As Opper did not use an assistant, the series ended in 1932 when Opper abandoned it due to failing eyesight. While lacking lasting popularity, the series remained influential and inspired other cartoonists such as Rube Goldberg and Jules Feiffer (who compared the title character to President Gerald Ford) and was also arguably a major inspiration for Charlie Chaplin's "The Tramp" character. It was called "Opper's greatest comic character" by comics artist Coulton Waugh. "Happy Hooligan" is also cited as the first comic to use speech balloons on a regular basis as an integral part of the comic ("The Yellow Kid" used speech balloons as early as 1896 but did not use them as the main means of communication).