May 15th, 2015

The Tracy Twins – 1957

by Brian Walker, Greg Walker and Chance Browne

Three years after Hi and Lois started, Dik Browne moved his family from 106 Rynda Road in South Orange, New Jersey to 85 Rivergate Drive in Wilton, Connecticut.

Dik’s studio was in the basement of the house in Wilton. “It was a very informal set up, not meant for public viewing – a private workshop,” Chance Browne recollected. “It was right next to the laundry and all of the chaos that engenders coming and going. He would just get up early and stay up late every day. He was pretty much a full time worker. If he was awake, he was at the table.”

Chance described his father’s working methods at this time. “Dad often did things over twice. To see some of the first-time stuff he redrew is mind-boggling in trying to figure out what he didn’t like about it. He had a bunch of stuff taped up on the walls to keep away from kids and animals. He was not a very organized man.”

“The Tracy Twins was always a presence there. They were large pages, up on the wall. The Hi and Lois dailies were smaller in size, more organized, and kept cleaner. He did all the penciling and inking on The Tracy Twins.” The staff artists at the Johnstone and Cushing art agency in New York did the coloring, with input from Dik.

Here is a classic Tracy Twins page that Dik drew for Boys’ Life around the time they moved to Connecticut.

The Tracy Twins from Boys’ Life, May, 1957.

– Brian Walker