SIDNEY (ROBERT SIDNEY) SMITH (1877 - 1935) "Old Doc Yack: There's nothing on the road that Doc can't trim."
Pen and ink on Bristol board, 1917. In 3 pieces: 233x541 mm; 9¼x21⅛ inches. 288x543 mm; 11¼x21⅜ inches. 159x540 mm; 5⅞x21¼ inches. Signed in title panel.
Publication Entire full-page cartoon published in the Chicago Sunday Tribune, March 18, 1917.
Sidney Smith's Old Doc Yak strip debuted in the Chicago Tribune on February 19, 1912, with the Sunday version continuing until June 15, 1919. The anthropomorphic goat, Doc Yak, was portrayed as an affable family man and set the stage for Smith's next creation, The Gumps. In this comic from March 18, 1917, Smith employs situational irony and slapstick to critique early 20th-century anxieties around modern technology.
