We would like you to meet a very special friend of ours, Mr. Samuel Lloyd Hutchinson, one of L.A.’s longstanding cartoonists and cultural icons.

Lloyd is responsible for illustrating Parky the Kangaroo, a cartoon character he submitted to the L.A. Recreation and Parks Department back in 1952 for a contest they were holding to find a mascot. The character became ubiquitous and synonymous with clean parks, beaches and streets in Los Angeles over the decades, and has now been similarly adopted across the United States.

(Photo courtesy of Neatorama’s Flickr)

This past Spring, we adopted Parky ourselves, gave her her original intended name back (“Trashy”), flipped the script, and put the bossy kangaroo on some t-shirts.

Lloyd is a respectable 85 years old. Which means he was about my age now when he drew Parky back in 1952. He was a model and actor here in Los Angeles at the time… look at this photograph of him during the ’50s.. can you blame him?

Lloyd recently released a new book of original cartoons… all drawn after the age of 80.

To buy Lloyd’s book, “Bingo Bandwagon,” please send a check for $24.50/copy (includes tax/s/h) to:

Bing Bang Boom Publishing
P.O. Box 492464
Los Angeles, CA 90049
bingbangboom@roadrunner.com

Lloyd only uses 3 instruments to draw his cartoons. A testament for all you cartoonists who invest in all kinds of unnecessary equipment, simplicity is key.

Lloyd lives and dies by his Sharpie marker. We were talking about Sharpies and why their line weight is unparalleled, nothing can beat the stroke of that marker. He was more than happy to receive a bundle of our The Hundreds co-branded Sharpies!

And of course, he got right to work…

Thanks for all the love and support Lloyd.. perhaps we can work on something else in the future? (hint hint)

Lloyd also has some upcoming events in the Southern California region:

Sat. Aug. 22, from 1:30-3:30 p.m. at the Norco Public Library, 3954 Old Hamner Rd., Norco, CA 92860,
Sat. Sept. 19, from 12-2 p.m. at the Lake Elsinore Public Library, 600 W. Graham Ave., Lake Elsinore, CA 92530,

by bobbyhundreds