In 1916, cartoonist “Pop” Momand introduced a strip in the New York World called “Keeping Up with the Joneses,” about Aloysius and Clarice McGinnis, their daughter Julie, and their maid Belladonna,...

In 1916, cartoonist “Pop” Momand introduced a strip in the New York World called “Keeping Up with the Joneses,” about Aloysius and Clarice McGinnis, their daughter Julie, and their maid Belladonna, all hatching wild schemes to convince everyone that they had bigger and better possessions than the neighbors. The phrase is still common today.