Polly and Her Pals — 1922-12-18

Cliff Sterrett's *Polly and Her Pals* launched in 1912, making it one of the longest-running family strips in American newspaper history. This four-panel daily shows Pa Perkins in financial panic — desperate to raise a thousand dollars in margin money — while daughter Polly silences him by producing a tray of diamond engagement rings she has collected from suitors, enough to solve the crisis. Sterrett's draftsmanship is already confident: angular figures, expressive gesture, clean balloon lettering, and a punch line that pivots the whole strip on Polly's cool reveal. The newspaper daily strip — syndicated nationally, cut and pasted by readers — was the direct physical ancestor of the comic book; its recurring cast, episodic gags, and standardized panel grids established conventions that define the medium to this day.