Everyone’s favorite sarcastic, overweight, orange tabby cat who loves lasagna and hates Mondays has been in our lives since June 19th, 1978. On this day in 1978, the cartoon cat’s life was first published in what is now the world’s most syndicated comic strip. Thanks to creator Jim Davis, Garfield’s sarcastic and lazy nature has been loved and appreciated by many for decades. Here’s to another June 19, a special day indeed—Garfield Day!
In case you don’t know who Garfield is (but seriously, how could you not?), we’re bringing you some further insight into the feline mind of the world’s funniest and sassiest cat.
- He hates Mondays for a reason: It’s not as if Garfield does much on any other day of the week, but—according to Davis—Mondays for Garfield are “just a reminder that his life is the same old, same old cycling again.” Also, the most unfortunate situations seem to specifically happen to him on Mondays.
- Garfield’s namesake: Garfield is not actually named after President James A. Garfield, but rather Davis’ own grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis. See a connection between the identical names of Davis’ grandfather and the 20th President of the United States? That’s because his grandfather was named after the President! It’s all connected, folks.
- The comic takes place in Indiana: Did you know that the setting of Garfield is technically Muncie, Indiana (Davis’ hometown)? Davis chooses not to mention that too often. He wants people from all over the world to feel like Garfield is their friend and next-door neighbor, as Davis stated that “Dealing with eating and sleeping, being a cat, Garfield is very universal.” He grew up on a farm that had 25 cats—and based Garfield’s personality on several of them.
- Davis’ initial idea for the comic was not to have Garfield be the main character: That decision wasn’t made until numerous agencies convinced Davis to make the cat the complete focus instead. His original idea was to make the comic be about Jon, the owner, but have his cat come into the story randomly and provide all the punchlines.
- And the record for the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip goes to…: Garfield, of course! According to the Guinness World Records, Garfield has been syndicated in over 2500 newspapers and journals. That’s a whole lot of attention on one cat!
What do you guys think about Garfield’s everlasting sassy personality? I want to hear your opinions in the comments below.