Alphonse and Gaston were once one of Frederick Burr Opper's most popular creations. A bumbling pair of Frenchmen with a penchant for politeness, they first appeared in William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal newspaper on September 22, 1901. The very first strip was titled - all in capitals - "ALPHONSE A LA CARTE" AND HIS FRIEND GASTON DE TABLE D'HOTE." Their "After you, Alphonse." and "No, you first, my dear Gaston!" routine entertained readers for more than a decade. Alphonse was tall and grotesque; Gaston was short and grotesque. The premise of their strip was that they were both extremely polite, constantly bowing to each other and deferring to each other. Neither could ever do anything or go anywhere because each insisted on letting the other precede him.

Anyone familiar with the Platinum Age of Comics will recognize the name Opper. A prolific artist and writer, Opper's other creations included Willie, Hans from Hamburg, And Her Name Was Maud and Happy Hooligan. Opper's characters sometimes showed up in each other's strips. On one occasion, And Her Name Was Maud featured an appearance by Alphonse and Gaston aboard a runaway sleigh, each of them bowing to the other in the seat. It is difficult to guess how they ever got into the sleigh, since each would have insisted that the other get in first.

Even though they were never daily or even weekly features, Alphonse and Gaston shone brightly for a while, appearing in a few comedy shorts and Hearst collections and even being licensed as product mascots, before fading from public view altogether shortly following Opper's death in 1937.

The catchphrase "After you, Alphonse" continues to be used — often by people unfamiliar with Opper's strip — in situations when a person receives a dare to do something difficult or dangerous or both: the catchphrase returns the dare to the person who made it.

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