Back in 2021, I published a story on the history of Chicago Bears artwork centered on an artist named Jerry Keefe. The late cartoonist drew his last program cover in 1961 for the Chicago Bears, but the images kept showing up in new ways, and I wanted to tell a story that seemed to be making its way back into relevance with the Bears working with local artists for gameday program cover images.
When I published the story, I had collected a few of the Keefe programs. I eventually framed some of my favorites
and hung them on the wall behind my desk, making for a killer background for the YouTube livestreams for Bear & Balanced. The problem is, I just kept collecting, eventually nabbing a copy of each of the programs with a Keefe cover. That led to interactions with fellow collectors who “might be willing to part with this rare program” if I’d be interested. So, the collection expanded to include a 1939 with a Stu Merrell cover.
This is where I discovered my mistake.
In the article, I said that Stu “Merrell drew the cover art while his dad, Lew Merrell, edited programs for the Bears.” Not exactly. Stu Merrell, a former Northwestern University baseball captain, was the impetus for the Bears to develop a more professional looking program. He drew all the 1939 covers and inside the programs, featured cartoon images of Bears players with little “fun fact” nuggets. Below shows the 1939 cover against that team up north with Joe Maniaci next to an insert “comic” featuring then rookie QB Sid Luckman.
Stu died a tragic death on September 16, 1940. Heading to the offices managed by his father to work on the Bears programs for the upcoming 1940 season, Stu walked into the elevator with no car present and fell 16 feet, sustaining injuries that would claim his life. In the home opener against the Detroit Lions, the Bears featured the following story on the death of Stuart Merrell, giving him credit for upping the level of game programs.
Stu would be given credit as editor of the 1940 programs. Presumedly, Lew helped finalize the programs and eventually took over as editor in 1941. It was Lew that guided the programs from 1941-1962. Lew was an accomplished cartoonist and owner of a commercial cartoon service called Merrell Features. While he never drew a program cover, he did continue on with player cartoons that would serve as delightful surprises when flipping through programs.
Combined, Stu and Lew drew dozens of cartoons over a 23-year period, most appearing in the 1940s. Some cartoons would be reused, likely helping fill out program pages when needed. Lew included cartoons of opponents in 1943. In 1949, they featured photos instead of drawings as the central image. There were a couple of instances of Lew featuring a player originally drawn by Stu (Joe Stydahar and Danny Fortmann below) but for the most part, the two covered all the major and most of the minor players from the dynastic Bears.
Some of the images were clearly commissioned by a company, like a series from a local candy company running a full-page ad with a drawing of a member of the coaching staff. Ray Bray, a good Bears player and entrepreneur, must have liked his cartoon so much that it became an ad buy for Ray Bray’s Cadillac (pictured below). By 1962, Lew was well into his 70s, and while the cartoons had largely stopped near the end of the run, it looked like he was ready to create one last series of legends, but only publishing the gem below on Bronko Nagurski in one of his final programs.
Below are the known cartoons and inserts drawn by Stu and Lew Merrell. A note on organizations: After the 1939 covers, I started with Hall of Fame players, many of whom have multiple drawings. After Ed Sprinkle, I prioritized those that had different drawings throughout the years followed by players with single entries. I ended with the lesser-known players from the Bears’ “Hall of Fame” series (old-timers at the time who likely had some business in the area), the coaches, and finally the opponent series. I think they serve as a fascinating timepiece of a bygone era. Let me know in the comments which one is your favorite.
