We mentioned back in Etta Kett Spanking #1 that Carl Ed's Harold Teen was probably the first comic strip about teen-agers. This was fully intentional, as Ed had noticed in the post World War I era that there were no strips dealing with adolescence and he determined to create one. In a way, then, Harold Teen was responsible for pulling the medium forward in the sense that many later strips focused on teen-agers - and this provided a rich soil for the growing of spankings, as we have seen recently in this gallery. However, none were known in Harold Teen until Sweetspot found this one. (Andre located the same strip but from a different newspaper than we see here).
This episode dates from 1929, early in the strip's long run (1919-1959). This is still the "flapper" era, of
course, and as we have remarked many times, flappers, who were characterized by their short skirts and
a tendency toward looseness, definitely needed frequent spankings
!
The spanker is our hero, Harold Teen, and the flapper-spankee is his girlfriend, Lillums
Lovewell.
Harold Teen, July 25, 1929. Scan by Sweetspot. © Chicago Tribune Syndicate (click to increase in size)
The situation is self-explanatory and the spanking more teen-age shenanigans than strict discipline, but it's fun and we're left with the distinct impression that despite her protestations, Lillums is absolutely o.k. with being turned OTK. In fact, Sweetspot also discovered another episode, this one from twenty-six years later, that tends to confirm our theory:
Harold Teen, August 7, 1955. Scan by Sweetspot, edited by Web-Ed. © Chicago Tribune Syndicate
Harold and Lillums appear to have had a spat and the short guy is trying to mediate their dispute. But when Harold gets fed up and threatens to spank Lillums, he protests, calling Harold a "blustering bully". And here's where it gets interesting: Lillums, who responded to Harold's threat with "Well?" (meaning "Well, if you're going to spank me, get on with it") kicks the guy out of the house and plants a big kiss on her masteful boyfriend! No question that she wanted to be spanked just then.
Now let's revisit the spanking panel:
The spanking panel. Scan by Sweetspot. © Chicago Tribune Syndicate. Posted by the Web-Ed on 10/20/2017 (click to double-size).
Good OTK positioning with some leg kicking as the sting sets in, and Lillums probably wishes right about now that Harold didn't possess such a comically-oversized hand - ouch! No doubt their relationship was improved by Harold taking Lillums firmly in hand. That leaves only one question: during the strip's long run, were there any other spankings? [Later answer: yes! See Harold Teen Spanking #2].
