"Fred Waring Cartoons: An Exhibition" is on display through Aug. 21 in the Hintz Alumni Center, Robb Hall, University Park. Few people know that Fred Waring, the man who "taught America how to sing" and developed the Waring Blender, was a lifelong fan of the comic strips. They were the first part of the newspapers he read. In fact, with the exception of USA Today, he never bought a newspaper that didn't have comics in it.
Fred Waring, class of 1922, was a Distinguished Alumnus and member of the Board of Trustees. He got to know and love the artists that drew the comic strips and for almost 30 years. He entertained the members of the National Cartoonists Society at Shawnee-0n-Delaware annually around the date of his June 9 birthday.
The Fred Waring's America collection, which is part of the Special Collections Library of Penn State's University Libraries, has more than 500 original drawings. Included in the collection are cartoons by such artists as Chic Young ("Blondie"), Otto Soglow ("The Little King"), Ham Fisher ("Joe Palooka"), George Sixta ("Rivits"), Milton Caniff ("Steve Canyon" and the originator of "Terry and the Pirates"), Bil Keane ("Family Circus"), Bill Homan ("Smokey Stover"), Ted Key ("Hazel"), Walt Kelly ("Pogo"), Charles Schultz ("Peanuts"), Mort Walker ("Beetle Bailey"), Walt Disney and Paul Terry (movie animators), and the late Rube Goldberg.
Questions about the exhibit can be forwarded to Pete Kiefer at (814) 863-2911.