None of the characters on stage really look like enviably glamorous popular people, but friendly nebbishes imitating the social elite with slapdash satirical broad strokes.
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In 1954, Bernad Creations published Herb Gardner's characters, The Nebbishes, on greeting cards, posters and figurines. The most famous of these showed two slacker Nebbishes relaxing with feet on a table and the line, "Next week we've got to get organized!" First a greeting card and then a poster, it was so popular that the gagline became a national catch phrase. In 1959-60, Gardner did The Nebbishes as a syndicated comic strip, and his autobiographical novel, A Piece of the Action (1958), has a thinly disguised recounting of the creation and marketing of his characters.
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A panel from Herb Gardner's 1959-61 comic strip, The Nebbishes. The Nebbishes was a syndicated Sunday comic strip by Herb Gardner, better known today as a playwright and screenwriter. The strip was syndicated by the McNaught Syndicate from January 4, 1959 to January 29, 1961. Gardner's characters were white blob-like creatures who expressed their attitude toward existence in mottos and quotes on greeting cards and statuettes.
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On local New York television, Gardner drew The Nebbishes on Shari Lewis' WPIX Kartoon Klub show, as noted by Kevin S. Butler: :Long before he became one of Broadway's most prolific playwrights, Herb Gardner was a comic strip artist for the New York Daily News. Mr. Gardner was invited to appear on Kartoon Klub where he engaged members of the studio audience and home viewers in chalk talks (he would draw pictures on a drawing pad to help illustrate his stories about an unusual group of creatures known as The Nebbishes). The segment was so successful that on Saturday evening, September 23, 1956, the program's title was changed to Shari & Her Friends.New York City Kids Shows Roundup Even before syndication, the Gardner characters were a national craze, appearing on studio cards, matchbook covers, barware (including cocktail napkins) and wall decorations.
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Gardner was educated at New York's High School of Performing Arts, Carnegie-Mellon University and Antioch College. While a student at Antioch, he began drawing The Nebbishes. The comic strip was picked up by the Chicago Tribune and syndicated to 60-75 major newspapers from 1959 to 1961. Even before syndication, the Gardner characters were a national craze, marketed on statuettes, studio cards, barware (including cocktail napkins), wall decorations and posters.
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In 1954, Bernad Creations published Gardner's characters on greeting cards, posters and figurines. The most famous of these showed two slacker Nebbishes relaxing with feet on a table and the line, "Next week we've got to get organized!" First a greeting card and then a poster, the cartoon was so popular that the gagline soon became a national catchphrase independent of the image. Gardner's autobiographical novel, A Piece of the Action (1958), has a thinly-disguised recounting of the creation and marketing of his characters.
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