Palmer Cox’s characters, the Brownies, were immensely popular and were known throughout America. Born in 1840 on a small country road on the outskirts of Granby, the artist died in the same town on July 24, 1924, exactly a century ago. Virtually every Canadian newspaper reported on his death. The day after his death, in an editorial, the New York Times compared Palmer Cox, also known for his children’s poems, to Henry James, Robert Louis Stevenson and Lewis Carroll.
He was a sort of Walt Disney before his time. After finding fame in New York with his studio, Palmer Cox returned at the beginning of the 20th centurye century, settle in Granby. There, in 1906, he had a large wooden house built, known since then as Château Brownie.
Palmer Cox must also be credited, at least in part, with the rise of photography. The Kodak Company used his characters to boost sales. As a sign of their immense popularity, Palmer Cox’s characters were used not only by Kodak, but also by dozens of other companies.
With or without permission, Cox’s characters are reproduced on games, blocks, cards, dolls, soaps, calendars, advertisements, packaging labels, cups, plates, letter openers, flags, medicines, soft drinks, slot machines, table games, pins, envelopes, ink pads, figurines…
Mischievous creatures
Palmer Cox’s cheerful characters were inspired by European folk mythology. The stories of the little Brownies, drawn with a pencil, were published in magazines and then in albums intended for young people. They are honest, mischievous, peaceful and loyal beings, but centered on a very American conception of the world to which a civilizing mission is attributed.
Palmer Cox’s imposing home, flanked by a medieval-inspired crenellated tower, still stands. According to Cecilia Capocchi, the executive director of the Société d’histoire de la Haute-Yamaska, “it is one of the jewels of Granby’s heritage.” However, this home is neither cited by the municipality nor classified by the Quebec government to ensure its protection and promotion. It is also not in the Répertoire du patrimoine culturel du Québec.
A proposal, submitted in 2019 to at least highlight the national significance of Palmer Cox, was not accepted by the state.
From Granby to New York
After living for a time with his brother in Springfield, Massachusetts, Palmer Cox would head west. In California, he worked in a railroad office. Soon convinced that this life was not for him, he moved to San Francisco. There, he published his poetry and devoted his time to drawing. He would work as a cartoonist for various publications, including the San Francisco Examiner.
In 1875, he moved to New York. His work appeared in large-circulation prints in an uninterrupted stream. It was at this time that, quite quickly, his drawings of animals and then these strange creatures that are the Brownies would earn him incredible popularity. The New York Times for example, in 1895, some 20,000 children gathered in New Haven to pay tribute to him.
The origins of photography
In his drive to produce low-cost rather than high-quality cameras, Kodak magnate George Eastman was quick to rely on Cox’s cartoon characters to make his camera, the Brownie, popular with large segments of the population.
Known and recognized, Palmer Cox will find himself, in spite of himself, at the origins of the diffusion of photography in the working classes. The industrialist Eastman, at the head of Kodak, used his characters, the famous Brownies, to ensure the promotion of a very cheap camera, a simple square box equipped with a basic lens. Not only was this device supported by Palmer Cox’s characters, but it was baptized… the Brownie!
In 1900, Kodak’s Brownie was available for $1. Subsequently, it was sufficient to buy films for fifteen cents each. Kodak, the Rochester-based company that produced them, would sell more than ten million of them in just 5 years, the equivalent of revenues of more than $300 million by 2024! No Kodak forecast, even the most optimistic, came close to such results.
George Eastman was well aware of the success of Palmer Cox’s characters. The advertisements for his devices profited greatly from this, but apparently without ever taking the trouble to pay their creator! George Eastman intended to reach a wide audience, he said, by any means.
Fairies, Goblins, Elves and Gnomes
Of the Brownies, Palmer Cox gave this explanation, which is constantly repeated in the presentation of his various printed works: “The Brownies, like fairies and goblins, are little imaginary spirits supposed to delight in harmless pranks and useful actions. They work and move a lot, going to bed tired without ever letting themselves be seen by mortal eyes.”
These little creatures would appear at night, get into mischief and perform all sorts of useful and amusing tasks. Palmer Cox did not hide the influence that Scottish folk tales and his grandmother’s stories had on his drawing.
In front of his characters, we are not very far from the gnome, this legendary little humanoid creature, often confused with elves and goblins. Cox’s creatures are in any case part of the “little people”, of the world below, of an underground world, of those that the world above does not see. Basically, they are amused and amusing representations of an entire popular world that, naturally, recognizes itself in these devilish characters. Palmer Cox’s Brownies form “a democratic type of society, without a real leader or social hierarchy”, explains historian Cecilia Capocchi. Their adventures will be taken up and adapted in several languages, including Russian, Italian and French.
Years of success
The first appearance of Brownie characters in a printed publication dates back to 1879. It was not until two years later, in the pages of the magazine Wide Awakethat Palmer Cox’s creatures, the Brownies, find their definitive appearance. Soon, Cox’s world imposes itself on American society. He will publish more than twenty albums of the adventures of his little creatures.
The first story proper, The Brownies’ Ridehad appeared in the February 1883 issue of the children’s periodical St Nicholas Magazine. In 1899 will appear The Brownies Abroad. It is considered the first Brownies comic strip, even though the use of speech bubbles to hold the dialogues was not yet used. But this would be the case with Brownie Clown of Brownie Townpublished in 1908. The first compilation, The Brownies — Their Bookwas published in 1887, several others in the series would appear, until the last one in 1918.
The popularity of the Brownies’ adventures is due in large part to their reproduction, starting in 1903, in various popular Sunday newspapers. These publications continued for years, which promoted their notoriety and derivative products.
Beyond the printed publication, the Brownies characters have been adapted for the stage at least twice. Palmer Cox’s Browniesa three-act play presented in New York, ran for more than 100 performances. The New York Times speaks of it as the best show offered in recent years. Designed to be played by children, The Brownies in Fairyland will be played everywhere, including several times in Granby, between 1894 and 1905.
Rare tributes to the creator of the Brownies are being paid to him on the occasion of the centennial of his death. A mural was inaugurated at the France-Arbour cultural centre in Granby. A podcast on his life and work was created. The Société d’histoire de la Haute-Yamaska is offering an exhibition, starting August 28. Images and manuscripts that had been acquired from an American collector will be on display.