VCU James Branch Cabell Library
Billy DeBeck collection
De Beck, Billy, 1890-1942
M 147
/repositories/5/resources/65
10 Items
1915-1994
English
.
Arrangement
Materials arranged in alphabetical order.
Access Restrictions
Collection is open without restrictions.
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of Mr. DeBeck's library of 121 books, many with notes and sketches by the artist were transferred to book collection. A green door that has artwork by DeBeck depicting Barney Google and his racehorse, Spark Plug is part of the collection. A first day cover U.S. postage stamp of Barney Google was added in 2003. A second first day U.S. postage stamp was added in 2006.
Preferred Citation
Box/folder, Billy Debeck Collection, M 147, Special Collections and Archives, James Branch Cabell Library, Virginia Commonwealth University
Use Restrictions
There are no restrictions.
Biographical / Historical
William Morgan DeBeck was born in Chicago on 15 April 1890. He briefly attended the Academy of Fine Arts before working as a staff artist and cartoonist for several mid-western newspapers. He joined the staff of the Chicago Herald in 1916. Debeck was moved to New York in 1919 when William Hearst bought the Herald. In New York, DeBeck created the character of Barney Google and achieved immediate fame and fortune. After he married in 1927, DeBeck lived in Paris for two years before settling in alternating residences in Great Neck (Long Island), New York and Palm Beach, Florida. His assistant, Fred Laswell, took over the strip ("Barney Google and Snuffy Smith" and today just "Snuffy Smith") after DeBeck's death in 1942.
Acquisition Information
The collection was given to the Department by Mr. DeBeck's Richmond secretary, Mrs. Addison C. Armstrong Jr.
Cartoonists -- United States
De Beck, Billy, 1890-1942 -- Archives
Barney Google and Snuffy Smith Cartoons (Photographs)/repositories/5/archival_objects/53917n.d.11Barney Google and Snuffy Smith: 75 Years of an American Legend, OSU Exhibition/repositories/5/archival_objects/53918199412Correspondence/repositories/5/archival_objects/53919n. d., 1937, 193913DeBeck Cartoon Hints (Photocopy)/repositories/5/archival_objects/53920191514Drawing of DeBeck by Ben Cohen/repositories/5/archival_objects/53921n. d.15Drawing of Leon Trotsky by Fred Lasswell/repositories/5/archival_objects/53922193716Hazard of Hills Cartoon (Photograph)/repositories/5/archival_objects/53923n. d.17Miscellaneous DeBeck Cartoons (Photocopies)/repositories/5/archival_objects/53924n. d., 1926, 1930-1933, 193518Miscellaneous DeBeck Drawings (Photographs)/repositories/5/archival_objects/53925n. d.19Negatives of Barney Google Door/repositories/5/archival_objects/53926n. d.110Photograph of Billy DeBeck/repositories/5/archival_objects/53927n. d.111Photographs of Barney Google Door (painted in 1931)/repositories/5/archival_objects/53928n. d.112Snuffy Smith Sketch (Photograph)/repositories/5/archival_objects/53929n. d.113U.S. Postage Stamp First Day Cover – Barney Google/repositories/5/archival_objects/539301995114Drawings of Billy DeBeck/repositories/5/archival_objects/53931Oversize Drawer 12DeBeck's office door, featuring a painting of Barney Google and Spark Plug/repositories/5/archival_objects/539321931On Display in SCA Lobby