Forgotten immigrant voices: the early Ukrainian Canadian comics of Jacob Maydanyk

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the early 1900s, thousands of Northern and East European immigrants settled across the Canadian prairies. The city of Winnipeg became the epicentre of ethnic publication, and in the language of the homelands, the multilingual press often introduced humorous comics as a measure of levity – counterbalancing the challenges of integration and survival. As a case study, this article looks back at the work of artist Jacob Maydanyk and his infamous Ukrainian Canadian cartoon characters Uncle Shtif (Steve) Tabachniuk [Вуйко Штіф Табачнюк] and Nasha Meri (Our Mary) [Наша Мері]. As voices of an immigrant minority, they quickly became popular across the country, portraying the lives of those who were motivated to fit into a new community. However, Shtif and Meri were never picked-up for syndication, and by 1935 the comic strips became dated. Forgotten and rejected, Maydanyk’s comics no longer mirror the lives of Ukrainian Canadians, and are now typically found on the back shelves of archives and museum libraries.