Another basement find was a scrapbook which we may actually have put together ourselves. It contains the version of his Barnaby strip that Crockett Johnson (penname of David Leisk (1906-1975) put together as a revival of the strip he'd created, written, and drawn from 1940 to 1946. The official Crockett Johnson website says the revival was written by Johnson and drawn by Warren Sattler. It also says the revival didn't last long.

Here are the opening two strips, followed by the sequence that began Nov. 1, 1960, continuing to the strip that ran 48 years ago today ...

While Barnaby could see Mr. O'Malley, events never put his Fairy Godfather within view of Barnaby's parents. Concerned over his fantasies, they finally sought help. They took Barnaby to an expert, who set up a test for the little boy:

This is sort of the way my life goes. After several weeks of working out the details, I'm having my furnace replaced with a heat pump system -- and (I hope) solving a matter of not having a second-floor air-return-vent thingy as part of the house's heating-and-cooling system. What this all means is that, in the quest for the greater good, I have to Move Things About. Again.

But the "again" part isn't as repetitious as some Moving Things About events have been. I discovered (as I unstacked boxes from the tops of other boxes) that some of the Things haven't been moved for years. And a few of the file drawers have quietly contained nice surprises, lurking there in wait for the Christmas-morning feeling of the "Wow! I didn't know I had that!" treat.

One item that awaited rediscovery was a Steve Canyon scrapbook. Don and I didn't make it; my guess is that we bought it from a second-hand dealer somewhere -- maybe even in a Salvation Army Store find. After all this time, I have no idea. While the strips have long since been reprinted, their previous owner included some tangential material -- and I haven't seen this particular clipping elsewhere.

Here, then, for your entertainment and edification: