Who Was R. F. Outcault?

Richard Felton Outcault (1863-1928) was an American comic strip scriptwriter, sketcher and painter. Outcault was the creator of the series The Yellow Kid, and is considered the inventor of the modern comic strip.

In 1902, Outcault introduced Buster Brown, a mischievous boy dressed in Little Lord Fauntleroy style, and his dog Tige. The strip and characters were very popular and Outcault eventually licensed the name for a number of consumer products, most notably Buster Brown shoes.

The rarest postcard sets of Outcault's work feature the Yellow Kid character. These elusive cards usually are from the calendar series and no complete set featuring the Yellow Kid has been found.

The rarest Buster Brown Postcards by Outcault are the six card set issued by Bloomingdale's department store of New York as advertising premiums.

More on R.F. Outcault and the Yellow Kid