Named after an animation dinosaur—the metal disks in a drawing table to which animators pegged their drawing paper—The Pegboard has survived the move from ink and paint to digital, “runaway” productions moving overseas, and two industry strikes, steadily serving as an information hub for Animation Guild members.

In the early years, it featured Guild news along with “Exposure Sheet” gossip like in 1965 when Bob Maxfield suffered a bad sprain while leg wrestling with Gussie Moran, and Stacy Maniskas took a two-month vacation to Greece! This, of course, was when the Union was smaller, when it was easier to know everyone on a first-name basis. Still, it served its anchor purpose (which was and is a Local 839 constitutional obligation): announcing the date of each General Membership Meeting.
The newsletter was published sometimes monthly and sometimes bi-monthly until 1969, when animator Jim Carmichael took over the editorship, establishing a consistent monthly schedule. He designated his first issue Volume 1, Number 1, establishing the sequencing we use to this day. Over the years, as The Pegboard continued to provide Guild news, it also offered a peek at our members’ talents with its ever-changing masthead, including one by Sergio Aragones who gained fame for his MAD magazine covers.
Eventually, The Pegboard joined the digital age, and in 2012 it announced: “Members can now subscribe to an e-copy as an online Flash flipbook or a downloadable PDF file.” Then, in 2015, it was taken over by its current editor, Recording Secretary Paula Spence, who used the newsletter’s strong legacy to create an even more robust means of communication.

One of her reasons for wanting to expand in scope was that she thinks The Pegboard is a chance for those members who have the least amount of time “to get as much information as possible in one place so they can stay informed. People may not have time to join a committee, but at least they can keep track of what’s going on.” She considers the newsletter “a chance for the Union to communicate with its members,” and a chance for members to get to know the Business Representative, the President, and other leaders through their monthly columns. It also gives members a voice. For example, the Golden Awards were revived after a lengthy absence after Robert Alvarez wrote an essay on the celebration’s importance.
For 62 years The Pegboard has given us a valuable look into our historical journey as a Guild. Everything of importance that happened to Local 839 can be found on its front pages, from our Executive Board elections and the new studios that ratified agreements with us to “Members Call for STRIKE ACTION!” (1970), “The Computers are Coming!” (1980), and “Titmouse NY Raises the TAG Flag!” (2022). Since its first headline in March 1960—“The Economic Anarchy of Animation”—The Pegboard has served as our water cooler, high school yearbook, and town crier all in one, a role it will continue to play for future generations of Animation Guild members.