TOONERVILLE TROLLEY IN NEWFOUNDLAND

by BK Munn

During WWII, Newfoundland, and especially the airfields at Gander, was the centre of the universe, and there was a heavy Allied presence in the area. This 1945 article from the Atlantic Guardian details the construction of a railway for moving troops and supplies to Ernest Harmon Air Force Base, a U.S. base that existed from 1941 to 1966 and is now the Stephenville International Airport. Toonerville Trolley was a long-running U.S. comic strip by Fontaine Fox that ran from 1905-1955. Also known as Toonerville Folks, the strip centred on a small-town streetcar operated by the grizzled Skipper who interacted with a cast of eccentric local characters. The popular strip was adapted into silent movies and a series of 1930s animated cartoons produced by The Van Beuren studio. Between 1927 and 1934, a series of short Our Gang-styled comedies set in Toonerville and starring a young Mickey Rooney as the titular Mickey McGuire, a character from the comic strip, were produced in Hollywood.