Expert: Chris Brown - 7/21/2010

Question
My grandfather wanted me to find out about a comic from the 30's or 40's when he was a kid. He thinks it may be Smokey Stover or Barney Google. He remembers a comic with a man (possibly a hitch hiker) in a long coat, with a tall rounded hat, who carried a suit case with the words "no smos kov pop" on it. He wanted me to find out what comic it was, who the man was, and what the words on the suitcase meant. Any information would be very much appreciated. Thank you so much!

Answer
Hi Erica

Sorry that my email account sent the message from AllExperts notifying me of your question to my Junk Mail folder, else I would have responded sooner.

I am not sure of the character you are referring to.  I'm guessing it wasn't Barney Google, who generally wore a large Texas cowboy hat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Google

I am not as knowledgable about Smokey Stover, but he also doesn't seem to fit the description:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smokey_Stover

My best guess is that you may be referring to one of the creations of Milt Gross.  He was a Jewish cartoonist who liked to incorporate Yiddish language into his cartoons.  I don't know what "no smos kov pop" might mean but it does sound like the kind of Yiddish language Gross would sometimes incorporate into his strips.

I think his most likely strip might be Count Screwloose.  He seems to fit the physical description, though I don't know if he ever carried a suitcase.  Anyway, maybe you could have your grandfather look at scans of this character.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milt_Gross

Feel free to follow up if I can offer any more ideas or info.

Chris