You aren't signed in     Sign In    Help

The real origin of Laugh-Out-Loud Cats

The real origin of Laugh-Out-Loud Cats by Ape Lad.
Not many people know this, but my great grandfather Aloysius "Gorilla" Koford, was also a cartoonist. From 1912-1913 he produced a comic strip which was featured in 17 newspapers, including the Philadephia Star-Democrat, the Tampa Telegraph, and the Santa Fe Good-Newser.
The strip was entitled "the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats" and featured the exploits of one Meowlin Q. Kitteh (a sort of cat hobo-raconteur) and his young hapless kitten friend, Pip. The strip did not last long due to a run-in my great-grandfather had with none other than William Randolph Hearst.
See, the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats was run by one of Heart's competitors, so “Big Willy” (as Hearst was known in his day) used the bully pulpit of his media empire to hound and mock the efforts of my great-grandfather. Hearst scribes insinuated Aloysius was an actual trained gorilla and purported to have evidence in the form of banana shipping statements. (In reality, my great-grandfather was an expert climber and incredibly hirsute, and had earned the nickname in college.) Pressures continued to mount and Aloysius hung up his pen after only a year of working on the strip. He turned to a life of quiet dignity as a steamer captain and part-time walrus hunter.
But the story doesn't have to end there.
As the only known cartoonist relative of Aloysius "Gorilla" Koford, I am authorized to sell black and white postcard sized portraits of Kitteh and Pip from time to time! Watch my blog for details.
kthxbai 

Comments

< Prev 1 2
(117 comments)
view profile

markwgallagher  Pro User  says:

um, ... LOL?
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

eliohouse  Pro User  says:

haha interessstinggg!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

dragfyre  Pro User  says:

hahahahaa
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

r8r  Pro User  says:

LOL! I love cats!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

greyaenigma  Pro User  says:

This is fantastic.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

GeorgeCurious  Pro User  says:

lovely dollink!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Thanks everybody!!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Aaron_M says:

Brilliant.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

xadrian  Pro User  says:

I stand solidly amused and befuddled. I believe, sir, you've done your job with this. The line between hysterical fictional and fantastical fact has gone past blurred and straight into "doesn't exist."

Wicker!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

greyaenigma  Pro User  says:

Do want t-shirt.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

I chew up memes and spit them out into your mailbox.
(eewww)
Not a bad idea G, gimme time and I think it'll happen.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

zombiebite  Pro User  says:

HA!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

SolGrundy  Pro User  says:

Please post more of Grandpa Aloysius' strips as you manage to dig them up. kthxbye.

And I'm in ur comment thread, likin' greyaenigma's suggestion.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

dangillotte says:

Yeppers! I'd like to see more of the "old" stuff, too!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

halcyonsnow  Pro User  says:

Lolzors X2
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

anildash says:

well played, sir.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

joeclark  Pro User  says:

Strange. I don’t remember "neutral quotation marks" as being in use in 1912.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Probably the result of careless restoration attempts in the late 90's.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

- jre -  Pro User  says:

I can has fav?
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

greg.turner  Pro User  says:

so. awesome.

Very nicely done
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

d3media  Pro User  says:

Looks like it was drawn with a rapidograph
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

hang_on_voltaire says:

Are some of you actually believing this to be authentic?
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

xeni  Pro User  says:

shut up it is too authentic
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

kansaikitsune says:

Cheeseburgers weren't invented until the 1930's in Denver, Colorado. I declare this faux.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

mattharvest  Pro User  says:

Pure gold.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

robnoxious007 says:

Shouldn't panel two be, "Nom, Nom, Nom?"
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

andycarvin  Pro User  says:

I'm in ur funny page
revisioning ur historyz
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

the true origin of cheeseburgers
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

slink.jadranko says:

Nice. Very Hodgman.
And very nicely executed.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

iheartbeer says:

Funny. Some people will buy anything... And that includes t-shirts. Get on it.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

puck-man  Pro User  says:

Funny that people are going for this! Anyways, I feel the urge for a cheeseburger LOL!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

gringogidget  Pro User  says:

Wow, that's really neat.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

I can think of several possible explanations for the cheeseburger faux pas:
1. Typo on the part of the aforementioned restorationists.
2. Great-grandfather kept poor records. After all, he dedicated his life to the sea and his brief career as a cartoonist was hardly a pleasant one for him to recount.
3. Aloysius was a futurist on par with Mad magazine's own Al Jaffee. Does anyone remember the feature they used to run called "They can put a man on the moon, but..."? Lots of those inventions they depicted have since been created. (Please correct me if I am wrong on the name of that feature, I'd love to know if any of them are posted online.)
4. Perhaps my great-grandfather coined the term in jest.
5. Hodgman makes it look easy, when really it's not.

