Take "Blondie" With You on Vacation – June 1963

Back in the days when just about everybody subscribed to a newspaper, going on vacation presented a problem. Do you suspend delivery during the time you'd be away – and possibly miss some important news? Or have a neighbor retrieve your papers out of your mailbox and save them for you until you returned?

Or would you just have the paper delivered to you at your vacation destination? That's the idea behind this ad, which appeared in the Journal back on June 15, 1963.

It's interesting that the Journal was promoting the comic strip "Blondie" as the reason to keep the subscription going at the vacation address in 1963. The newspaper used "Popeye" in the same way back in 1938. Perhaps King Features Syndicate (which owned both comic strips) provided the ad templates to the newspapers which carried their strips.

It's odd that the idea of not missing any of the comic hijinks of the Bumsteads was stressed, as opposed to keeping tabs on the comic hijinks happenings in Lorain.

Of course, many people moved around a lot on their vacations. We sure did, pulling a camper from one locale to another and never staying in one spot for more than a few days. By the time the Journal would arrive at whatever KOA Campground we were staying at, we'd have been long gone.

Note the ad for Brady's Restaurant (no relation), a favorite topic on this blog. One of these days (or years as the case may be), I'll post the ultimate comprehensive history of the restaurant that I've been promising for so long.

Kinda like the Pueblo.

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Blondie and Dagwood have showed up on this blog several times.

The Journal's Page of Opinion – March 17, 1973

Do you still read the comics each day?

Of course, that's assuming you still take a newspaper, or at least have a digital subscription. I have neither right now.

Which is strange for me, because I used to look forward to reading the funnies every day. I've written many times about how I used to enjoy Li'l Abner and a few others (including Gasoline Alley) while I was growing up.

Both of our local newspapers used to have the comics right in the back section, which was appropriate since they were sort of the 'dessert' to what was served up (and choked down) before. Now, when I do splurge and buy a paper, I never know where the comic section is. Not that it matters, because most of them aren't 'cheater-worthy' (meaning not worth putting on my glasses).

But fifty years ago – when everyone still read a newspaper – comics were still big business and part of the national cultural scene. So it's not surprising that the classic strip Blondie was mentioned on the Journal Page of Opinion. Chic Young, the creator of Blondie, had just died and the Journal was acknowledging his passing. Here's the clipping from March 17, 1973.

I like the illustrations of the Bumstead family, comparing how they looked in 1935 with 1973. 

Blondie has showed up on this blog before. In July 1939, the Bumsteads saluted the Journal on its 60th Anniversary in a special cartoon, along with Popeye and his friends. And in April 1941, the Journal held a special contest to help Blondie name her new baby daughter. 

At the top of the Page of Opinion column, there's a proposal to install crossing gates at the infamous "Killer Crossing" at Beaver Park. Sadly, it would take many more years (and deaths) before it actually happened (which you can read about on this post).

Holiday Editions of Journal Comics – Dec. 24, 1962

While growing up in the 1960s, I always looked forward to the arrival of the Journal, because I wanted to see what was happening in the comics. Li'l Abner (and its strip-within-a-strip "Fearless Fosdick," was my favorite, but I also enjoyed the other comics, especially Gasoline Alley.

But at Christmas time, the plot lines in many comics (as well as the gag-a-day strips) ground to a halt – allowing the cartoonists and artists a short holiday break, and a chance to wish their readers a Merry Christmas. 

Below is the Christmas Eve edition of the Journal's comic pages in 1962. Many of you will recognize the familiar positions on the page of their favorite strips (such as Blondie at the top of its page), as well as the other features on the page such as Tell Me Why, and the daily crossword puzzle.

Note that Al Capp used his Christmas Eve strip in Li'l Abner to wish "Merry Christmas" to list a roster of "those who made 1962 a merry year." This included other comic strip artists (such as Milt Caniff, Walt Kelly and Charles Schulz); comedians (Bob Hope, Buddy Hackett, Jonathan Winters, Allan Sherman, Bob Newhart, Jackie Gleason); writers (John Steinbeck); actors (Cary Grant, Peter Sellers); and a host of others, including Fidel Castro.

Some strips incorporated Christmas into their plot lines or gags (such as the charming The Ryatts). Others (like Bunion and Mickey Mouse) ignored it entirely. 

