Andy Capps Found Among 2222 Originals
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A London woman rediscovered original cartoon art including seven Andy Capp strips by Reg Smythe.
Andy Lines reports for The Daily Mirror:
Rare original Andy Capp strips have been found in a cellar, 30 years after they were hidden away there.
The signed Reg Smythe works were among 2,222 Daily Mirror toons from the 20th century unearthed by Sheila Byfield. Her husband Derek Moore got hold of them when [The Daily Mirror] moved offices from Holborn, Central London, to Canary Wharf in the East End in 1994.
Sheila, 74, said: “They were throwing lots of stuff out and he said he’d buy these cartoons. He brought them home and joked they might be ‘an investment’. They’ve been in a box down in the cellar all these years.
This would be akin to when the San Francisco Chronicle shut down Chronicle Features in the 1990s and someone got hold of 2000 pieces of art, stashed them away, then found a half dozen The Far Side originals when uncovered.
The Smythe strips seems to be from around the 1994 date when the husband bought them.
The Mirror continues:
They are by 77 different cartoonists, including Stan Franklin [link added], who worked for us between 1959 and 1970.
Seven out of 2,222 is a very small percentage. I’m curious to learn who the 75 unnamed cartoonists are.
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