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
Chicago Daily Journal Chicago Journal" (1853-1855); "Chicago Daily Journal" (1855-1861); "Chicago Evening Journal" (1861-1896); "Chicago Journal" (1896-1904); "Chicago Daily Journal" (1904-1929). In April 1844, a group of men bought the two-year old "Chicago Express". A few days later, publishing out of the former office of the "Express", the "Journal" was first published, three years prior to the start of the "Chicago Tribune". Richard L. Wilson acquired the paper from its founding group after the 1844 election. He served as editor, with a break when President Taylor appoited him postmaster of Chicago in 1849. When Wilson died in 1856, his brother Charles L. Wilson