Featured Artist:
Franklin L. Folger
By: Jacob Bonta
For generations, magazines, and newspapers invested in original content the same way Netflix and other streaming services do today. Featured artist Franklin Folger built a name and an illustrious career generating commercial art and cartoons for publications across the nation.
Franklin Lewis Folger became one of the most well-known cartoonists in American history with the creation of his comic strip “The Girls”. It would seem he was destined for the publication business with an impressive lineage including his father and grandfather, Lewis B. Folger and Lewis G. Folger, both artists for The Cincinnati Enquirer and as a (self-proclaimed) descendant of Benjamin Franklin, the first-ever American publisher.
Folger’s famous creation, “The Girls”, was syndicated in hundreds of newspapers & magazines from 1952-1977. In the series, Folger created caricatures of “the ladies who lunch”, the housewives and society ladies who populated the American middle and upper classes of the time. His treatment of his female characters was gentle but humorous, as they often found themselves in every day but quite ridiculous circumstances. His light-hearted yet clever approach resonated with readers, especially women, launching the cartoon’s success and syndication across the country and worldwide. The series was additionally compiled into seven books by Doubleday and its followers included such notables as Eleanor Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson.
EBTH Columbus - Hilliard
Waterford "Colleen" Crystal Footed Brandy Decanter With Stopper
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Vintage Glass Horse Bridle Rosette Button Brooch
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Oil Painting of a Winter Landscape with Horse Drawn Carriage
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Jevgenijus Litvinas Nocturne Seascape Oil Painting
Folger began his art career early, publishing cartoons in the Cincinnati Times-Star at age 14. During high school, he was a cartoonist for the Withrow High School newspaper and designed and illustrated the school’s annual publication. He went on to study at the Art Academy of Cincinnati before becoming a freelance commercial artist and selling cartoons and illustrations to various magazines including The Saturday Evening Post, Life, and Esquire. His career was interrupted by World War II when he was drafted in 1942. Drawing cartoons for the Army newspaper, he served in Texas until 1947.
Upon returning to Cincinnati, he continued to freelance and was known for a seven-day-a-week work ethic. Following The Girls release in The Enquirer and throughout his career, Folger continued to produce a prolific volume of work, creating dozens of illustrations and cartoons to sell to various publications and advertising agencies, in addition to, developing six cartoons a week for The Girls. Sometimes described as reclusive, his success allowed him to pull back from society to a degree, functioning mainly through his business manager for the remainder of his career. Throughout his life, Folger was an avid collector and supporter of the arts, particularly in Cincinnati. He often went for walks around the city and could be found people-watching at art galleries and exhibitions as well as department stores and the local health food store.
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Wahl Bronze Elephant Desk Pen Set, Early 20th Century
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
William Woollett Engraving "A View of Foots Cray Place in Kent"
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Burberry Thomas Bear in Metallic Silver
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Kevin Kasik Landscape Oil Painting "Bluebonnetts with Gathering Storm," 2024
View the entire Franklin L. Folger Collection Here
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
14K Two Tone Hammered Hoop Earrings
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
David Berger Still Life With Violin Oil Painting
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
East Asian Polychrome Carved Wood Seated Vairocana Buddha Figure
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
10K White Sapphire Solitaire Pendant on Gold-Filled Chain
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Salvatore Ferragamo Vara Bow Hobo Handbag in Bronze Metallic Leather
EBTH Columbus - Hilliard
John Nieto Serigraph "Buffalo Rendez-Vous," 1996
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
"Joy of Cooking" by Irma S. Rombauer and Marion R. Becker and More Cookbooks
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Bohemian Style Cut to Clear Emerald and Cobalt Crystal Wine Glasses
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
2000 Pokémon Team Rocket Machop 1st Edition Graded CGC 10
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
Edmé and Esyllte, and Plenty by Tracy Reese Multicolor Patterned Dresses
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash
José M. Lima Oil Painting of Floral Still Life, 2023
EBTH Cincinnati - Blue Ash