William Donahey
| William Donahey | |
|---|---|
ca. 1920
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|
| Born | October 19, 1883 Westchester, Ohio |
| Died | 2 February 1970 (aged 86) Chicago |
| Occupation | cartoonist and illustrator |
| Nationality | American |
| Period | Twentieth century |
William Donahey (19 October 1883 – 2 February 1970) was a U.S. cartoonist and creator of The Teenie Weenies, a comic strip about two-inch tall people living under a rose bush. The strip appeared in the Chicago Tribune for over 50 years. He drew The Teenie Weenies for a total of about 2100 strips.
Donahey was a very shy child when growing up. He would dream up imaginary characters and The Teenie Weenies as a pastime. He later turned them into a profession in the form of comic features in newspapers, books and advertising.
Donahey spent much of his childhood alone because he was introverted. One of his pastimes was imagining strange creatures in a small world. He later claimed this was the birth of The Teenie Weenies. His parents, John C. Donahey and Catherine (Chaney) Donahey, noticing his creative work, enrolled him in the Cleveland School of Art. They had hoped that he would follow his older brother James Harrison "Hal" Donahey (1875–1949) into the illustration business. Donahey graduated from college in 1903, worked briefly in advertising and then joined the staff of Cleveland's The Plain Dealer, where his brother Hal was the political cartoonist.
While working for the Plain Dealer he met his wife, Mary Augusta Dickerson, of New York City. They were married on August 16, 1905. She was a columnist and children's book author. Here he specialized in children's cartoons. His wife introduced him to some of the traditional children's stories he had missed when he grew up, such as the Mother Goose rhymes, Alice in Wonderland and Arabian Nights. Donahey liked very much the Mother Goose rhymes and took an interest in them. He not only illustrated children's cartoons but then started illustrating Mother Goose rhymes as well. Soon he refined his writing skills and composed his own poems and stories.
When Chicago Tribune editor Joseph Medill Patterson saw Donahey's artwork, he offered him a full-time job as a cartoonist for the comics section. Here is where he created The Teenie Weenies inspired by The Brownies, the popular feature by Palmer Cox.The Teenie Weenies, written and illustrated by Donahey, contrasted normal-size objects with tiny protagonists.
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