Billy Bounce

Billy Bounce was a comic page created by W. W. Denslow in 1901. The strip was innovative in its use of a continuing story line, as well as Denslow's design and use of the space on the page. In 1902 Denslow retired from the strip, and the characters were picked up by Charles W. Kahles who continued the comic until 1906. The example on the left is from the Sunday Press volume Queer Visitors from the Land of Oz, which includes a number of strips by Denslow.

Denslow returned to the character in 1906, in hopes of creating a story that could be turned into a Broadway extravaganza. The result was a rather uninspired book, written in conjunction with Dudley Bragdon.

The character was popular and inspired a variety of merchandise such as pinbacks, cigars, and a toy bank. The bank seems to have been reproduced recently, with an example I picked up shown below on the left. On the right is an advertising cut for the original bank.

While the character is largely forgotten today, an animated cartoon based on the book was created in the 1960's as a pilot for a projected series. The project never took off, but clearly someone had remembered Billy fondly!