Van Buren, Raeburn, 1891-1987

Raeburn Van Buren (1891-1987) was an American cartoonist and illustrator. He was a co-creator of the comic strip Abbie an' Slats .

Van Buren was born in Pueblo, Colorado in 1891 and grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. He learned cartooning on the job from Harry Wood of the Kansas City Star, and then moved to New York City where he began to contribute illustrations to magazines like Life, Puck, Judge and Street and Smith's pulp publication, Smith's Magazine . He served in New York's 27th Division during World War I and was art director of the Division's magazine, Gas Attack . After the war, he quickly rose to prominence as one of the industry's top freelance illustrators, contributing work to a wide variety of popular publications of the day-the Saturday Evening Post, Collier's, the New Yorker, Esquire and many others.

In 1937, Li'l Abner cartoonist Al Capp hired Van Buren to provide the art for his newest comic strip Abbie an' Slats, for which Van Buren has received a great deal of critical praise. Capp served as writer on the strip for the first nine years then passed the scripting duties to his brother Elliot Caplin. Van Buren remained the sole artist on Abbie an' Slats for the duration of its 34 year run (1937-1971). Raeburn Van Buren died in 1987, shortly before his 97th birthday. He was inducted into the National Cartoonists Society Hall of Fame in 1979.

From the guide to the Raeburn Van Buren Cartoons, 1954-1968, 1966-1968, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)