tabloid history of comics handed out to visitors.

The Phantom Fan has some background on the tabloid freebie.

The exhibit would eventually become a part of The Smithsonian, which didn’t stop it from traveling around the country for a couple decades being sponsored by local newspapers.

For example The Fort Worth Star Telegram.

In 1970 the Cavalcade of American Comics was updated  …

and that is the copy I have in a box here somewhere.

If my mind isn’t playing tricks I got it through the good graces of The Divine Marge
and the National Cartoonists Society, who had copies for sale.

As far as I know the writer of the history has never been revealed.
Kim Munson tells me that Ernie McGee did a major rewrite for the 1970 revision.

The Internet Archive has a readable copy of the 1971 edition.

From a 1963 Spokane Spokesman-Review item:

Cavalcade of American Comics and comic characters © respective copyright owners