Louis Goodman Ferstadt was born October 7, 1900 in Berestechk, Ukraine of Jewish ancestry. In 1910 his family came to the United States and settled in Chicago.
In 1918 he began to work on the art staff of The Chicago Tribune.
In 1922 Louis Ferstadt completed his art training at the Art Institute of Chicago, and was awarded a scholarship to continue his studies at the Art Students League in NYC, so in 1923 he moved to New York City to seek his fortune.
1926 he drew the newspaper comic strip “Kids on our Block,” which remained in syndication with The New York Graphic for one year. He also contributed gag cartoons and editorial illustrations to the Communist newspaper The Daily Worker.
On January 16, 1930 Louis Ferstadt married Sophie Freedman, and they had one child, Lorna Ferstadt (b.1931).
In 1931 Landon Publishing produced a children's book Peek-A-Boo written by Mrs. Ferstadt and illustator by Mr. Ferstadt.
During the Great Depression of the 1930’s Ferstadt registered with the WPA (Works Progress Administration) Artists Program and was commissioned to paint a mural for WNYC Radio Studio in the NYC Municipal Building at 1 Centre Street at Chambers Street, across from City Hall.
In 1936 Lou Ferstadt began to draw story illustrations for pulp magazines such as Saucy Detective and Saucy Movie Tales, both of which were produced by the Majestic Art Studio of Adolphe Barreaux and published by Trojan Publications. That company was owned by Harry Donenfeld, who was soon to acquire ownership of Major Malcolm Wheeler-Nicholson's National Allied Newspaper Syndicate.
By 1940 Lou Ferstadt had worked for Funnies Inc. and the Eisner-Iger Shop, both of which produced material content for comic book publishers.
In 1942 Ferstadt opened his own comic shop, which he called Comic Supplement Books, at 17 East 45th Street. He produced material content for publishers of comic books and newspapers, as implied by the word "Supplement" in his company name. The Ferstadt shop was small but he eventually sold comic pages to Ace, Croyden, Holyoke, Harvey, Hillman, Gerona, Fox, Rubin, and D.C. The most historic achievement of the Ferstadt Shop was to first employ Harvey Kurtzman.
Lou Ferstadt drew "Hercules" for Quality in 1942, "The Flash" and "Green Lantern" for National in 1942 and '43, "Hap Hazard" for Ace from 1942 to '44, "Cat-Man" and "Mr. Nobody" for Holyoke from 1944 to '45, "The Terror" and "The Whizzer" for Timely in 1942, as well as from 1945 to '46. The Ferstadt Shop closed in 1945.
After leaving comics he spent the rest of hi life as an art school teacher.
Louis Ferstadt died at the age of fifty-three on August 19, 1954 in Phoenicia, New York.
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FERSTADT SHOP ARTISTS from 1942 - 1945
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1942
L.B. Cole
Lou Ferstadt
Harvey Kurtzman
Marty Taras
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1943
L.B. Cole
Walter Davoren
Lou Ferstadt
Harvey Kurtzman
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1944
Walter Davoren
Lou Ferstadt
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1945
Herman Browner
Lou Ferstadt
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