Can someone help me figure out what issue of Cosmopolitan the short story that Lady and the Tramp is based on was published in? The story is titled “happy Dan, the whistling dog” or “Happy Dan, the cynical dog” and it was written by Ward Greene. Different sources claim that it was published in 1937, 1943, and 1945.
It must have been pre war because the stories relate that it was shelved while Disney made propaganda films. !937 seems the most likely.
Since this is about a story, let’s move it to Cafe Society.
Colibri
General Questions Moderator
I found the issue. I was having trouble finding it because I was looking for old issues of Cosmopolitan, but apparently it was published in Cosmopolitan and Hearst magazine. It’s in that magazine Volume II8.
What’s the title? How is it similar to the film, and how is it different? Whgen, exactly, was it published. We’;re curious.
Your thread title is completely misleading. A “short story based on Lady and the Tramp” would be a story based on the Disney film, not the story the Disney film was itself based on. And saying that it is in “Cosmopolitan” , without giving the year, suggests it’s in the current issue of the current incarnation of the magazine, a notion I find jarring. I’d expect Disney-related stuff to be in Good Housekeeping or some other domestic magazine.
If it was in Cosmo, well, the mind boggles
“How to keep your Tramp from Straying”
“Sometimes you have to release your inner b*tch”
…and so on.
Sorry about that. I mixed up the word order with the "based on"thing and I forgot that it’s not common knowledge that Cosmopolitan used to be a literary magazine until the mid-60’s. As far as I can tell the story was published in the Jan-Jun(not sure if that’s one issue or a compilation) issue of Hearst’s international and Cosmopolitan magazine, V.118, in 1945. To find it on google books search for “happy Dan” (in quotes) dog(not in quotes. So search for “happy Dan” dog.
I do that and all I get are hits that don’t give the proper title of the story or the proper month and year.
If you search on “Cosmopolitan and Hearst magazine” volume 118 the only hit is this thread. That was never the actual title either. It was officially titled as Hearst’s International Combined with Cosmopolitan from 1925 until 1952, although almost always just called Cosmopolitan. That does yield a hit for 1945.
Ward Greene doesn’t yield a hit, though. There is one for volume 115 in 1943.
Alright, I’ll just link to it. Hearst's International Combined with Cosmopolitan - Google Books
For proof that that is the story search “Happy Dan” “dog”(with quotes) and look at the third or fourth result from the top and read the snippet.
Weirdly, I get “2 pages matching “Happy Dan” “dog” in this book” and both snippets are blank, with highlighted blankness. Tried it in three browsers and got the same result in each.
Those are pages 4 and 19, and typing in Ward Greene also gives hits for pages 4 and 19, so I have to assume you found it. Cynical gives a hit for page 19, so that must be the proper title. Unfortunately both cynical february and cynical march give hits for page 4, both blank. So does ward green february and ward green march. Maybe you can try a search and see if you get text that will differentiate between them.
You might have gotten for both months because the issue may cover the months January-June. Also, I meant the snippet on the page that lists the search results, not the snippet on the magazine page itself. If you don’t know what I mean, I’ll just quote the snippets. Here they are: •MAPPY(sic) DAN, a spaniel, was not like other dogs. Most dogs believe men are good, cats are evil and birds can be caught by chasing them; they have illusions. Happy Dan was born with practically none, and by the time he was six months had . And the other one: While still a puppy Happy Dan learned that men have illusions about dogs. For example, the one about the dog being man’s best friend. Happy Dan was quick to take advantage of his discovery. It made his life softer and jollier and he was …
Hi, I’ve been researching the origin of this story for the better part of a year and I have found the dead ends and misleads to be enormous. I cannot get the Google Books text to load, either. Is there any way you could post a screenshot of your source of this text? It is extremely important to me. I have e-mailed and called and written all over trying to get my hands on this story. Thank you so much for your help in finding this story at long last.
Hi ! 
I’m new on this forum, I’m French and I’m searching this story for quite a long time now.
Does anybody know how I could find or read it ?
I’m not living in the US so it would be easier for me to have it “digitally” (by scans or other way) 
Thanks very much and sorry to comment this old post haha
Have a nice day,
Timothy. ������
“Happy Dan, the Cynical Dog” by Ward Greene ran in the February 1945 Cosmopolitan, as given on this fantastic site.
I can’t find any evidence that the story is available online or anywhere else, except by buying a copy of that issue. Greene did a novelization of the movie called Lady and the Tramp that was released in 1953 before the movie itself appeared. I doubt that’s very close to the original story, though.
Hello ! 
Thank you very much ! I know and it doesn’t surprise me, and I doubt that the novelization is very close to the original short story too 
I will see if I can find a copy of it that is not too expensive, I’ll keep in touch !
Thanks !
I’ve got a scan of the original page and a text version of the story.
Hi, I would be interested!
Interested in reading your scan/text version of the article. Can you share?
As a caution for those buying it on the used marketplace, since Ward Greene’s name doesn’t appear as one of the authors on the cover, be sure you are getting the correct issue. I’ve seen multiple covers claim to be the correct one.
Legitimate February 1945 cover (with the story by Ward Greene):
Often incorrectly identified as February 1945 cover (it’s actually from 1946):
I found this. Page 25 has the story.
Welcome Mightymouseg88!
Frankly I found the story disappointing–although I vaguely remember watching the movie when I was quite young and liked it then.