Author Description

This book by cartoonist Briggs Care and in collaboration with poet Wilbur D. Nesbit. First published in 1913 by P. F. Volland and Company of Chicago, Oh Skin-Nay! depicts a year in the life of a small American town through the eyes of a twelve-year-old boy: wood gathering, sleigh rides, post office games, swimming and sand ball games. It's a very real and funny snapshot of late 19th-century American working-class life, with its swimming pools, boardwalks, vacant lots, ice cream carts, Sunday school picnics and Saturday night baths. It is indeed a masterful work in its own right, a richly comic portrait of Midwestern America in the days of childhood. ABOUT THE AUTHOR As a young man, Briggs left his rural home to embark on a career as an illustrator and cartoonist. He enjoyed success in big-city newspapers such as the Chicago Examiner, the Chicago Tribune and the New York Tribune. In the space of a few years, Briggs moved away from the brutal humor of early comics and drew discreet strips in two modes: nostalgic musings centered on memories of small-town childhood, and satirical strips about the quarrels inherent in married life.