The Hal-Dude Journal
8/28/2026 – Miss Mizzou
When I (Hal Mitchell) was attending the University of Missouri (MU) in 1956 I learned who Miss Mizzou was. She was a tall, blond, tough and yet vulnerable. She was never seen without her signature trench coat. She was more than the pen-and-ink drawings of the other women, for she inspired calendars, airplane pin-ups, beauty contests and halftime events on the MU campus. She was the creation of Milton Caniff and a prominent character in his comic strip “Steve Canyon”.
In a letter to the Missouri Alumnus magazine in 1959, Caniff explained how an “Ohio State man” came to create a University of Missouri character called Miss Mizzou. Here’s his story:
“I spent a delightful twenty-four hours in Columbia, Mo in 1954, drawn by an invitation to speak during the Journalism Week program. The happy impression of the campus in the spring went deep and lasted. When I returned to New York a subscription to the SHOWME (An MU student magazine) followed and I learned that the University is referred to as ‘Mizzou’. Note: This inspired Milton Caniff to create Miss Mizzou!
More of my comments: when I was first at MU in 1956, there was a Miss Mizzou contest for the Homecoming Game. The winner was driven around the football field sitting on the back of a new Cadillac convertible wearing her signature trench coat. And, as they say, “The crowd went wild!”
PS: Miss Mizzou continued as one of Steve Canyon’s love interests in the comic strip, unchanged since her debut in the fifties. The Steve Canyon strip ended with Caniff’s death in 1988, and with him passed Miss Mizzou, as well.
Hal Mitchell
The Bard of Hearthstone Hills
When I (Hal Mitchell) was attending the University of Missouri (MU) in 1956 I learned who Miss Mizzou was. She was a tall, blond, tough and yet vulnerable. She was never seen without her signature trench coat. She was more than the pen-and-ink drawings of the other women, for she inspired calendars, airplane pin-ups, beauty contests and halftime events on the MU campus. She was the creation of Milton Caniff and a prominent character in his comic strip “Steve Canyon”.
In a letter to the Missouri Alumnus magazine in 1959, Caniff explained how an “Ohio State man” came to create a University of Missouri character called Miss Mizzou. Here’s his story:
“I spent a delightful twenty-four hours in Columbia, Mo in 1954, drawn by an invitation to speak during the Journalism Week program. The happy impression of the campus in the spring went deep and lasted. When I returned to New York a subscription to the SHOWME (An MU student magazine) followed and I learned that the University is referred to as ‘Mizzou’. Note: This inspired Milton Caniff to create Miss Mizzou!
More of my comments: when I was first at MU in 1956, there was a Miss Mizzou contest for the Homecoming Game. The winner was driven around the football field sitting on the back of a new Cadillac convertible wearing her signature trench coat. And, as they say, “The crowd went wild!”
PS: Miss Mizzou continued as one of Steve Canyon’s love interests in the comic strip, unchanged since her debut in the fifties. The Steve Canyon strip ended with Caniff’s death in 1988, and with him passed Miss Mizzou, as well.
Hal Mitchell
The Bard of Hearthstone Hills