You are right on the ears, Robb, but if you look at the position of the characters, it is far from bad. Maybe some is traced from Gottfredson (although I can't remember any such drawing), but quite good for amatorial 1930s Disney art.
I like also the panel where Mickey and Minnie are fighting against Pete (and Shyster?).

Thank you for the interesting scans!

PS: a request for including this in Inducks has been made.

Robb_K wrote:

Horace could use a face job.  Does he have 2 seperate mouth lines?

His mouth is bandaged to hold his jaw because of a toothache.

cacou wrote:

Maybe some is traced from Gottfredson (although I can't remember any such drawing), but quite good for amatorial 1930s Disney art.

Probably not traced (at least not to reproduce the original lines exactly), but at least much inspired by Gottfredson; it was my immediate impression upon seeing the second and third strips.
Sthe ship and raft sequence obviously remind me of the Robinson Crusoe story, though that is not conclusive at all (maybe "The captive Castaways" for the ship). The cannibal, however, is definitely lifted from "Lost on a Desert Island"; I'm sure there is such a pose in one of the strips, unless my memory is playing tricks on me.

The first image of Pete and Shyster in the night: I don't know; possible, but I cannot say; there may very well be at least one panel of them lurking in the night in one of Gottfredson's stories.


The two little teeth on Mickey's mouth in the last image are a funny addition.
With larger ears, and a normal nose (ie, without the teeth, obviously, but with the nose ending with the top line-- not the one coming down the teeth), a slightly smaller mouth and more pointed "eyebrows", this one would be a very nice Mickey.
Mickey and Minnie's faces in the first panel of the first strip are very well drawn.

ramapith wrote:

Do we have any Finnish members who can tell us what's going on? (Is the idea that after eating Mickey and Minnie, the cannibal will need to brush his teeth with the sponsor's toothpaste? Hmm, maybe not.)

I'll add translations as soon as I find time to do it.

Timo

Here are the translations for the strips. Very rough, but I hope you'll get the general idea.
First one is in Swedish (Hufvudstadsbladet), second and third are in Finnish. It's obvious, that there have been much more of them. They have been weekly installments, first strips says (Forts. 24.3.) Fortsättar. To be continued March 24th.

Thanks, Olivier, hunting down those samples!



Mickey and Minnie are packing for a trip. Minnie says: "we are in a hurry now. But we must have enough linen with us!"

Mickey is a bit irritated, because Minnie has packed too much stuff in the suitcase. "Oh, I don't have that much clothes in there. The bottom of the suitcase was just too high."

"But we have forgotten the most important thing! Is the drugstore still open? Fast now, go and get some toothpaste, without it I won't travel anywhere! But remember: it must be VADEMECUM!"

"Don't worry, Minnie! The bottom of the suitcase was filled with Vademecum tubes! And I sent a whole case of them to our boat!
---
Our travellers have been out in the sea for weeks but now the strong gale have caught them. Their ship is going to brake! She's sinking!

- Hey Minnie! All's well! the crew got in lifeboats and you can let that board go, and swim here with me to this case of VADEMECUM tubes!

--- Still at last, and land is near! Don't worry, Minnie, soon we are on the dry land and find something to eat.

-Look Minnie, how beautiful, isn't it!? All those fruits and flowers! - I bet we are in paradise!
---

-Did you hear, Shyster?! Mickey brought back from his trip so big casket full of gold, that four people had to carry for it! I bet there is enough gold for us too!

-Mickey! Are you sleeping! I heard noise! There are burglars! They took our treasure chest and that box of VADEMECUM, which we were about to send for king of negroes! (*) Help me now!

- I wouldn't have mind about loosing that money, but when you was going to get that box of VADEMECUM also...

- --That made me very angry!
----------
(*) That's what it says, sorry about this politically uncorrect phrase.
--------

Toothpaste advertisement was published in 1938 on newspaper Vaasa. In text Mickey says to Horace:
- I said so, Horace! You should´ve take care of your teeth otherwise they won´t last long while you keep eating those oats of yours!

- Now go fast to the dentist Drilly, so he can pull off that sore tooth away. And those that will be left, you'd better wash them every day and evening with VADEMECUM TOOTHPASTE! That's what me and Minnie uses, and that's why our teeth will work even to the basement concrete wall!

- Start gargle with mouthwash if you want to prevent sore throat or epidemics!
But be sure you use VADEMECUM mouthwash!

If you compare to the Yugoslavian MM strips from the same time area, from skilled artists, I find the Swedish/Finnish ones technically good (although I'm not sure to which extent the later are traced or redrawn).

I wish they would reprint that Mickey Mouse comic strip in English?  Of Course by the time they print it in an issue of Walt Disney's Comics and Stories my subscription will expire.

I got two more, same paper. Translations below.


april 2nd, 1938:
At last some variation to Your Majesty's meny! Skinny one escaped, fat one we will boil for snack. I bet he is sweet and tender!

Mister king, mister king! There's nothing much in Mickey to eat! Save the poor boy's life, and I will teach you how to brush your teeth!

Very valuable gift, very valuable! My grandfater already used it, but his stock ran out, and I have lived many years without Vademecum already. How much of this you have?


April 9th:
Behold my citizens! Mickey and Minnie are now highly honoured persons! We will sent them to get us all Vademecum that keeps teeth and whole mouth clean!

Here you are, and here... There's plenty of these. Brush twice a day, in the evening and in the morning. We will send you more Vademecum from Finland!

Oh boy how rich these savages are, Minnie! With all these jewels they buy one thousand tubes of Vademecum!
---------

There's an article in Swedish comics fanzine Bild och Bubbla (3/1978) about Swedish Disney comics. In his article Eddie Bremer says that Swedish advertising company Ateljé Dekoratör made comics for first Disney comic book in Sweden called Musse Pigg Tidningen (Mickey Mouse Magazine) in 1937-38. Lars Bylund created art for two comics "Musse Pigg i jättärnas land" and "Småpiggarnas äventyr". I have b-w copy of the article. Sample from Jätternas land (Land of Giants). Do you think this looks similar to those Vademecum strips? Little bit at least.




Timo

Inducks references:
http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=XS+VMC+1
http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=XS+VMC+2
http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=XS+VMC+3
http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=XS+VMC+4
http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=XS+VMC+5

http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=XSC+VMC+1
http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=XSC+VMC+2

And hopefully the Finnish indexers will soon add my index of the Hufvudstadsbladet prints of all of those items.