I have written numerous stories and have drawn many cartoons about some of my Bisbee, Arizona High School buddies but never have I stretched the truth about any of the events I witnessed in their life. My friend George Hershey was known as the “hunk” during his high school years of 1952 to 1956. All of the other boys in the school were envious of George’s dashing good looks and of his ability to date any girl of his choice. One of our mutual friends, Ted Sorich, thought that the “hunk” title should have been his since he was the Big Man on Campus because of his athletic skills. Ted might have been able to claim that title if he hadn’t been as ugly as a mud fence.
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After high school I lost track of George for many years but our paths crossed about 5 or 6 years ago in a very unusual way. I work one day a month as an unpaid volunteer at the River Art Gallery in downtown San Antonio, Texas. This gallery is a Co-op gallery of local artists and I am a member. Over 90 per cent of the visitors to the gallery are from out of town so I usually strike up a conversation with them and ask them where they are from. I asked this question to a nice-looking young lady and she replied she was from Flagstaff, Arizona. I knew that another high school friend of mine, Bill Williams, lived in Flagstaff and I asked her if she knew him. She was amazed that I knew Bill and asked how I knew him. I told her that Bill and I went to school together in Bisbee. She exclaimed that she married a boy from Bisbee named George Hershey and that they were in San Antonio for a medical convention. It’s a small world.
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She brought George back to the gallery during lunch time and asked him if he knew who I was. He said that he had no idea. His failure to recognize me really did bother me for several years because my physical appearance had barely changed from my high school years. I looked almost exactly like I did for my senior high school picture. On the other hand … when she brought George in to meet me, I thought she had picked up a panhandler off of the San Antonio streets. He had a scraggly looking beard and there wasn’t quite as much hair on the top of his head as there had been when I had last seen him. We did however have a nice lunch together and talked about the “good old days”.
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I learned that George was a “Doc” just like his dad had been in Bisbee. He set up a practice in Flagstaff and has been the team Doctor for Northern Arizona State University for many years. We are all proud of George for his accomplishments but one of his former patients told me that George was notorious for not being punctual in seeing his patients. I don’t know if this true or not but the cartoon below depicts another patient of his who had “quite a wait” until he finally got to see George.
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George Hershey in Action

Filed under: Business Cartoons

One of the joys of keeping up with old High School friends via email is that we can tell each other wild stories of what happened during our High School days in the mid-50′s and it’s hard to dispute what is said because we either can’t remember (at our age) what actually happened or the stories have been embellished so much during the years that we don’t recognize fact from fiction. .

I have mentioned in earlier Blogs that I have been drawing cartoons promoting the football games at Bisbee High School. I have been sending them to one of my good friend, Carol Loy who still lives in Bisbe and is the Emperor (Queen, Dictator, Boss, President, etc … don’t know her exact title) of the Bisbee High School Alumni Association. She relayed a big “thank you” to me from the Athletic Director for helping them. I told her that I didn’t need any thanks but I thought it would be appropriate for her to start a fund raising drive to erect a statue of me to be placed in a prominent place in the town of Bisbee..

Carol thought it was a great idea and suggested that I travel to Bisbee to pose for the statue. Being the frugal person I am, I drew an exact replica of myself and sent it to her as a blueprint for the sculpture. For some unknown reason Carol was very critical of the picture I sent her (which hurt my feelings deeply) and she felt it her duty to tell two more of my old High School buddies what I had done.  Ted Sorich (a multi-millionaire and 28 handicap  golfer who resides in Tucson) just couldn’t wait to jump at the chance to criticize my physique. When Ted was in High School he went by the nickname of “98 pound weakling” which was taken from the Charles Atlas advertisement. I have forgiven Ted for his critical remarks about me because I realize now that his life was scarred from being friends with a hunk like me. All the High School girls literally ran over Ted trying to be near me..

Another fried to whom Carol blabbed was Dr. George Hershey who resides in Flagstaff, Arizona and is the team physician for Northern Arizona University. Being the true professional that George is, he was not quite as critical of my drawing. He did say that he didn’t quite remember me being that well-muscled but he knew I was a man of honor and integrity and felt that I wouldn’t fib about the way I looked in High School. .

