Chester Gould (1900-1985)
Merry Xmas, Ink Drawing on Postcard. Woodstock, Illinois, 1943.
McHenry County Historical Society, Union, Illinois.
In 1943 Chester Gould, creator of the Dick Tracy comics, designed a postcard for the Woodstock Women’s Club. The postcard was sent out to members of the armed forces. This particular card was sent to a navel air base in Florida. He also created cartoons for the local paper, The Daily Sentinel, to promote pride and safety in Woodstock.
Gould lived for fifty years in Woodstock, Illinois, and owned a small dairy farm in the nearby town of Bull Valley. Gould and his wife loved Woodstock and involved themselves with local organizations like the Women’s Club. Gould’s farm, and the rural community he came to love, led him to write a comic about crime in farming communities in 1941. He placed a former villain, The Mole, on a farm, and had Tracy help prevent the theft of his equipment.
Biography (2013)
Image Courtesy of the McHenry County Historical Society
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Stories, Structures, and Songs 