On a side note, would anyone mind going through my hoboes and making sure I didn't commit any similar errors? Hat styles, cigar brands, railroad grades, etc.
(Just kidding--I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111111111111111)
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

LastLoneWolf says:

You might be interested by the fact that Helen *Koford* played in a movie involving a *Gorilla*. (BTW, a Gorilla is a big Ape. (WTF???)
www.movieoutfitter.com/store/366603/mightyjoe young.html

Also, after being featured in no less than 17 newspapers, not a single link tracing to a "Aloysius Koford" on the web. Very unlikely.

You might say, with such drawing skills, not a big surprise either.
To what I could reply : "Koford" could also be the father of "Calvin & hoboes" if you take a closer look. (pun intended, see Ape's previous post).

Ah well ... nice hoax-era, indeed ...
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

I am related to Helen Koford (who changed her name to Terry Moore--I don't know why that site has them both listed), though I don't remember how and I've never met her.

btw, I welcome any other possible explanations for the cheeseburger problem (including, but not limited to, "wormholes" and "you're a filthy lying ape lad * ")
*this answer can only be submitted by Charlton Heston, star of 1958's** Planet of the Apes.
**You see what I did there?
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

LastLoneWolf says:

Ur not an Ape Lad, ur a LOLape.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

xeni  Pro User  says:

shut up all you haters and disbelievers, it is too ABSOLUTELY AUTHENTIC AND REAL. Like Mexi-leprosy, because I DECLARE IT TO BE SO.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

LastLoneWolf says:

You're right, but let me add that LOLcats' fur is made of morgellons.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

greyaenigma  Pro User  says:

I think think Xeni is right. This has the ring of truthiness about it.

If the history books disagree, then the books must be changed.

Aloysius Koford was notoriously private. His will explicitly stated that there should be no books, web pages, or wiki entries be written about him[1]. It's only Adam's relationship that allows this artwork to be available.

1. My Laugh-Out-Loud Life by Aloysius Koford , 1924 Doughton-Wifflin Publishers,
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

OldhaMedia  Pro User  says:

Hot Dog Cat
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

xadrian  Pro User  says:

I love this.

43 comments (34 new since yours - Here's the latest 10)

Translation: It got linked on Boing Boing.

(checking)

Yep.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

greyaenigma  Pro User  says:

Plus it just broke 5,000 views. Not to mention Xeni commenting.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Xeni and I go way back. We took history courses together in college. The school mascot was the long horse.


The preceding three sentences are fabricated.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

greyaenigma  Pro User  says:

Perhaps, but they sure feel true.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

xadrian  Pro User  says:

I've always thought by the time I had access to a fad/meme it's run its course.

Is there a countdown for this one yet?
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Kevin Steele  Pro User  says:

Clever and delightful.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

mylifepostponed says:

Ha u hadz me goin 4 minit but dey all sez I be pooshed over too ez, speshly by anehting 2 do wif da kitehs.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

greyaenigma  Pro User  says:

Is there a countdown for this one yet?

Quick! Draw a cat jumping over a shark!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

catnipmusic  Pro User  says:

fantastic! please add to the lolcats, cat macros group.


--
Seen on boingboing.net (?)
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

leslie powell [deleted] says:

Yay! This is really well done!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

xadrian  Pro User  says:

Quick! Draw a cat jumping over a shark!

Best I could do for now.

Jump The Cats
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

iheartbeer says:

LOLfonz!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #2
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #5
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #3
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #4
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

xadrian  Pro User  says:

Better be careful, someone will want to publish this.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Memes Illustrated? LOLcats Weekly? Kitteh Times? Call me!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

ursonate  Pro User  says:

Woah! I'm so late to this!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Frauenfelder  Pro User  says:

You are so talented and versatile, Apelad. I'm in awe.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

I have your simple hobo drawing suggestion from so many months ago to thank for my empire of oddities, such as it is.
(I just happen to be wearing a bb shirt today btw)
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

lottie_flickr says:

ha ha ha, love them!
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

cloudsoup  Pro User  says:

u has clevr
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

phalougher says:

Amazing work. As a character from one of your influences -- I mean, your grandfather's successors -- would say: I HAS A BRICK.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

xadrian  Pro User  says:

Well, Fark doesn't like the idea. I tried, sorry.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

You can has shirts and stuff now.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

phalougher says:

I made this for you, your grandfather Aloysius, and his contemporaries.

