The first Pre- Almanac

Big Bill Clinton occupies the White House, Dolly the sheep gets cloned and in sports a guy named Mickey Mantle is wowing 'em as the Senators take the pennant  (OK, I don't know sports). It's 1997anf a young cartoonist is about to embark on a stage in his career that will have far-reaching repercussions.  Here, for only the second time in living memory, are two pages from the June 8 Style section of the Washington post for 1997 that introduced  an as-yet unnamed feature to an uncaring readership.  And so,the very first Richard's Poor Almanac took up most of page C-1-


Then jumped a few feet inside. where the cartoon proper was hidden. this was something of a trial run for the cartoonist, whose only injunction from his then-editor. Gene Weingarten, was to make him 'laugh  ("And no penises!")/
   
The rest is history. though there remains one mystery.the original drawings disappeared, only ti be found in a trashcan on the Post's fifth floor with the imprint of a sneaker clearly visible . ˆRescued from the trashcan, the art now decorates Gene's basement office.