Sidney Maxell - Cartoons Are For Adults Too

The Maxell family
Sidney is holding his daughter, Heather
Sidney 1922-1933

Sidney Maxell, my husband's first cousin once removed, was from the great state of Maine.  Sidney was 5 feet, 10 inches according to steamship records, served on liberty ships during WWII, including two that he had designed/built.  He was art director from 1956-1963 for WCSH-TV and developed the Channel 6 Bear, the station's logo. 


 He developed the first computer animation commercial for Country Kitchen Bakery.  He began his cartooning career at the Guy Gannett Publishing Co. and in 1963 formed the Brown and Maxell Advertising Agency, developing the Tidy Coon logo for the state of Maine and Penelope the Purple Cow and Keen Eye for the Maine Hunting Safety Program.  He was honored by President Eisenhower for his political cartoons, and three are on display in the Margaret Chase Smith Library which is located on 15 picturesque acres in Skowhegan, Maine, on the banks of the Kennebec River, located at the Northwoods University.


We called the Library in advance of our visit to let them know why and when we would arrive.  They greeted us warmly and had collected and copied many items of Sidney's along with books they graciously gave us. This is one of the cartoons they provided.  It was when the republican party was trying to woo Margaret Chase to be Eisenhower's running mate. But she decided to stick to her knitting, another words, her work in the Senate for the state of Maine. 

The following letter was Sidney's response to a request from the Margaret Chase Smith Library to release his works to the Washington DC Capitol Visitors Center. Less than 9 months after Sidney wrote this letter he died of cancer.