Frank Michael Spangler

Article written by Elizabeth Via Brown (Southern Hospitality) from Montgomery Advertiser - Tue - 12 Nov 2002 pg1D Montgomery, Alabama A collection of drawings by the late Frank Spangler and his son, Frank Spangler, Jr., are on display at the Montgomery County Historical Society. Most of them appeared as editorial cartoons from the early 1900s to the late 1970s. Many of us looking at the drawings at the opening reception Sunday afternoon have our own memories of the artists, both of whose drawings are signed "Spang." Mose Stuart was looking to see if as there was a cartoon of his father protesting making Decatur Street one-way. His father, also Mose Stuart, had property on the street, which turns into Norman Bridge Road in Old Cloverdale, and he was convinced business would be ruined if traffic was allowed to flow out of town. When John Wescott came to Montgomery, his first job was working for "Spang" at Maxwell Air Force Base in the graphic division of the newly created Air University. "We did all the technical drawing by hand," said John. "For lack of other inspiration, Frank used our (the art staff) faces for the illustrations." Sadly, said John, he didn't keep any of those old drawings. "We were busy doing a job and it never occurred to us how valuable the drawings might be one day," he said. Jim Young was advertising director at the Montgomery Advertiser when Spang joined the staff in 1967, first as a freelance artist, then as a full-time cartoonist in 1971. "You kno," Jim observed, "most of these cartoons have drawings on the back. The editor then didn't believe in being wasteful." AS a young staff writer for the Advertiser's Society pages, I remember my first meeting with Frank, Jr. He had already been there a year when I started my job, and his drawing table was in the newsroom near the editorial department. Later,he moved to a cubbyhole across from our department and we saw each other more regularly. He immediately gave me the nickname of "Libba," which he calls me even today, and I've always call him "Spang." That the sometimes caustic, hit-the-nail-on-the-head illustrations could come from this man with the kind face and sweet smile has always confounded me. Frank, Jr. illustrated a few of my early articles, and at Christmas he drew composites of all the reporters and news staff, which ran as holiday greetings in the paper on Christmas Day. I have most of the originals and they are framed and hung in my home office. Looking at the collection gathered by the historical society, many of us remarked that with a few minor changes, Spang's cartoons - both senior and junior - are as relevant today as they were 30 and nearly 100 years ago. "We are still having some of the same problems," said Carolyn Young, Jim's wife, as she pointed to one about the public education system. Both father and son have similar drawings styles, but the elder Spangler's illustrations are more detailed and shaded, like pen-and-inks. In 1907, when he became the Advertiser's cartoonist, the paper he used was of fine-art quality with little embossed signets in the corner. To suit the technological advances of the newspaper in the 1970s, Spang, Jr. used pebble-grained paper and less pencil strokes. Though he will be 89 on his next birthday, Spang, Jr.'s love of drawing has not diminished. He often does caricatures of and for friends, and is the regular editorial cartoonist for the Montgomery Standard. Montgomery Advertiser - Sun - 6 Jun 1971 pg7 Montgomery, Alabama Spang Junior Finally Follows Trail To Dad's Famous Drawing Table By MILO DAKIN, Advertiser Staff Writer Frank M. Sprangler, Jr, didn't follow his father's footsteps immediately, but he found them easy to trail 25 years later. Spangler (Spang) joined The Advertiser last week as full-time editorial cartoonist, a job his father, the late Frank M. Spangler, Sr., held from 1905 until his death in 1947. The junior Spangler - he's 57 - came to the newspaper following 25 years of government employment in the 3825th Support Group for publications at Maxwell Air Force Base, where he worked in supplying visual assistance materials for the Air University schoo.s Although his father's name had become synonymous with The Advertiser through cartoons that spanned the formative years of a growing state, Spangler moves into thje job as a full-time cartoonist (vacant since his father's death) with his own ideas and style. "Some of my old stuff looks corny now," he said, laughing. Spangler began drawing as a child, helping his father in some cases, and on occasion drawing his own cartoons, "I used to do some cartoons for "The Baby Advertiser," a Christmas publication put out by employes for employes. That was back in the 1920s." "I was no child prodigy, though," he comments. "I went off to art school (New York and Washington) but it wasn't easy. Art school was cheaper to go to during the Depression. College was a luxury back them." Spangler's cartoon work began in the new ventures of Fleischer Studios in Miami. where cartoons were being mass-produced for transfer to celluloid as movie houses took advantage of the new craze started by Walt Disney withe his full-length animated movie "Snow White. Spangler worked on serial length cartoons such as "Popeye" and the movie length feature "Gulliver's Travels." "I see names of a lot of my old friends on credit lines each Saturday morning on television. They're doing real good now." Spangler's work was interrupted by World War II and he was off to Europe with the Air Corps, Division of Intelligence, relating communications messages to the drawing board. Five years of service over, he returned to Montgomery and began government duty at Maxwell. "I've drawn some in this period," he notes, "I drew cartoons for The Advertiser for about six months - I believe it was in 1948, and three years ago I began doing some free-lance work for the paper. "I think my work has become more simplified now. I draw with less flourish and get to the point quicker." Spangler's work will appear primarily on the editorial pages. where he will share space with syndicated cartoonists now subscribed to by The Advertiser. "I'm not putting anyone out of a job," he laughs. Spangler is working on a news series, schedule to run this week. "I'm glad to be in this position full-time," he says. "If I hadn't gone to work here, I would have stayed at Maxwell another 10 years, I guess, before retiring.