Needless to say, I have survived all the snide remarks from my three friends and as far as I know the fund-raising drive will commence shortly to honor one of Bisbee High School’s greatest alumni. All donations for my statue, large or small, will be apperciated. I think Carol will begin shorly to have nationwide Tv ads promoting this glorious event..

Sam Moore Cartoonist

Filed under: Business Cartoons

I mentioned in previous posts that my hometown of Bisbee, Arizona was located in Southeast Arizona on the Mexican border. Until about the mid 1970′s when the mines closed, Bisbee was known as the copper capital of the United States. Millions of tons of copper ore were mined there since the 1800′s.
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Twenty-two miles to the East of Bisbee, also on the Mexican border was the town of Douglas. All of the ore mined at Bisbee was sent via railroad cars to Douglas where there was a large smelter. Needless to say, all the people in Bisbee were well-kept, practiced good hygiene and were all good, upstanding citizens. The people in Douglas, however, were a different breed. They all smelled like smelter smoke and only bathed when the soot from the smelter turned them completely black.
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For over 100 years the Douglas Bulldogs and the Bisbee High Pumas have been fierce rivals. Even to this day, although the smelter is no longer in operation and the people living there have significantly improved their hygiene, there is no greater rivalry to be found in the state of Arizona.
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The annual Bisbee Puma vs Douglas Bulldog game will be taking place a few weeks from now and the cartoon I drew promoting this game gives insight as to who the eventual victor will be. The winner of the game will have possession of the copper pick trophy until the following year.
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Beat the Bulldogs

Filed under: Business Cartoons

I graduated from Bisbee High School in the small town of Bisbee, Arizona which is located near the Mexican border in Southeastern Arizona. To prevent from devulging my real age I will not tell you what year I graduated but I believe Abraham Lincoln was President at that time. .

One of my former classmates, and good friend, Carol Loy still lives in Bisbee and she is very active in Bisbee civic activities. She was recently elected to the school board and heads-up the Bisbee High School Alumni Association. During the football season, when asked, I have been drawing cartoons which depict the Bisbee mascot (Puma) and the mascot of their very unworthy opponent. Carol uses these drawings to help promote support for the alumni association. .

Should you or your school like to have a personalized cartoon to promote your activities the price for each cartoon is $18 and you will have full rights to publish it as you desire. Contact me at sam@businesscartoonsbysam.com .

Filed under: Business Cartoons

I love Marilyn Howland. She is one of my favorite people. Every Sunday morning she sits on the pew in front of me at First Baptist Church, San Antonio. (It would actually be more appropriate to say that I sit on the row behind her so I can nudge her when she starts dozing during the pastor’s sermon.
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This past Sunday the worship service was close to starting but Marilyn was no where in sight. I got down on my hands and knees and looked under her pew thinking that she might have slipped in un-noticed, fallen asleep and her limp body had slithered to the floor. It was a wasted effort because she wasn’t there either.
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Out of deep concern, I asked someone on her row if they knew where she was. It was then that I learned that she had, a few days earlier while attending a funeral service at the church, slipped and fallen to the floor — landing flat on her face. From what I hear she is quite banged up but is expected to recover from this terrible accident. For this I am thankful.
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What caused Marilyn to fall? No one knows for sure but there are several theories bantering around the church.
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It is a well-known fact amongst the Baptist brethern that Marilyn is no spring chicken since she is a few years older than I am. Some Theologians believe that accidents such as this happen because the Lord uses “Senior Citizens” as examples as to how gravity works.
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Some people who don’t know Marilyn as well as I do think that alcohol might have been involved. I totally reject this theory although it could be theoretically possible that she might take a nip or two for medicinal purposes only.
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The most plausible explanation for the accident is as follows: During her younger days it is common knowledge that Marilyn could “Boogie-Woogie” with the best of them. I have learned from fairly reliable sources that Marilyn was on her way to the ladies room when she, by chance, met the pastor in the hallway. He greeted her and told her that he had recently returned from a trip to Charleston, South Carolina. Marilyn had evidently forgotten to wear her hearing aid that day and in her mind she thought the pastor was asking her to Charleston.
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I don’t for even one moment think that Marilyn accidently tripped and fell to the ground. There is sufficient evidence to indicate that she was zapped by a lightening bolt for dancing in a Baptist church.
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Filed under: Business Cartoons • Friends and Family Cartoons