Three things you should know about cartoonist Paul Coker Jr., who died July 23rd at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico…
1. He was an important figure in the history of greeting cards. Born in Kansas in 1929, he studied art at the University of Kansas, served in the military, worked as a graphics designer at a local TV station and eventually (around 1955) landed a job at Hallmark Cards. His work there was very popular and his distinctive style was much-imitated, not just by others at Hallmark but at darn near every greeting card company in the world. Go by a display and even today, you'll see a lot of Paul Coker wannabes.
2. He was an important figure in MAD magazine. Around 1960, Coker moved to New York to seek other, better-paying work — though he continued to work for Hallmark by mail for many years. Also looking for work in New York was Phil Hahn, a close friend of Paul's who'd written cards for Hallmark. When Phil tried submitting material to MAD, he had Paul sketch out a few of his ideas and the folks at MAD decided they wanted both men in their magazine. Coker's first work for MAD was in #60 (January of '61) and he and Hahn became regular contributors, together and apart. (Together, they did "Horrifying Clichés." Coker was the fifth most prolific contributor to MAD, drawing some 372 pieces for them.)
3. He was an important figure in animation, especially for the Rankin-Bass Studio. Coker was the principal designer of, among other specials, Cricket on the Hearth (1967), Frosty the Snowman (1969), Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town (1970), Here Comes Peter Cottontail (1971), The Year Without a Santa Claus (1974), Rudolph's Shiny New Year and Frosty's Winter Wonderland (both 1976), Nestor, the Long-Eared Christmas Donkey and The Easter Bunny Is Comin' to Town (both 1977), Jack Frost (1979), Pinocchio's Christmas (1980), The Leprechauns' Christmas Gold (1981) and Santa, Baby! (2001).
And since I started writing this, I thought of a fourth thing you oughta know about Paul Coker: His fellow MAD-man Sergio Aragonés called me while I was composing the above and we got to talking about what an all-around nice, friendly man Paul was. Sergio has particularly wonderful memories of rooming with Paul on some of the famous MAD trips and he said Paul often knew more about where they were and what was around than the official guides did. Great guy…great artist.