Mary Tourtel was created in 1920, at a time when the "Express" was in competition with "The Daily Mail" and its then popular comic strip "Teddy Tail", as well as the strip "Pip, Squeak and Wilfred" in "The Daily Mirror". The then news editor of the "Express", Herbert Tourtel, was approached with the task of producing a new comic strip to rival those of the "Mail" and "Mirror" and immediately thought of his wife Mary, already an established author and artist. Rupert Bear was the result and was first published as a nameless character in a strip titled "Little Lost Bear" on
Paisley Daily Express Paisley Daily Express The Paisley Daily Express is a Scottish newspaper based in Glasgow, covering the Renfrewshire area. The paper, which is currently owned by Trinity Mirror has its main offices in Glasgow. The paper is sold in newsagents and general stores throughout Renfrewshire. The contents of the "Wee Express", as it is known locally (to distinguish it from the "Big Express" i.e. the "Scottish Daily Express") are typical of a local newspaper: local news, human interest stories, classified advertisements, intimations, church news, crosswords, wedding photographs, school photographs, local sports (mainly about the town's football team St Mirren), letters to