VUN T’ING ISS SURE

Rudolph Dirks was born in 1877 in Heinde, Schleswig-Holstein (the northernmost German state). He was the son of a wood carver, who moved the family to Chicago when Dirks was seven. At 20 he created ‘The Katzenjammer Kids’ for the American Humorist, Sunday supplement of William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal (which owned the title even after Dirks continued the strip for the New York World, as ‘The Captain and the Kids’). Hans and Fritz were inspired by the 'Max und Moritz' series (Eine Bubengeschichte in sieben Streichen...A Boys' Story in Seven Strokes) by Wilhelm Busch (1832-1908), first published in 1865.


Katzenjammer is 17th century German slang for a hangover, commonly shortened these days to Kater (‘einen Kater haben’...to have a hangover, Kater also means tomcat). Current English definitions are as follows:

1. A loud, discordant noise.
2. A hangover.
3. A state of depression or bewilderment.

Evidently the original meaning was confused with Katzenmusik, 17th century German slang for discordant sound (i.e., caterwaul). However, the term Katzenjammer was initially derived from the verb kotzen (to throw up), and the noun Jammer (misery...Jammertal is the German translation of ‘vale of tears’--Tal meaning ‘valley’).