Quality: The First Statement of Ownership

Another minute thing that was not available when I was writing the Quality Companion, was their first Statement of Ownership filing, now availble from the DCM in Feature Funnies #4 (Jan. 1938).

The statement, which was required by law to run in periodicals, cites Edward Cronin as Editor and Ann L. Horgan as Business Manager, a name that has heretofore not popped up. I'm not sure whether she worked for Busy Arnold or one of the other partners.

The five entities listed as owners coincide with those listed in sources of record (including Jim Steranko's History of the Comics) were:

• Comic Favorites, Inc. According to Steranko, this was the name of the parent corporation. It was represented by:
• Frank J. Murphy (treasurer of the McNaught Syndicate; I discovered this proof here,  Smallwood, James M. and Steven K. Grager, eds. Will Rogers' Daily Telegrams.  Oklahoma State University Press, Stillwater, Oklahoma. 1978.)
• Frank J. Markey, affiliated with McNaught and also ran his own small syndicate.
  
• Henry P. Martin, Jr., (representing the Des Moines Rigister & Tribune), and
• Everett M. Arnold.

There's a reason why this information—which is largely just corroborative—is a big deal to me. It's a relief to me because there were some anomalous comments printed that made me question whether Busy Arnold was truly a full initial partner. I talked about the reasons behind this doubt earlier.

This Statement lists what must have been the Arnolds's home address in Old Greenwich, Connecticut. That original house has reportedly been torn down (in an Alter Ego interview by Jim Amash). For kicks I tried to go there on Google Maps but the street has not been photographed! Looks like a perfectly charming neighborhood, though.