"Little Nemo in Slumberland" dated April 09, 1911:
Transcript of Tweets by @LittleNemo1905 (MARCH 26, 2021):
This is a bittersweet strip for a couple of reasons. - 1/24
First, it marks the (de facto) end of the Sightseeing Series. There are, to be fair, two more strips that take place in Chicago (and even show off some sights), but the purpose is no longer about seeing the sights. - 2/24
With the return of our other Slumberlandian friends imminent, this is the last strip wholly dedicated to the cities we’re visiting. - 3/24
While I enjoyed the series, it also has gotten a tad bit tedious, so like many of you, I am ready to move on. - 4/24
The second reason that this strip is bittersweet is that this marks the final full-coloured #LittleNemo for thirteen years. Not until the 1924 revival is "Little Nemo in Slumberland" printed in colour again. - 5/24
The final strips during McCay's time at the Herald are unique in that they are all tritone strips. White, black, and a single other colour… so we have that to look forward to for a few weeks next. - 6/24
While "In the Land of Wonderful Dream" (the strip is renamed when it moves to Hearst's American; more on that later) the colouring process at the American was inferior to the Herald (Canemaker, 3rd ed., 2018, p. 179). - 7/24
If you recall, the Herald's colouring process was actually quite ahead of it's time (thank you, Mr. Hunt!), so it is a big loss to the strip in that regard moving forward. - 8/24
Now, the strip itself is much the same that we've come to expect from this series: Grand building and architectural detail, a set-piece cityscape, and a large crowd of kids to greet them upon their arrival. - 9/24
Flip does bring up some interesting things about the city of Chicago that this ignorant Canuck had no idea about… - 10/24
For instance, "The Great Chicago Fire" was news to me: - 11/24
It's also interesting that McCay (through the voice of the Owl? Nemo?) emphasizes that Chicago has no tenement… which is historically untrue: - 12/24
I'm not entirely sure what to make of it. Is McCay simply denying the existence of a housing/economic crisis in Chicago? Could we buy that he simply didn't know? - 13/24
I just don’t think so. As the article explains, Chicago's tenements were unique because the city had no restriction on residential building height, which allowed for towering tenements. - 14/24
So… why does he have one of his characters deny their existence? What do you all think? - 15/24
I also don't fully understand the joke in panel 5. Is it simply because Chicago is in the Midwestern United States and so it's nothing more than Flip thinking he was going to the Wild West? - 16/24
His cowboy costume could be innocuous enough, but coupled with Impie's First Nation's costume and Nemo's comment about Flip thinking he was "out among Indians" and it takes on a different meaning for me. - 17/24
It almost seems as if Flip arms himself as a cowboy in preparation for conflict with Native American peoples in Chicago. Even if Flip *did* think the city was populated by Native Americans, why costume yourself in opposition to them? - 18/24
McCay also *visually* presents this opposition by having Impie dressed in Native headdress on the opposite side of the panel. - 19/24
Seeing Impie dressed like this I had to wonder: Did Flip costume him like that, or did Impie choose that attire to identify *with* the Native Americans (in a reversal of Flip's choice). - 20/24
This example of Impie dressed in Native headdress (an example of othering the other) is complicated and I'm not sure I have to complete grasp on the implications, so I'm eager to hear the thoughts of others, as well. - 21/24
It does seem, however, that Flip changes in between panels. Since we don't see Impie again, we can't be sure about his costume (though I assume it went away, as well). - 22/24
Ultimately, this strip ends with a promise to see the city next week. McCay's readers had seven days to prepare, but for us… things get weird tomorrow. - 23/24
This is my reading of "Little Nemo in Slumberland" #287. What's yours? - 24/24
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