90 Years: Theodor Geisel, aka Dr. Seuss

The new Dr. Seuss museum opened last month in Springfield, MA. Many people know that Theodor Geisel's most famous pen name (he used several during his youth) was his mother's maiden name as well as his middle name. But, did you know that his very first paid nationally published cartoon appeared 90 years ago? The Saturday Evening Post became the first to pay for a cartoon signed 'Seuss' and it was published in their July 16, 1927 issue.

" The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go. "

- Theodor Seuss Geisel,

Writer, Cartoonist, Animator

With the $25 earned from that one cartoon, Ted moved to New York and found work as an illustrator. It would be another 10 years before his first children's book, And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, would be published. As it was inspired by Ted’s childhood memories of Springfield, local residents feared it was a 'tell-all gossip book'. Imagine their surprise when they finally were able to read it!

---

'90 Years' blog entries will feature historical happenings and news that surrounded the Long family at the beginning of our Cadillac dealership in 1927