Cartoons: Everybody’s Favorite Maid
For more than 25 years, Ted Key’s cartoon character Hazel graced the pages of The Saturday Evening Post as the Baxter family’s maid. But readers knew who really ruled the roost.
First published in 1943, the single-paneled cartoon series quickly became a hit. Later on, it even inspired a TV show by the same name that ran for five years in the 1960s.
Cartoons © The Estate of Ted Key. Used by permission.
“Then I add my mayonnaise …”
February 1962
“Spring Training.”
March 1958
“You’re Eating Out.”
January 1959
“You’ve got to be kidding!”
November 1978
“Don’t sh-h me! I said it once and I’ll say it again!
Woman’s place is in the home.”
December 1946
“How big was this frog?”
July 1949
“I’ve had a LONG, HARD day.”
January 1952
Cartoons: Mom Can Handle It
“You better start dinner without us …”
March 1960
“Talk about tough days …”
May 1958
“P-s-s-t, mom! Daddy’s over here!”
May 1958
“I finally got the kids outside
and away from the television.”
May/June 2001
“Wait a minute! Bless WHAT dog?”
May/June 1995
“Boy, that was a swell party last night—the bed
was full of pocketbooks.”
December 1960
“Now where is my mom and those stupid birthday balloons?”
July/August 1995
Cartoons: In a Pickle
“I thought we were making awfully good time!”
December 1960
May 1952
July 1962
May 1961
November 1960
May 1951
“She doesn’t suspect a thing! She thinks I forgot her birthday!”
1948
Cartoons: Things Grandparents Say
“I wish I could be around when you’re my age. I’d love to see that fashion statement with an adult diaper showing.”
January/February 2013
“Nothing, thanks. Just browsing.”
March 1967
“Make your own salami sandwich.
These are my leisure years!”
September 1978
“I think you’re mistaken Mavis—I’m quite sure
an offensive lineman can be an eligible receiver
if he lines up as a tight end!”
November 1988
“My, don’t you smell macho today.
Is that the liniment the athletes use?”
March 1991
“Honest, Grandma, I can keep a secret. Let me see your Betty Boop tattoo.”
September/October 1998
Cartoons: Company Coming
“But they must be home. It’s only been a few minutes since they sent me to the store for ice cream.”
November 1950
“I don’t know about you people, but I have a busy day ahead of me tomorrow.”
November 1959
“I really had a wonderful time, and I know Marge did, too.”
November/December 1997
“Man! It’s getting colder than a …”
October 1982
“I suppose you want to come in.”
November 1950
“I call this Beethoven’s unfinished fifth!”
April 1959
“Uncle Henry! This is a surprise!”
October 1954
Cartoons: Home Improvement
“How’s old Do-it-Yourself this morning?”
October 1955
“She’s in the back, spraying venetian blinds.”
October 1953
“That certainly isn’t how I’d fix a leak in the roof.”
October 1942
“Say, now, aren’t you the clever one?”
August 1949
“Charlie saved a bundle by
building our cabinets himself … that is,
if you don’t count what the hospital charged for sewing his thumb back on.”
July/August 1993
“Well! I just hope my living room walls look half as pretty as you do!”
March 1952
Cartoons: Car Talk
“I get about seven miles to the gallon …
my son gets the other 20.”
January/February 1995
“The car’s acting up again. It hit a mailbox.”
September/October 2000
“Despite my prayers, I was led into temptation.”
January/February 2006
“I’m sorry I’m late, but I had car trouble.
I was late getting into it.”
September/October 2001
“I couldn’t repair your brakes so made the horn louder.”
September/October 1998
“I get about 22 miles per restroom!”
July 1965
Cartoons: Gone Shopping
“It says, ‘Made in China.'”
September/October 2012
“I’ll take it.”
April 1991
“It’s just the thing I’d need to go with that dress I priced that would go so well with that hat I’m dying to get.”
December 1950
“You know, it should be illegal to sell certain things at the bulk food stores.”
March/April 1994
“Would you rather complain about trying on shoes or clothes?”
November/December 2001
“I take it you won’t be needing to try these on, sir?”
March/April 2001
“The money we just saved, Ella—do you have any idea where we can borrow it?”
October 1959
Cartoons: Stating the Obvious
“Well now we know—she hates carrots.”
October 1957
“George, you’ve had enough.”
October 1957
“We really should be running along so you people can get some sleep.”
November/December 1992
“Well, well, Mr. Conner, are we ready to go home?”
November 1988
“Remember, the important thing on this job is always to get the right address.”
December 1951
“I don’t think he represents the Welcome Wagon at all.”
October 1957
Cartoons: Baby on Board
“She weighs somewhere between 9 pounds
and 18 pounds, 3 ounces.”
August 1949
“Can’t the stork bring it here?”
October 1957
“I won’t stay long—I just want to tell mom good-bye.”
April 1959
“They have disposable diapers
and disposable baby bottles.
Now if I only had some disposable income.”
November/December 2003
“Look, honey! The baby crawled!”
November/December 2003
“Mother said he was sent down from heaven.
They must have wanted a little peace and quiet up there.”
May/June 1997
Cartoons: The Truth About Cats and Dogs
December 1959
“I think he’s trying to tell us something.”
November 1959
December 1959
“She did all right, for a cat that didn’t know a soul in the neighborhood three months ago.”
December 1957
October 1959
“He wants you to notice his new ball.”
November 1951
Recognize the style of this last cartoonist? It’s from Mort Walker of “Hi and Lois” and “Beetle Bailey” fame! More Mort Walker cartoons coming soon.
Cartoons: Science Friction
October 1985
“The next simulation will give you some idea of what it’s like to fly through a meteor shower.”
January/February 1986
“I’m convinced he’s got one of those tiny TV sets in there.”
October 1985
“You have a lot to learn about stem cell research.”
January/February 2007
“Gentlemen, Professor Didlip has some disturbing news about the new miracle vitamin X!”
June 1957
“Don’t look now, but I think we’ve developed a germ that eats microscopes!”
March 1984
Cartoons: Coping with the Boss
“Of course, it’s only a suggestion, gentlemen, but let’s not forget who’s making it.”
November 1957
“So you’ve decided to take your retirement,
Youngblood. … I’ve been wondering when you were going to make it legal.”
September 1981
“A stockholder to see the fathead in charge around here. Are you in?”
October 1959
“If they don’t go back to work at those wages, we’ll fire them and run the plant ourselves. Does anyone know just where it is?”
November 1951
“Hard work and more hard work got me where I am today, Barlow. Not my hard work, of course …”
October 1985
“Did you see where the boy put my sandwich,
Ms. Hudson?”
December 1951
“You may go in now.”
September/October 1992