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King's Mixed Pickles
ca. 1925
A.G. Racey

This pen and ink drawing by Henri Julien entitled the "birchbark canoe that flies", illustrates one of the most widespread Christmas legends in Quebec oral tradition.

While Bengough was the most important cartoonist in Canada prior to 1900, Henri Julien, a contributor to Canadian Illustrated News and its French sister publication, L'Opinion Publique from 1874 on, was the better artist. As a highly regarded illustrator he was in demand by such journals as Harpers, Century, Le Monde Illustré and the Graphic. For all you sci-fi buffs he illustrated the first science-fiction book published in Canada, Douglas Erskine's (John Stuart Buchan)  "A Bit Of Atlantis" circa 1900  The only Canadian who rivalled Julien during his peak was expatriate Palmer Cox, the creator of the wildly popular Brownies.
In 1888 Julien became the first full-time cartoonist when the Montreal Star hired him as its chief artist, he was succeeded by Arthur G. Racey who put together a series of cartoons called "The Englishman in Canada" while contributing to the Moon a Toronto humour magazine established in about 1901. At the same time J. B. Fitzmaurice was submitting his cartoons executed in a comic strip style (as opposed to single panel cartoons) to the Vancouver Daily Province. The legendary racy satire magazine the Calgary Eye-Opener was launched by Bob Edwards in 1902, as cartoonist and publisher he had an eye for talented artists and hired pros like Donald McRitchie and Charles Forrester. The paper was folded when its founder died in 1922, but such was its fame that a American version was started under the editorship of the legendary Carl Barks.