Cappy Dick was created in the late 1930's by Robert Cleveland, editor of
Chicago's Southtown Economist newspaper. Cappy was an old seaman, depicted with
a yachting cap, flowing white moustache, and pipe.

The fiction was that Cappy, on his long sea voyages, created and devised all
sorts of fun activities to pass the time, and now, with the help of the Chicago
Sun-Times syndicate, he could now share them with America's children through the
affiliated newspapers.

This crafts and games feature for children thrived in the World War II years, so
much so that it spawned three successful compilations- The Cappy Dick Fun for
Boys and Girls Book, The Stay-at-Home Book for Boys and Girls, and Cappy Dick's
Pastime Book for Boys and Girls.

For over forty years, Cappy appeared in the nation's daily comics pages as
"Young Hobby Club" by Cappy Dick.

Perhaps tucked on one side of the page under the crossword puzzle, or located in
some other entertainment section, each day the Young Hobby Club provided an
activity for the younger set- maybe a game Cappy invented, complete with rules
and directions on how to create a game board and tokens, or a craft activity-
decorating a jar with colorful stones or marbles, or creating a charm out of
acorns from the yard perhaps.

Sundays were a much different story. Appearing in the color comics supplement
and depending upon the newspaper's space, Cappy's feature contained three to
five different activities- a "You and Your Pets" tip sometimes and a number of
craft ideas, drawn in a one-panel cartoon format.

More importantly, though, was his contest! Next to the jolly Cappy and his logo
was the featured prize for that week and immediately below, a contest picture or
puzzle to complete.

The premise was simple- solve the puzzle or color the picture, mail it to the
newspaper by midnight Tuesday and by the end of the week, the paper would
publish the ten names of the local winners.

The weekly prizes were small- a zippered pencil case, a magic trick, or even a
packet of collectible stamps or coins, but the local winners were then
"automatically entered" in a drawing for a "national" prize! Typically this was
a World Book encyclopedia but occasionally he offered a large toy like a
slot-racing car set.

What kid would pass up his chance to win one of those? Thousands of children
across the country religiously sent in their entries to Cappy Dick each week,.







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