Character in comic strip "Barney Google and Snuffy Smith," which began in 1919 in the sports section of the Chicago Herald and Examiner as "Take Barney Google, F'rinstance." Penned by Billy DeBeck, it starred the cigar-smoking, poker-playing, girl-chasing sports fan and less than upstanding citizen Barney Google. He owned a horse named Spark Plug, and his wife, with whom he has a stormy relationship, he calls Sweet Woman. By October of 1919, the strip was distributed by King Features to newspapers all across the country. In 1942, the strip was inherited by DeBeck's long-time assistant, Fred Lasswell, who continues to draw the strip today, though Lasswell has changed the focus to be on Snuffy Smith.

The strip and the character inspired the song, "Barney Google (With the Goo-Goo-Googly Eyes)." In 1995, the U.S. Postal Service issued a Barney Google stamp.