A very Happy Crockett Johnson’s Birthday to all who celebrate! The author of Harold and the Purple Crayon and the creator of Barnaby (and Mr. O’Malley) was born 120 days ago today in New York City.
With thanks to Liam McCormack and the collection of the Albert Apartment Corporation, here’s something I’d never seen before last week — even though I’m Johnson’s biographer and co-edited all 5 volumes of Barnaby (Fantagraphics, 2013-2025)! It’s a 1951 postcard ad done by Johnson for Joe Brody’s Albert French Restaurant, at 11th St. and University Place, New York City.
Had I world enough and time, and if any publisher were interested, it would be fun to collect Johnson’s advertising work. He did ads for Ford, Crown Zippers, Kimberly-Clark paper, the American Cancer Society, the 1958 New York Herald Tribune Children’s Book Festival, FDR’s 1944 re-election campaign, and others that I’m not thinking of right now or don’t know about.
More writing about Barnaby (by me):
- “Boredom, blacklisting or new beginnings? Why Crockett Johnson ended Barnaby“ (The Comics Journal, 11 Feb. 2025)
- “Crockett Johnson and the Invention of Barnaby“ (The Comics Journal, 22 April 2013)
- “Before Barnaby: Crockett Johnson Grows Up and Turns Left” (The Comics Journal, 26 Sept. 2012)
More about Barnaby (on this blog)
I’m omitting any birthday posts (below) that are also about Barnaby.
- So Long, and Thanks for All the Panels! (25 July 2026). My not-given Eisners speech.
- Unboxing Barnaby Vol. 5: The Grand Finale! (7 Feb. 2025). The debut of the final volume of Fantagraphics’ Barnaby books (co-edited by me).
- Unboxing Barnaby Vol. 4! (8 Dec. 2020) My first unboxing video. Because this is a thing people do nowadays.
- Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby, Volume Four (1948-1949): Notes and queries. UPDATED! (29 June 2017)
- Gosh! Barnaby Volume Three (1946-1947) is here! (27 April 2016)
- Crockett Johnson’s Elusive Allusions: Errata for Barnaby Volume Two (23 June 2014)
- Crockett Johnson’s Barnaby Volume Two (1944-1945) is here! (19 May 2014)
- Barnaby at Comic-Con (15 July 2013)
- Barnaby, Small Scandinavian Investors, and Dapper Dan: Can you help identify these allusions? UPDATE: Mysteries Solved! (9 April 2013)
- Shrdlu, Minsky, Burke & Hare (26 Jan. 2013)
- Barnaby, Vol. 1 (31 Dec. 2012)
- Barnaby on stage, version 2. (7 Nov. 2012)
- Clear Lines and Comics Luminaries: A Report from SPX (17 Sept. 2012)
- Crockett Johnson draws Mr. O’Malley, 1962 (11 Feb. 2012)
- Sunday Color Barnaby: O’Malley in Winter (28 Nov. 2011)
- Cushlamochree! Barnaby on Stage (20 April 2011)
More Crockett Johnson Birthday posts (also on this blog)
- Harold vs. AI (20 Oct. 2025)
- Happy Birthday, Crockett Johnson… and Harold! (20 Oct. 2024).
- The Neverending Crayon; or, Happy Crockett Johnson’s Birthday! (20 Oct. 2023). A photo of Johnson laughing, and reflections on Johnson’s influence on me.
- Harold and Maurice (20 Oct. 2022). Maurice Sendak’s signed copy of Harold and the Purple Crayon, and the Rosenbach’s betrayal of Sendak’s memory.
- The Lost Film Footage of Crockett Johnson (20 Oct. 2021). The challenges of finding Johnson on film, and a still image that might be him.
- Barnaby Vol. 4 is here! (20 Oct. 2020). Barnaby, Volume Four: 1948-1949 was published in 2020.
- Barnaby, Vol. 4: 1948-1949 (20 Oct. 2019). More on this book.
- Harold and the Deluxe Edition (20 Oct. 2018). In the second of two birthday posts from 2018, an announcement! Harold’s Imagination, a collection featuring three Harold stories, plus an illustrated Afterword by Yours Truly… featuring a photograph of Johnson’s nephew Harold!
- Donald and the Golden Crayon (20 Oct. 2018). In the first of two birthday posts from 2018, an interview with the author and publisher of Donald and the Golden Crayon – the first book-length political satire inspired by a Crockett Johnson book.
- Crockett Johnson Tells the Story of Money (20 Oct. 2017). A look at the very first children’s book that Johnson illustrated – Constance Foster’s This Rich World: The Story of Money (1943).
- How to Read Harold (20 Oct. 2016). A short excerpt from a book I’m working on – How to Read Harold: A Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson and the Making of a Children’s Classic.
- Harold is 60. So is his purple crayon (20 Oct. 2015). On the occasion of Johnson’s 109th birthday, tributes to Harold from Lane Smith, Bob Staake, and others.
- Harold Around the World (20 Oct. 2014). Harold and the Purple Crayon has been published in many languages. Here are some of the covers.
- Happy 107th Birthday, Crockett Johnson! (20 Oct. 2013). A photograph of Johnson laughing, plus news of contemporary Johnson exhibit and talk.
- Crockett Johnson in New York: A Walking Tour, in Honor of His 106th Birthday (20 Oct. 2012). The childhood homes of Crockett Johnson.
- A Title Is to Read (20 Oct. 2011). Announcing the title of my biography of Crockett Johnson and Ruth Krauss.
- Happy Birthday, Crockett Johnson! (20 Oct. 2010). Newspaper ad for Johnson’s Barnaby and Mr. O’Malley (1944).