My parents and the ‘Love Is …’ cartoons

With it being Valentine’s week, my mind turns to my parents and their romantic relationship. My parents were married in 1971 when the ‘Love Is …’ cartoons were quite popular. The single-frame cartoon series launched in the L.A. Times the year before, and in my childhood, I remember countless clippings of these cartoons that my mom would keep around. I liked them because the drawings and words were simple and I could understand many of them, even at a young age.

©2012 Tribune Media Services

My mom would say that the cartoon couple somewhat resembled the two of them, with the boy figure’s shock of dark hair just like my dad’s and the girl’s longer hair was the way my mom had kept hers back in the day. There is a sweetness and innocence about the cartoon series that appealed to my parents, who didn’t have that storybook romance, but found a safe and comforting companionship with one another. Oh, and they got me out of it, I think they would include that as a bonus!

As simple as the cartoons are, they often carry a universal message of love and good advice about relationships. As an adult, I can see why the series has been so popular for so long throughout the world.

Anyways, the whimsical image of the ‘Love Is …’ cartoon couple is forever burned into my mind and it always makes me think of my parents in a warm and fuzzy way.