"I can't think of anything that represents Roger Price better than his whimsical Droodles. I hope this book keeps his name alive for years to come." -Leonard Maltin.From A Brief History of Roger Price and Droodles:All the geometric Americana of the era showed up in Droodles: cigarettes, bowlingballs, martini glasses, bow ties and TV antennae. Price was infatuated with andinfuriated by television, and Droodles are full of 1950s ad themes like floating soap,marching cigarettes and chlorophyll for fresh breath.The text was pure offbeat Price, with an absurdity that was less post-Bob Hopeand more pre-Monty Python. A Droodle about the Tower of Pisa somehow turnedinto an appreciation of the Italian actress Gina Lollobrigida. A Droodle titled NavelOrange Wearing a Bikini Bathing Suit led to a story about Price's Uncle Parker, thegarbage collector.

("He didn't work for the Sanitation Department he just likedto collect garbage.")Price's unlikely daily feature appeared in over 100 newspapers nationwide, fromthe Globe-Times of Amarillo, Texas to the Daily Telegraph of Bluefield, West Virginia.Droodles were popular enough that in the fall of 1953, Simon and Schuster broughtout a hardcover collection titled simply Droodles.The book cost one dollar and included Price's commentaryon dozens of Droodles. Among them were earlyfavorites like Bear Climbing Up the Other Side of a Tree.On the cover was a note from Roger: "Buy this booknow! It's later than you think!"A sequel to the Droodles book, The Rich Sardine, came outthe very next year and included classics like Spider Doinga Handstand and Bullets for a Square Shooter. By then, Pricewas gathering new inspiration from viewer submissionsto his very own nationwide Droodles TV show.Early in 1954, Price brought Droodles to the NBC daytimeshow of Garry Moore -- his old friend from ClubMatinee days in Chicago.

When 800 letters arrived fromviewers in the days after the show, Moore gave Price acontract for 13 more weekly appearances.