Buster Brown was a comic strip character created in 1902 by Richard Felton Outcault who was known for his association with the Brown Shoe Company. (The name "Buster" came either directly or indirectly from the popularity of Buster Keaton, then a child actor in vaudeville.)
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| 21-year old dwarf actor, "Master Gabriel" plays the title role of Buster Brown in the 1905 Broadway production. |
This mischievous young boy was loosely based on a boy near Outcault's home in Flushing, New York. His physical appearance, including the pageboy
haircut, was utilized by Outcault and later adopted by Buster Brown.
The actual boy's name was Granville Hamilton Fisher, son of Charles and
Anna Fisher of Flushing. The family subsequently moved to Amityville, New York
where Charles Fisher ran a real estate and insurance business on
Merrick Road. Granville operated a phonograph and radio sales and repair
shop across the street from his father until his sudden death in 1936.
Richard Barker played Buster Brown in the Brown Shoe Company
advertising campaign as a small child. There is a book written about
Richard Barker and his life as Buster Brown in the advertising campaign.
The book about Richard Barker is titled “Buster Brown and the Cowboy”.
Buster Brown, his sweetheart Mary Jane, and his dog Tige, an American Pit Bull Terrier,
were well known to the American public in the early 20th century. Tige
is thought to be the first talking pet to appear in American comics,
and, like that of many of his successors, his speech goes unnoticed by
adults.
Buster Brown is a young city-dwelling boy with wealthy parents. He is disturbingly pretty (contrast him to The Yellow Kid, or Frederick Opper's
creations), but his actions belie his looks. He is a practical joker
who might dress in a girl's outfit and have her wear his clothes, break a
window with his slingshot, or play a prank on a neighbor. The trick or
transgression is discovered and he is punished, usually by being spanked
by his mother, but it is unclear if he ever repents. Many strips end
with Buster delivering a self-justifying moral which has little or
nothing to do with his crime. For example, a strip from May 31, 1903,
shows him giving Tige a soda from a drugstore soda fountain.
The drink splashes, not only the front of his own clothes, but the
skirts of a woman's splendid dress. Horrified by his clumsy
misadventure, Buster's mother takes him home and flogs him with a stick.
In the last panel the boy has written a message beginning, "Resolved!
That druggists are legalized robbers; they sell you soda and candy to
make you ill, then they sell you medicine to make you worse."
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| Richard Felton Outcault (January 14, 1863-September 25, 1928), Buster Brown |
A series of live-action two-reelers were produced from 1925 to 1929 by the Stern Bros. for Universal Pictures. Buster was played by the actor Arthur Trimble. Pete the Pup (who played Tige) and director Gus Meins were both later associated with the popular Our Gang (Little Rascals) comedies.
Buster Brown's association with shoes began with John Bush, a sales
executive with the Brown Shoe Co. He persuaded his company to purchase
rights to the Buster Brown name, and the brand was introduced to the
public at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The logo is still used on Brown shoes today. The character's name was also used to describe a popular style of suit for young boys, the Buster Brown suit, that echoed his own outfit.
Midgets were hired by the Brown Shoe Co. to play Buster in tours around the United States. These little people, who were each accompanied by a dog, performed in department stores, theaters and shoe stores from 1904 until 1930.
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