Ethel Hays

As an illustrator for her high school paper, Ethel Hays had aspirations for becoming a painter. Her studies and talent led to a scholarship to attend the private art school, Academie Julian, in Paris. Those dreams were cut short by Wor’d War I.  

Not to be deterred, Hays still wished to pursue art and illustration and eventually found herself working for the Cleveland Press. There she was paired with the writer Victoria Benham, and the “flapper” themed adventures of Vic and Ethel was born. Soon afterward, Bentham left to pursue the joys of matrimony, so Hays was left alone. Vic was dropped from the strip, and it became Ethel, which Hays worked on three times a week. In 1925 she also created a daily panel called Flapper Fanny Says. In it, “Flapper Fanny” imparts witty nuggets of wisdom to both the reader and the characters she interacts with. Flapper Fanny Says was so popular, appearing in over 500 papers, it inspired other creators to create similar characters (such as Flapper Filosofy by Faith Burrows).

Hays created another character feature called Marianne in 1936. It would be her last comic strip before moving on to work for the Christian Science Monitor, where she drew cartoons to accompany the “Manly Manners” feature. In the 1940s & 50s, she illustrated children’s books before retiring.

Ethel Hays (Mar. 13, 1892 – Mar. 19 1989)