Don Orehek Cartoons: # 15 Leatherneck

Don was in the Navy (see pictures in the right column), but he could see humor in the military no matter what branch. Leatherneck Magazine, for Marines of course, was a good cartoon market for Don in the 60s. Though he isn't doing much in the way of specialized gags these days, Leatherneck is still using cartoons. This one was published in December 1967.

Don was in the Navy from 1945-1949. He started out on two destroyer escorts, the U.S.S. Roberts and the U.S.S. Frybarger. Then he transferred to the base at Green Cove Springs, Florida, where he worked for Public Information. He drew a cartoon strip for the St. John's Inlander, a naval weekly paper which went to the fleet. The strip was called "Cyphers." It was about a toothless, boozing, old salt who nonetheless was liked by the girls on shore.

There's a story here!

This picture was taken a few years ago during a big snow storm. It's definitely appropriate for today's Long Island weather.
Bogey wanted to go outside so badly he drove us nuts! The problem was, the snow was piled so high we couldn't open the sliding door he usually used, so finally we let him out the front door. He jumped off the porch and immediately sank up to his nose. He literally swam (what a comical sight) through the snow around the house to the back deck where the sliding door is located. Now he wanted to come in very badly. We still couldn't open the slider, so he jumped up to the deck railing to holler at the window, got his picture taken, then we opened the window and a happy and wiser cat climbed in!

How Many Cartoons and Illustrations?

Thanks to those who guessed how many cartoons Don has sold in his career -- so far. Our estimate is 12,000 +. Hard to believe, isn't it? Our basis for this number is a written record of sales from August 1966 (when wife Suzy started working for Don) through December 1994. This record is a simple list of sales on three-hole notebook paper. It is 253 pages with 25 lines per page. That's 6,325 sales. Add to that multiple-drawings in sales to magazines like Cracked, about 30 drawings for each of 32 jokes books, and the other 32 years before and after the list, and--well--we stopped counting at 12,000.

The text above reads:

America's National Cartoonists Society poll their entire membership of leading cartoonists throughout the United States for their pick of the best of the year. This year, Don Orehek, was presented with a plaque for the "Best Magazine Gag Cartoonist".Don is one of our major contributors to Cartoons & Gags, Laugh Parade, Best Cartoons, Cartoon Capers, and Cartoon Laughs. A sample of his work is on the following pages. He loves to draw, and his drawing shows a love for old times, new times, and wild times.Don and his wife, Suzanne, and their children, Errol and Holly, live in Port Washington, New York.Love to draw and your drawing draws love.
Congratulations, Don
-- Robert Mende

Don's Trash Can

Don has had the same plastic trash can for more than 40 years. At some point he started putting any stickers on it that came his way. Now we suspect the stickers are the only thing holding it together. There also are a few bumper stickers in there. Remember how popular they were in the 70s? About 1975 we had a bumper sticker made up that said "READ CARTOONS." It stayed on our old 1966 Chevy Belair until it was towed away. (Trash can stickers may, but do not necessarily, reflect the opinions of the artist or his family.)