‘‘Keeping Up with the Joneses depicts the McGinis family, Aloysius, Clarice, their daughter Julie, and their housekeeper Bella Donna, who struggle to “keep up” with the lifestyle of their neighbors, the unseen Joneses. The comic coined the well-known catchphrase “keeping up with the Joneses”,referring to people’s tendency to judge their own social standing according to that of their neighbors.’’

Amazing discovery i made while searching for b&w english-language comics from the 20th century (the likes of The Phantom) to read in my (normal b&w) ereader. The link posted is a small ‘‘collectors’’ book of 1920, one of 2 made during its long run (and is the only piece of the media available on the internet). Unfortunately, the series had faded in obscurity already in the past century, and there was never a ‘‘omnibus’’ edition with all the strips. But the comic was famous for a few decades, and the catchphrase is still widely used in north-american english. The comic in itself is still very funny and witty to read, well drawn, and the now past setting lends it an extra charm with something different from the current normal settings.