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Animation Resources supporter Marc Schirmeister has been searching high and low for a copy of Zim’s early educational materials with no luck. But recently this 1910 book, packed with tips for the aspiring cartoonist, turned up in a used bookstore in Arizona.

This was Eugene Zimmerman’s first “how to” book on cartooning. It’s worth noting that the price tag on the cover is an important clue to the value of these lessons to contemporary artists. According to the Consumer Price Index, $5 in 1910 is equivalent to $116 today. Five dollars represented a full day’s labor to many of the cartoonists who bought this book. Zim’s name in gold letters on the cover was the selling point that made so many aspiring cartoonists part with the “five plunks (in real Money)” as Zim so colorfully puts it in his introduction.

This is the first of four posts where we plan to post a complete set of high resolution scans of Zim’s Cartoons & Caricatures, or Making The World Laugh (1910). These 100 pages are packed with great cartoons, helpful drawing tips, technical information and business advice for the aspiring cartoonist. Most importantly, Zim passes along his unique philosophy of life, and offers a shining example of how an artistic career as a caricaturist can be incorporated into a person’s lifestyle. At the time this book was written, Zim had thirty years of experience under his belt, and had attained the highest level in his field. For more information, see the Zim Jump Page.

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VISIT OUR GALLERY OF FINE ART PRINTS

Animation Resources in association with Imagekind is proud to present a collection of fine art prints representing some of Eugene Zimmerman’s finest work. Produced on demand from high resolution archival scans, these prints are of sufficient quality to be printed all the way up to poster size without any image degradation. These stone lithographs look spectacular reproduced large as glicee prints. Visit the Zim Gallery at Imagekind to see all the available images.

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Stephen Worth
Director
Animation Resources

This posting is part of a series of articles comprising an online exhibit devoted to Eugene “Zim” Zimmerman.

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