Harrison Cady

• Born 1877-06-17 · Died 1970-12-09

Walter Harrison Cady was an illustrator and author, best known for his Peter Rabbit comic strip which he wrote and drew for 28 years. Harrison was 18 when his father was killed in Boston. He moved to New York City and within a year found work as an illustrator with the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper. His salary of $10 a week made it possible for him to support his mother; the two lived in a Greenwich Village cold water flat. He stayed at the Brooklyn Eagle for four years, while also freelancing to other publications. His income increased considerably after Life editor John Ames Mitchell signed Cady as staff artist and cartoonist. This led to a long career as a newspaper and magazine illustrator, as well as numerous children's books, featuring both fantastic and realistic animal illustrations. He had a long association with Thornton Burgess, illustrating the writer's books, including Happy Jack, and his daily newspaper column, "Bedtime Stories". Their partnership spanned five decades, beginning with Baby Possum Has a Scare (c. 1912), The Adventures of Reddy Fox (1913) and Buster Bear Invites Old Mr. Toad to Dine (c. 1914), The series continued into the 1950s with At Paddy the Beaver's Pond (1950), followed by the reprint The Animal World of Thornton Burgess (1962). Cady was very prolific, illustrating over 70 years for such publications as St. Nicholas Magazine, Boys' Life, The Saturday Evening Post, Ladies' Home Journal, Good Housekeeping and Country Gentleman. He illustrated the Queen Silver-Bell series by Frances Hodgson Burnett. In addition to his extensive illustrating of others' books, Cady also authored several books with his own illustrations, including his Butternut Hill series (1929), Johnny Funny-Bunny's Picnic Party (1928) and Spring Moving Day (1928).