(I'm a Flickr newbie, so I haven't figured out how to place an image in a post yet.)
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #6
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #7
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #8
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

chasingfun  Pro User  says:

im in ur flickr favn ur caartewnz
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

The Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #9
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #10
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #11
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

maynardivy says:

Cheeseburgers were not invented until 1924 - look it up. How did your great grandfather write a comic strip using cheeseburgers 11-14 years before they were invented? I am NOT buying this was a comic strip done 100 years ago, but a contemporary invention to cash in on a recent fixation and I just proved it.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

xadrian  Pro User  says:

You win the internet. Here's a stogie.

--
Seen in my recent comments.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Thanks for commenting. This topic has been covered at length previously in numerous places.
btw, he actually wrote the strip using ballpoint pens and disgarded napkins from the Trocadero, and not cheeseburgers, as you state. Where would you put the ink?
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

greyaenigma  Pro User  says:

In the squid, of course.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

andreacgw says:

Peepilz iz stouppid
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #12
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #13
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #14
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

lolorofl says:

Kudos, this is hilarious and very well done. I especially like the people who are trying to dispute this. Way to make fools of yourselves.
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

lolorofl Hopefully they've seen the light by now. (The light of true historically verified research, that is!)

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats 15
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats 16
Posted 30 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

saint magenta  Pro User  says:

*i can has favd*
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #17
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #18
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #20
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #19
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #23
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #22
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #24
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #21
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #26
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #29
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #28
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #27
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #25
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #30
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #31
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

aljuk  Pro User  says:

U haz a flavr!!!
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Rudo1ph says:

I'd say going by the ROTFL (MAO) and the WTF acronyms used in the above examples that this is most def a fake! But still a great idea, like the work Ape Lad, I think you would make more money by publishing your work as your own..... Many others have...
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

#43:
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #43
with ten more coming soon. And then? Even moar.
Posted 29 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Ape Lad  Pro User  says:

#86:
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #86
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

funx24x7 says:

Sir, I commend you for your truly epic win.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

Mayhemers  Pro User  says:

Great stuff :)
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

touchyphiliac says:

NOT ONLY THAT BUT THE COMIC WAS NAMED "LOL CATS!!"

OH. MY. GOD.
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

touchyphiliac says:

Wait a minute............on closer inspection.............dude!
Posted 28 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

sybann says:

Authentic? Is irrelevant! Can haz!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

meggieca says:

I love these!!!! You, sire, are brilliant. I am in awe! I CAN has lol catz comiks! Yea!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

montoya.christian  Pro User  says:

If you took the time to make a comment and you really thought this was real, you need to get off The Internets. Forever.

Great work, Ape Lad. If you ever publish all these comics in a book, I will buy it. Heck, I might buy 2.
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

smokeshowing  Pro User  says:

OUTSTANDING!!!! You made my day - actually my month! Heck, maybe even my year!!! These are really amazing cartoons. Thanks for sharing!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

gailf548  Pro User  says:

Found you on cuteoverload.com. This is great! Keep up the good work!
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

SShortcake says:

Ohhh, I see what u did thar.
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

dhdruyff says:

u iz seereeose genyus, all "im n ur memez, puttin penz 2 paperz"

honestly, this is fantastic. i like your brain.
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

view profile

munianotdeep  Pro User  says:

I have only one criticism. The drawing style, and more importantly, the overall theme and look aren't consistent with the 1910's. You shoulda said it was from the late 20's or early 30's. Oh well! Your comic, man! Er, I mean...that guy was just ahead of his time. Ya, taht's wut i ment.
Posted 27 months ago. ( permalink )

< Prev 1 2
(117 comments)

Would you like to comment?

Sign up for a free account, or sign in (if you're already a member).

[?]
view photos Uploaded on June 1, 2007
by Ape Lad

Ape Lad's photostream

6,782
uploads

This photo also belongs to:

the Laugh-Out-Loud Cats (Set)

1,369
items

Laugh-Out-Loud Cats: 1-100 (Set)

101
items

Manga and Comic Creators (Pool)

lolcats, cat macros (Pool)

the illustrator's cattery (Pool)

Tags

Additional Information

AttributionNoncommercialNo Derivative Works Some rights reserved Anyone can see this photo

Add to your map