Cross continued to draw the weekly strip for nineteen years until he left Smith's in late December 1939 to join the Melbourne Herald, taking the character of Whalesteeth with him.
In January 1940 the responsibility for You & Me was given to Cross' staff colleague, Jim Russell, who subsequently lightened the tone of the strip and changed the title to Mr & Mrs Potts.
In a complex financial arrangement, the Melbourne Herald acquired copyright to Mr & Mrs Potts and Russell resumed drawing the strip as a daily.
By 1958, it had become an international strip, with an estimated daily circulation of 15 million, appearing in New Zealand, Turkey, Canada, Finland, Sri Lanka, and 35 United States newspapers.
The name of the first was derived from rhyming slang in which "the old pot and pan" stood for "the old man"; the name of the second referred to the character's prominently-displayed teeth, which, when he grinned or grimaced, took possession of the entire lower portion of his face.
In terms of drinking, arguing, swearing and displays of bad temper, You & Me remains unique in Australian comic book history and pre-dated Andy Capp by almost 40 years.