Illustration of a yellow electrical pole with wired on a blue background with blue and gold text underneath

David C. Cook is a nonprofit Christian publisher dedicated to delivering religious ideology via books and curriculum, as well as through their music division and global outreach efforts. The company was founded in Chicago in 1875 by David Caleb Cook with a mission to provide religious pamphlets and teaching materials for children to churches whose congregations were impacted by the Great Chicago Fire.

Live Wires (now known as Live Wire) is a weekly take-home magazine for students in grades 5 and 6 or kids who are of ages 11 and 12. They include short stories, articles, puzzles, and other lesson activities with integrated bible discovery to help engage kids in worship.

Illustration of two buildings with a car in front on an orange background

J. F. Pier's general store was opened in Eastman, Wisconsin sometime before 1890. Pier also served as the town's postmaster at that time. In 1910, Pier became president of the newly formed State Bank of Eastman, while still running the general store and post office and managing the Eastman Butter Company.

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"Keep on Truckin'" was originally a one page comic created in 1968 by Robert Crumb, an American writer and cartoonist whose work primarily satirizes contemporary American culture. Crumb was integral to the underground comix movement, which typically includes self published comics that are often satirical and feature taboo content. He further assisted the movement by creating and contributing to the publication "Zap Comix," which ran from 1968 to 2014. Since its creation, the illustration has been repeatedly recreated and sold; in 1973, Crumb fought with A.A. Sales, who claimed that the lack of the copyright symbol on the original image meant it was in the public domain. While the Federal Court initially sided with A.A. Sales, the Ninth Circuit Court reversed the decision in 1977, and the copyright remains valid today. 

Illustration of a character on a yellow background and with a smiley face on their scarf with an outer white background

Snappy Sammy Smoot is an underground comix character created by Skim Williamson. He first appeared in Bijou Funnies in 1968 and was featured in almost every issue until 1972. He is intended to be a comic version of Candide and refuses to lose his innocence and optimistic view of the world. Like many titles in the underground comix genre, Sammy Smoot's adventures are meant to be a satirical view of sociopolitical issues of the time. His last appearance was in a Fantagraphics anthology in 1996, but all his stories have been collected and released in multiple stand alone and anthology collections. 

Illustration of two characters with black text underneath on a white background

Created by American cartoonist, playwright, and artist, Herb Gardner, The Nebbishes was a syndicated comic strip that was originally picked up by the Chicago Tribune and later syndicated to 60-75 major newspapers across the country. Running on Sundays from 1959-1961, the strip features characters called Nebbishes, which are small white blob-like creatures who often spoke with humorous self-deprecating mottos and sayings. Prior to the comic strip being picked up, the characters were already popular from their appearances on cards, napkins, and wall decorations. Gardner has mentioned in interviews that he used the name Nebbishes because in Yiddish, "nebbish" means an insignificant, pitiful person.

Black illustration of Gilbert Shelton's character Oat Willie on a green background

Oat Willie was a comic character who became a mascot of Austin's 1960s underground culture. The character had his debut -and early demise- in a 1968 comic strip for an Austin underground newspaper. Oat Willie's creator, Gilbert Shelton, resurrected the character later that year to run him as a write-in candidate for Governor of Texas.

Supporters of Oat Willie's campaign often met at a local head shop called Underground City Hall. After the failed gubernatorial campaign, the character remained popular among the head shop's patrons. Underground City Hall later changed ownership and became known as Oat Willie's. The shop remains open to this day.

Black and white illustration of two characters with black text across the top

Nard n' Pat was an underground comic strip and the brainchild of comic artist Jay Lynch.  The strip was an early example of the underground "comix" movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Comix are small-run comic publications that address politically or socially relevant topics, and that often depict content considered inappropriate for mainstream publication.

Nard n' Pat was first published in 1967 in the underground newspaper Chicago Seed. It went on to appear regularly in Bijou Funnies, a nationwide underground comix magazine, of which Jay Lynch was the editor. A Nard n' Pat comic book ran for only two issues, one each in 1974 and 1981.

The strip's two characters were Nard, a politically conservative middle aged man, and Pat, his left-leaning anthropomorphic cat. The characters were originally based on two acquaintances of Lynch, but the artist reported that over time, Nard and Pat's interactions came to resemble those of himself and his wife.  Lynch later went on to illustrate other comic strips, contributed art to companies such as Topps trading card company and Mad magazine, and wrote two children's books. 

Black text over an illustration of a man looking at linked sausages

This pinback was given out as a premium when a package of Hassan Cigarettes was purchased. In the early 1900s, along with other tobacco companies, Hassan issued many 7/8" cartoon pinbacks displaying comic art by famous cartoonists of the day. 

Illustration of a character over black text on a white background

Created by American cartoonist, playwright, and artist, Herb Gardner, The Nebbishes was a syndicated comic strip that was originally picked up by the Chicago Tribune and later syndicated to 60-75 major newspapers across the country. Running on Sundays from 1959-1961, the strip features characters called Nebbishes, which are small white blob-like creatures who often spoke with humorous self-deprecating mottos and sayings. Prior to the comic strip being picked up, the characters were already popular from their appearances on cards, napkins, and wall decorations. Gardner has mentioned in interviews that he used the name Nebbishes because in Yiddish, "nebbish" means an insignificant, pitiful person.