‘Treatment’ cartoon sequence

c. 1937

Mellor Papers, Box 8, folder 1

Unpublished

In 1930 Mellor became unwell, and was diagnosed with an ‘advanced stage of anaemia’. In 1932, he suffered a severe bout of ‘ptomaine poisoning’, which is a food-borne illness caused by bacteria. And from that point onwards, illness stalked Mellor. He spent March-April 1937 in a nursing home for an unstated illness, and from that event he created his ‘Benjamin Button’ cartoon, where the adult (‘Peter Pan’) reverts back to childhood, and even further - ‘unborn’. Perhaps Mellor was a fan of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s and read his ‘Benjamin Button’ short story of 1922 while recuperating.