Hoff, Syd

HOFF, SYD (1912–2004). Sydney Hoffberg was born and raised in the Bronx, New York and studied fine arts at the National Academy of Design after dropping out of high school. He sold his first cartoon to The New Yorker at age eighteen and became a regular contributor to The New Yorker as well as other national magazines such as Collier’s, The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire.

Few readers knew of the passionate commitment to the plight of the underdog that led him to draw cartoons in the 1930s under the alias “A. Redfield” for a number of left-wing publications including the Daily Worker, New Masses, March of Labor and Champion of Youth. Thanks to his keen style and wit, Redfield was one of the most admired radical cartoonists of the era. He withheld from publication his real name, known only to a small coterie of sympathetic artists, intellectuals, and publishers.

His first book, The Ruling Class, published by the Daily Worker in 1935 under “A. Redfield,” contained over 150 cartoons reflecting his disdain for the treatment of the working class and the arrogance of the elite. As Hoff once said, “There are days when success as a comic artist is not enough. The urge to do battle with evil becomes irresistible and the Walter Mitty in me takes over.”

The New Masses published his first book for young readers in 1939. Mr. His…a Children’s Story for Anybody, describes the life of a man who owns everything and everybody in “Histown,” until a group of disgruntled citizens protests, and “Histown" becomes “Ourtown.“ This book was so popular that two versions appeared,ne as a small booklet and other printed in the December 26, 1939 edition of The New Masses.

In 1938, Hoff painted a mural inside Barney Josephson’s historic Greenwich Village jazz nightclub, Café Society, a famed political cabaret that embraced racial equality in entertainment and admission. The nightclub closed in 1949 after the House Committee on Un-American Activities Committee targeted suspected Communist participation. E.P. Dutton & Co. informed Hoff that they were suspending publication of a new cartoon book because of alleged FBI information, which led him to appear voluntarily at the local FBI offices in 1952 to give a statement refuting the assertions. Having cleared his name, Hoff began to step away from his Redfield identity to pursue mainstream work simultaneously as a prolific gag cartoonist and a beloved children’s author and illustrator.

Syd Hoff is now most remembered as a beloved author children’s book, including the 1958 classic Danny & the Dinosaur. He achieved success in other genres, including short fiction for Ellery Queen, Alfred Hitchcock and Charlie Chan, along with commissioned advertising for companies and brands such as Maxwell House Coffee, Eveready Batteries, Jell-O, SOS Pads, and General Electric, among others.

“Syd Hoff, 91, Cartoonist wrote ‘Danny and the Dinosaur” Washington Post, May 15, 2004.

Syd Hoff Cartoons, 1948-1969. Inventory. Syracuse University Libraries. Special Collections.

Syd Hoff, Cartoonist and Author. Official Website. http://sydhoff.org