Joe and Asbestos

The strip is noted for having an African-American title character (Asbestos), drawn primarily in a style then and now seen as racist.

Quince was a shop clerk who had inherited $3000, quit his job, and immediately set about trying to build his fortune through investments, gambling, and whatever other opportunities offered themselves.

When the character Asbestos was added in 1924, it was initially in a set of strips just for the Baltimore Sun, rather than the syndicated version that ran simultaneously.

Due to the delays involved in syndication of the art and the fact that racing lineups were not set long in advance, the papers would receive versions of the strip with some blank text areas, and would receive a call each day telling them what text to add to show the pair's picks for the day, as well as the results of the previous picks, to be handwritten into the space.

[1] In 1963, the character of Asbestos was redesigned to look more human and less like a derogatory caricature, at the encouragement of the Congress on Racial Equality.

A series of short comedy films starring Eddie Green as Asbestos and Harry Gribbon as Joe were made in the late 1930s.