198. Mirth

Mirth goes way back when there were dozens of pocket-size joke books on the newsstand, and Don's career was in its infancy. The title on the front cover of this magazine reads Mirth, A Humor Magazine. Do you suppose the editors thought some shoppers wouldn't know the meaning of the word mirth? Inside publishing credits state: "Published 9 times a year (Feb., Mar., Apr., May, July, Aug., Sept., Nov. and Dec.) at 801 9th St. S.E., Minneapolis 14, Minn."

Several things are interesting about this: 1) there is no publisher named; 2) January, June and October were off months, but remember magazines are published at least a month ahead, so we speculate that the editor(s) took three months off at Christmas, Memorial Day and Labor Day, or perhaps they were just digging out from under all the cartoon submissions; 3) there's a zone in the address. Remember that predecessor of the zip code?

The issue in which these dogs appeared on two pages was August 1958--No. 59. That accounts for the aged condition of the newsprint, which we have not touched up at all.

142. The 2005 Dog Cartoon-A-Day Calendar

Here's one for you dog lovers. The 2005 Dog Cartoon-A-Day-Calendar edited by Sam Gross and published by Barnes & Noble had an astounding 33 Orehek cartoons in it. The back of the box says: "ATTENTION DOG-LOVERS, DOG-AHOLICS, DOGOPHOBES, AND ANYONE WHO JUST CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF MAN'S BEST FRIEND! A year's supply of dog yucks, Spot laughs, Rover guffaws, and puppy chuckles is at your fingertips courtesy of America's favorite cartoonists: Don Orehek . . . "
We certainly can't say it any better than that!

(Caption enlarged for easy reading.)

85. Gannet: Westchester Newspapers

Here is part of a review of Dogs Dogs Dogs printed by Gannet: Westchester Newspapers, Nov. 15, 1985. Somebody must have had a big dog! Thanks to that person for picking Don's cartoon out of well over two hundred to show with the article.

(Click on the newspaper image to enlarge and read, or just see the caption typed below the article.)

Caption: "Just how big does he get?"

84. Dogs Dogs Dogs

Here's a cartoon for our dog-lover friends - and their wives!

Dogs Dogs Dogs, A Collection of Great Dog Cartoons, was edited by Sam Gross and published in 1985 by Harper & Row, Publishers, New York. Don had 10 cartoons in this book, so you see, he isn't just about cats! Whatever he can make a joke about is fair game, and after all, one of his all time favorites is about pigs (the "Three Little"). See the Playboy cartoon in the column to the right if you haven't already.

16. Girl Talk

Girl Talk Magazine printed a page of six cartoons titled "Smile Awhile." It had a subtitle announcing the theme of the six. For example, "Jungle Jive" (all wild animal gags), "June Tune" (bride and groom gags), and "With Don Orehek" (various subjects by--of course--Don).