Cyrus Cotton Hungerford was born in Manilla, Indiana. His family soon moved to Parkersburg, West Virginia. His first cartoon was "published Sept. 21, 1903 in the Parkersburg Sentinel."1 In the course of his newspaper career, Hungerford worked for the Wheeling Register; he joined the Pittsburgh Sun in 1912 and joined the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in 1927. He retired from the Post-Gazette in 1977 at the age of 89. He died May 25, 1983.
From 1915 to 1925 he did "a daily syndicated comic strip called 'Snoodles.'"2 In his cartoons, Hungerford good-naturedly chronicled Robert Garland's attempts to institute Daylight-Saving Time--an initiative which had its 20th century U.S. origins in Pittsburgh. During World War II Hungerford aided the war effort by drawing defense posters. Many of his cartoons of local, national and international figures were sought after by his subjects. Hungerford never attended college, but was the recipient of many awards and tributes. He was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Washington and Jefferson College. In 1966 he received a Golden Quill award. In 1970 he was a recipient of the Pennsylvania Awards of Excellence. His first wife Alice Meade, whom he married in 1942, died in 1964. He married his second wife Dorothy Goetz in 1966. She died in 1983.
Of his cartooning, Hungerford remarked: "The idea that comes quick is the true one."3 He was beloved for his gentle never rancorous style: "You can't preach. Bitterness and viciousness defeat their own purpose. Make people smile and think while they're smiling."4 --- blc
"Cy