During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Fourth of July was commonly referred to as “The Glorious Fourth”. American comic periodicals often published cartoons both to honor of the day, and to celebrate its self-inflicted injuries via fireworks. Cartoonist Livingston Hopkins, who wrote/illustrated a Comic History of the United States was a frequent contributor of “Glorious Fourth” cartoons.

One such instance was The Day We Celebrate, which appeared on the front page of the (New York) Daily Graphic on July 3rd, 1875. Contained within this page of cartoons, was a 7-panel sequential strip, detailing a firecracker mishap involving two recurring Livingston Hopkins characters, Professor Tigwissel and Dr. Jingo. Livingston used Dr. Jingo just a couple times, of which this is the first.

Professor Tigwissel, meanwhile, has often been hailed as “the first continuing newspaper comic strip character”, by those who enjoy making such annointments. It all depends on how precisely you shape and restrict your definition to make such claims — I’m not entering that debate. Today. Those who knowingly point to Tigwissel as the first continuing newspaper comic strip character, most often cite his debut as having occurred on September 11, 2025 — which is two months after the episode shown below, Tigwissel’s second appearance by name. His true first appearance by name was a month+ yet earlier than the below — occuring on May 28, 1875. To see that first appearance, click here. (You may notice that I keep throwing in the phrase “by name”. This is because there are still earlier, proto-Tigwissel strips by Hopkins, involving professor characters who look like Tigwissel, but go by other names, or whose names are not given.)

Most important, is that the Professor Tigwissel strips are funny. Not merely were, back in their day, funny, but still are today. Like much of Hopkins’ work, Tigwissel stands the test of time.

Click on either picture, to open a version large enough to read.

For those interested, below is an extraction of just the Tigwissel/Jingo cross-over panels contained within the above page.

Doug Wheeler

ProfTigwissel NYDailyGraphic SummerVacation