he began drawing "abbie an' slats" in 1937. the strip followed the experiences of a rural spinster raising her young cousin, a streetwise urban child. it was the idea of al capp, who intended to start a second strip to build upon the success of his popular "li'l abner". instead of drawing it himself, capp recruited van buren. initially, van buren turned him down, but he was soon lured by the prospect of steady work, as he had just had his first and only child with his wife, fern. the strip was carried in 400 newspapers but did not equal the popularity of "li'l abner". capp abandoned the strip in 1945, turning the writing chores over to his brother, elliot caplin. van buren stayed on the strip, and it ended with his retirement in 1971.