The world’s favorite overweight, wisecracking, lasagna-loving feline turns 37 years old today (June 19).

Garfield, the literary creation of Indiana native James Robert “Jim” Davis, is enjoyed daily by more than 300 million readers around the globe, earning it the Guinness World Record for the most syndicated comic strip.

The orange tabby was born June 19, 1978 in the kitchen of Mamma Leoni’s Italian Restaurant. He tipped the scales at 5 pounds, 6 ounces.

Garfield’s stay at the restaurant was short-lived. Threatened with losing all his inventory to the kitty’s appetite, the restaurant owner sold Garfield to a pet shop. Two months later, a cartoonist named Jon Arbuckle happened into the shop and chose Garfield over an iguana and a pet rock. Thus began one of the most successful comic strip enterprises in history.

Davis grew up on a farm in Fairmount with his parents, brother and the 25 cats that served as role models for Garfield’s antics.

Garfield’s name and curmudgeonly demeanor were taken from Davis’s grandfather, James A. Garfield Davis, whom Davis described as “a large, cantankerous man.”

Garfield was the second comic strip for the Ball State graduate. Despite five years of marketing efforts, his first effort ran in only one newspaper.

This prompted Davis to scour the existing comic strip landscape for ideas. He noticed several successful strips about dogs, but none about cats.

He originally cast Garfield in a supporting role. His pilot strip, Jon, focused on the travails of the nerdy Arbuckle, with the cat usually delivering a zinger in the final panel. Davis’s boss suggested, “The strip must be about the cat. Go with it.”

For the first three years, Garfield walked on all fours. But to make the cat more endearing and identifiable to the readers Charles M. Schulz, creator of Peanuts, suggested Davis give Garfield bigger feet and have him walk on his hind legs.

The comic strip spawned television series, full-length movies, animated specials and a $1 billion a year merchandising empire that includes T-shirts, mugs, toys, games, Caribbean cruises and an amusement park ride in Pennsylvania.

Davis regretted only one Garfield-related product — Zombie Garfield. “It did nothing for the character’s advancement,” he said.

One of the most famous Garfield items resulted from a misunderstanding. The suction-cupped plushes were originally intended to be fitted with Velcro to attach to curtains. Production made a mistake and used suction cups instead. “It never occurred to me that people would put them on cars,” Davis said.

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