This Day in History

June 19, 1995

First syndicated appearance of "Rhymes With Orange"

The cartoon strip Rhymes With Orange appeared in syndication for the first time on June 19, 1995. With its debut, twenty-five-year-old cartoonist Hilary Price became the youngest woman ever to have a nationally-syndicated cartoon strip.

Raised in Weston, MA, and educated at Stanford, Price worked in advertising before becoming a cartoonist full time. Her cartoons first appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle. Today, Rhymes With Orange appears in more than 100 daily newspapers across the country. The strip has also been featured in People, Glamour, and The Funny Times.

So what really rhymes with orange? Nothing. Price says she chose the title "to show the singularity of the strip's perspective." That perspective, she notes, is not "traditionally represented on the comics page" and comes out of her own experience: "Being Jewish, feminist, gay—it all informs my work." Rather than regular characters, Rhymes With Orange uses a changing cast of people, animals, and household objects to provide social commentary on the details of daily life. Price feels like she has a special opportunity to present Jewish themes: "when I get ideas about Jewish holidays for the strip I know not everyone in the general population will get it. But I also know that those who do get the Passover strip love it."

Price cites Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, and a variety of New Yorker cartoonists as influences. Vitally important, however, was the work of Sandra Boynton, one of very few successful female cartoonists during Price's youth. Price credits Boynton with showing her that a woman could succeed professionally in this male-dominated field. As a successful cartoonist herself, Price hopes to provide a similar example for young women today.

In addition to her daily strip, Price's books include Rhymes With Orange (1997), Reigning Cats and Dogs: A Rhymes With Orange Tribute to Those Who Shed (2003), and Pithy Seedy Pulpy Juicy: Eleven Rhymes with Orange Books in One (2007). Price currently lives—and draws—in Massachusetts.

Sources: Re://collections (Jewish Women's Archive), vol 6:2 (Fall, 2004); www.rhymeswithorange.com; www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/orange/bioMaina.htm.