(Click on each for a larger, readable version.)

As a bonus, since the Journal didn't publish on Christmas Day, the paper included the Dec. 25th comic pages in that same Christmas Eve edition.

Looking at these pages, I only have one thing to say: How come shapely Lolly's little brother looks just like Beetle Bailey?

I also just remembered that as a kid, I once asked my father what his favorite comic strip was. His answer? B.C. I guess he appreciated its laugh-a-day format and slightly intellectual slant that often required a little bit of thinking to get the gag. 

Popeye & Blondie Salute the Lorain Journal's 60th Anniversary – July 1939

In July of 1939 (75 years ago this month), the Lorain Journal was celebrating its 60th anniversary and everyone was congratulating the newspaper – even popular King Features Syndicate comic strip characters such as Popeye, as well as Dagwood and Blondie Bumstead.

Above is a cute drawing featuring Popeye and the whole Thimble Theater cast that ran in the Lorain Journal on July 26, 1939. Artist Elzie Crisler Segar had passed away in 1938 but I'm pretty sure the drawing is one of his. (I even ran it by the Official Popeye Fanclub – of which I am a member – for verification.)

(If you've only seen Popeye animated cartoons and never read any of the original Segar Popeye comic strips, be sure to check out one of the six collected volumes that are available. They're absolutely hilarious and a totally different type of humor than the mind-numbingly repetitive cartoons made for the theaters. Popeye in the early years of the comics is pretty gruff – his solution to any problem is usually to beat somebody up – and he has a full head of hair too, unlike the baldy featured in the animated cartoons. I own a few of these books and they are laugh-out-loud funny.)

Anyway, below is the Bumstead family congratulatory cartoon drawn for the Lorain Journal by Chic Young that ran on the same page as the Popeye cartoon.

As you can see, the Bumstead daughter wasn't born yet. Baby Dumpling's looking kinda pudgy!

(In case you're wondering how the Lorain Journal (which started publication in 1921) was celebrating its 60th anniversary in 1939, I'll explain. The Journal had purchased the Times-Herald in 1932 and in 1939 was merely appropriating the 60th anniversary of the Lorain Daily Times (a forerunner of the Times-Herald), which started publishing in 1879.)

Hey, that means that it's the 135th Anniversary of the Morning Journal this month! Let's see if they do anything special (or if the paper even acknowledges it).

Maybe Blondie and Dagwood will send another congratulatory note (since their adventures still run in the Morning Journal). There's still a Popeye comic strip but it only runs in a handful of papers.

Name Blondie's Baby Daughter – April 1941

April 22, 1941 ad which ran in the Lorain Journal

Blondie has been entertaining us on the comic pages since 1930.

In the early days of the comic strip, Blondie was a beautiful and carefree "flapper" with a lot of boyfriends, including rich Dagwood Bumstead. When the two fell in love and got married, Dagwood was disinherited by his parents for marrying beneath his station. This forced him to go to work, and thus the premise of the strip – namely the day-to-day life and problems of a middle-class family – was born.

Along the way, Blondie and Dagwood had two children: a boy and a girl. The boy – originally nicknamed Baby Dumpling – eventually became known as Alexander.

When the baby girl was born, however, a mail-in contest was held to name her. The ad above announcing the contest ran in the Lorain Journal on April 22, 1941 – 73 years ago today.

Hundreds of thousands of the comic strip's fans sent in suggestions before a name was chosen. Do you remember her name? (If you don't, I'll reveal it shortly.)

Anyway, Blondie is one of my favorite strips and the best of the classics that have been around for decades. It's still well-drawn and well-written, incorporating modern technology and fads to keep it fresh and topical. And the situations are universal enough that everyone can identify with the beloved characters.

Channel 61 in Cleveland used to show the old Blondie movie series featuring Arthur Lake and Penny Singleton. I remember watching them on Saturday afternoons in the late 1960s. There's several where Dagwood is working for someone other than Mr. Dithers and I remember being confused.

Here's the well-remembered opening that was created for the movie series for when it was syndicated on TV.

(I was such a Blondie fan that I even watched the little-remembered 1968 TV series featuring Will Hutchins as Dagwood and Jim Backus as Mr. Dithers.)

Anyway, in case you forgot – the Bumstead daughter is named Cookie!