They Say It's Your Birthday...
Well it's not MINE...not yet anyway. And my wife's birthday is NEXT week (right after our anniversary - clever girl).
Today marks the 30th birthday of that adorable and oft times irascible feline.
That's right...none other than GARFIELD.
It was on this day 30 years ago that artist Jim Davis produced the first Garfield cartoon.
The rest, as they say...is history.
Here's a link for a very good story (and Q&A):
http://www.newslinkindiana.com/index.php?src=news&refno=1987&category=Top%20Story
And the "official" Garfield link:
http://www.garfield.com/
And the wiki site (history of the comic strip):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garfield
Suffice it to say Garfield has grown over the years, and we're not just talking about his waistline!
There is not one place you can go where Garfield has not had an influence. You see him on men's neckties. They have watches, assorted plush figures, stick-ons and Christmas ornaments. They have towels, hats, and every OTHER article of clothing imaginable. I myself have two pairs of Garfield holiday socks, as well as more than a few shirts and sweatshirts. My favorite is the BIG FAT HAIRY DEAL sweatshirt (that I once wore when standing in front of NIAGARA FALLS). My favorite t-shirt is a picture of Garfield standing on Odie's back while he's running, holding the dog's ears with the words "EASY RIDER" beneath them . Now I don't care who you are...that's cute!
There are postcards, movies, animated shows, books, pencils, pens, tablets, and notebooks. They have collectibles out the wazoo (I have the resin numbered figures as well as the collector plates w/ gold trim from the early 1990s). Garfield is EVERYWHERE...and in a tasteful way. I still have my McD's Garfield mugs...anyone remember those?
I always said they should open a store JUST for Garfield items. Well, since the Internet took off, that's basically a moot point now.
Jim Davis has given us endless hours of entertainment, insight, and even a reason to see our OWN cats in an entirely different light (and that would definitely explain those "9PM CRAZIES" we cat owners are privy to).







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(if the type is too small on these cartoons, click for full-size)
Not to boast, but I've done my share of Garfield pictures in years past. If it wasn't a "weekend celebratory" theme, it was a movie "take-off". I apologize, Jim...didn't mean to step on that copyright. I never made any money off of it, it that accounts for anything. I'm sorry that I'm artistically-inclined.
Wanna HIRE ME instead????
(pssst...I DO live in Indiana)
I used to have a sign (2 decades ago) in my parts department office that proclaimed: "If we can't get it...it doesn't exist" with none other than GARFIELD wearing a company logo hat and shirt. That always caught the attention of people in our part of the facility, and soon I began to see people from OTHER departments wanting to get a gander (and maybe even some hard-to-find part for that old monitor or camera unit). Ah yes...those were the days.
And I always had DOGS as I grew up...go figure.
Maybe the allure of Garfield has been his ability to call them as he seem them, whether it's smashing a spider, negotiating with a mouse, or punting Odie off the table.
It's a marvelous way of living vicariously.
And for the past thirty years....it has worked!
SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GARFIELD.
We're not getting older...we're just getting better
(AND older).