Russ Johnson

• Born 1893-12-10 · Died 1995-09-07

Russell Johnson (1893-1995) was born on a farm near Gibson City, Illinois. He graduated from Dixon College and Northern Illinois Normal School in 1915, shortly before the school closed. Seeking new opportunities, he moved to Chicago and worked for Montgomery Ward. In 1917, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy during World War I, where he was quickly promoted to a shooting instructor and then began drawing cartoons for the Afloat and Ashore naval publication. After the war, Johnson returned to Montgomery Ward while taking night classes at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts, studying under notable cartoonists Billy DeBeck and Carl Ed. In 1921, he returned to Gibson City to help run his father's hardware store, where he created advertising cartoons. His work caught the attention of Hardware Retailing magazine in 1925, leading to a long 60+ year association with the publisher. In 1927, Johnson introduced his comic strip character, Mister Oswald, which humorously depicted the life of a hardware store owner. Throughout the 1930s, he also created advertising comic strips for various companies. After his father's death, Johnson managed both the hardware and a shoe store, eventually focusing solely on Mister Oswald. He retired from retail in 1963 but continued the strip for many years, passing it on to illustrator Larry Day in 1989. Johnson's 62-year run on Mister Oswald set a record for a comic strip by its original creator. Even after retirement, he worked on a new comic strip about retirees, which remained unpublished. Johnson died on September 7, 1995, at the age of 101.