Number 1237: “. . . the one about the farmer’s daughter.”

I like a good dirty joke as much as the next guy. But I've heard the question, “Have you heard the one about the traveling salesman and the farmer’s daughter?” many times in movies, yet have never heard anyone tell an actual traveling salesman and farmer’s daughter joke. I didn't know there really were jokes about the traveling salesman and the farmer’s daughter.

The Farmer's Daughter #1 (1954) is interesting. This story is about the traveling salesman and the farmer’s daughter! Aha. Now we're getting somewhere. It’s published by Stanhall. Its indicia lists Adolphe Barreaux (“Sally the Sleuth” and various crime comic books) as executive editor, and Hal Seeger as editor. Hal Seeger, an animator, went on in the ’60s to create Batfink. A copyright notice in The Farmer's Daughter gives him the copyright for the book.

Paul Spector, in his apparently vacated blog devoted to his father’s work, Spectorphile, credits Irv Spector with writing and art on The Farmer's Daughter. A commenter to that posting said that title character Amy appears to be drawn by Bill Williams, who also did comic books for Stanhall, and later in association with John Stanley.

The head swims. The Farmer's Daughter, despite its racy-sounding premise, Amy's busty, bare-legged and barefoot cuteness, and its cast of very funny characters, was short-lived. It lasted four issues in 1954. Seeger created a couple of other short-lived comics for Stanhall with Oh, Brother, and G.I. Jane, both with art signed by Bill Williams. The comics all ended just about the time the Comics Code was implemented. Had they submitted The Farmer's Daughter to the Code it might not have passed, based on the storyline and dialogue, and one of the best punch lines ever in a mainstream comic book.