An internet blogger may have uncovered the early origins for an internet phenomenon, expanding the historiography of the “Distracted Boyfriend” meme to reveal roots in a 1916 cartoon printed in the Chicago Tribune. Disloyalty comes in many forms, but perhaps no representation has taken more of a hold on the internet’s collective imagination than the world-famous “Distracted Boyfriend” meme. However, it appears that this immortal symbol of infidelity born from stock photos may in fact be merely the latest in a long line of distracted boyfriends, and a newspaper funnies cartoonist named Frank King may be the trope-maker.
The “Distracted Boyfriend” meme originates from a stock photo taken in 2015 by Spanish photographer Antonio Guillem, fittingly entitled “Disloyal man walking with his girlfriend and looking amazed at another seductive girl.” The meme itself rocketed to internet stardom in 2017 and has remained a staple of internet culture ever since thanks to its exaggerated yet relatable take on the age-old problem. While similar images across time have been discovered by internet art historians, one such image which shares the meme's parable in note-for-note synchronicity has recently been discovered.
Posted by Kevin Huizenga on his website F Blog following a trip to the Chicago Cultural Center, a distinct and near-identical scene to the widely-replicated meme appears in a 1916 Chicago Tribune broadsheet cartoon, the product of longtime cartoonist Frank King. King’s two-page-wide cartoon takes a bird’s-eye view to the goings-on of an average neighborhood, replete with King’s trademark simple, yet charming humor. Made complex through its sheer scope and attention to detail, similar to Martin Handford’s Where’s Waldo or Pieter Breugel the Elder’s 16th Century painting “Netherlandish Proverbs,” one particular tiny joke in the cartoon involves a woman scolding her presumed-husband for admiring a passing lady, saying, "what you lookin' at Ezry? Shame on You!"
King would later go on to considerable fame as the cartoonist behind the long-running strip Gasoline Alley, an innovative and much-beloved staple of funnies pages in newspapers around the world. Featuring good-natured Walt Wallet and his foster-son Skeezix, King’s style, described by The New Yorker as a “simple, conversational humor” that “stood out as a quiet voice” amidst the more bombastic strips of the day, would go on to inspire a pair of radio shows and two feature films. Gasoline Alley was notable for introducing chronological realism to cartoons, as King would age his characters accordingly as the years went on. Begun in 1918, King would draw the characters for over 40 years, retiring in 1959.
Cheating partners are no novelty of the modern age, and a flagrantly disloyal lover is likely a problem many people have faced over the history of the human race. No doubt this concept, a simple yet pervasive one like many memes, can be found in all manner of art, including music, stories, and drama, for at least as far back as those amenities have existed. However, a 1-for-1 similarity, such as that found in the work of Frank King and the “Distracted Boyfriend” meme, is a rare and fascinating sight given the breadth of culture between the cartoon and the internet curiosity and demonstrates, at least in part, the undying flame of the human spirit. Well, maybe in some regards.
Sources: F Blog, The New Yorker, The Chicago Tribune