C. W. Kahles

Charles William Kahles (pronounced Kah'-less) (January 12, 1878 – January 21, 1931) was a prolific cartoonist responsible for numerous comic strips, notably Hairbreadth Harry. He is credited as the pioneer of daily comic strip continuity with his Clarence the Cop, which he drew for the New York World in the latter 1890s, introducing to newspapers the innovation of continuing a comic strip story in a day-to-day serial format.

The cartoonist and comics historian Ernest McGee called Kahles the "hardest working cartoonist in history, having as many as eight Sunday comics running at one time (1905-06) with no assistants to help him." Between 1898 and 1931, Kahles drew a total of 25 comic strips, in addition to paintings, book illustrations and advertisements. At the same time he was contributing single-panel cartoons to Life, Judge, Puck, Browning's Magazine and the Pleiades Club Year Book.

Born in Lengfurt, Bavaria, Germany, Kahles arrived in America at the age of seven. His family settled in Brooklyn, New York, living in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood, then a semi-rural area. Young Charles Kahles grew up in Brooklyn, where he lived for many years. With plans to become a painter, he studied art at Pratt Institute and also attended the Brooklyn Art School. His first art job was in the stained glass shop of Joseph Hausleiter in Brooklyn, working alongside his brother Fred. At the age of 16, he went to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, where he became the staff artist on the newspaper Grit, followed by a short spell as a staff artist at the New York Recorder. In 1897–98, he drew assignments for the New York Journal, where he also contributed cartoons. In 1898, he was hired as a news illustrator by the New York World, where he also drew such comics as The Little Red Schoolhouse, Butch the Butcher's Boy, The Perils of Submarine Boating, Clumsy Claude, Optimistic Oswald and The Kelly Kids. In 1902, Clarence the Cop was the first police strip, and his Sandy Highflyer, the Airship Man (1902–04), was the first aviation comic strip. Foolish Fred ran from September 25 to December 11, 1904.

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