Kin Hubbard

Kin Hubbard
Born	Frank McKinney Hubbard September 1, 1868 Bellefontaine, Ohio
Died	December 26, 1930 (aged 62) Indianapolis, Indiana
Occupation	Cartoonist, humorist, journalist

Frank McKinney Hubbard (born 1 September 1868 in Bellefontaine, Ohio - died: 26 December 1930 in Indianapolis, Indiana) was an American cartoonist, humorist, and journalist better known by his pen name "Kin" Hubbard.

He was creator of the cartoon Abe Martin of Brown County which ran in U.S. newspapers from 1904 until his death in 1930, and was the originator of many political quips that remain in use. North American humorist Will Rogers reportedly declared Hubbard to be "America's greatest humorist."^[1]

The American playwright, screenwriter and journalist Lawrence Riley wrote the biographical play Kin Hubbard (1949) in his memory. It starred Tom Ewell and June Lockhart.

Quotes

• Don't knock th' weather. Nine-tenths o' th' people couldn' start a conversation if it didn' change once in a while.^[2]
• Flattery won't hurt you if you don't swallow it.
• Nobody ever forgets where he buried the hatchet.
• Nobody can be as agreeable as an uninvited guest.
• Now and then an innocent man is sent to the legislature.
• We'd all like t'vote fer th' best man, but he's never a candidate.
• When a fellow says, "It ain't the money but the principle of the thing," it's the money.
• There's no secret about success. Did you ever know a successful man who didn't tell you about it?

  “There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose.”

• There is plenty of peace in any home where the family doesn't make the mistake of trying to get together.
• The only way to entertain some folks is to listen to them.
• The fellow that owns his own home is always just coming out of a hardware store.
• Lots of folks confuse bad management with destiny.
• Nothing will dispel enthusiasm like a small admission fee.
• Boys will be boys, and so will a lot of middle-aged men.

A Hubbard quote, "It ain't no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be," was mentioned in Kurt Vonnegut's World War II novel, "Slaughterhouse Five."

References

1. Brown County State Park Web site, Abe Martin cartoon character of humorist Kin Hubbard in Brown County Indiana. Retrieved on December 3, 2008
2. Hubbard, F. McKinney (1914). [http://books.google.com/books?id=RiVLAAAAIAAJ&q="Don't+knock+th'+weather.+Nine-tenths+o'+th'+people+couldn'+start+a+conversation+if+it+didn'+change+once+in+a+while" Abe Martin's primer: the collected writings of Abe Martin and his Brown County, Indiana, neighbors]. A. Martin.

External links

• The Best of Kin Hubbard, p. 0, at Google Books
• Abe Martin's Almanac for 1909, p. 0, at Google Books
• "Kin Hubbard", Indiana Historical Society
• Short bio at a Dutch comic-fan site
• A bit on Abe Martin at Brown County State Park