BLONDIE

Every morning, I peruse the Rockford Register Star while I’m eating breakfast. As long as I’ve been able to read the daily newspaper, it has included the comic strip “Blondie.”

Blondie doesn’t look it, but she’s older than I am. The cartoon created by “Chic” Young was first published September 8, 1930. He continued to write and draw the panels until he died in 1973 at age 72. Creative control passed to his son, Dean Young, and a number of artists have assisted in drawing the strip over the years. “Blondie” has remained popular appearing in more than 2,000 newspapers in 47 countries and translated into 35 languages.

In the beginning, Blondie, a young, carefree flapper, was a dance hall girl. Her boyfriend Dagwood was heir to an industrial fortune. Before they could marry February 17, 1933, Dagwood went on a hunger strike to persuade his parents to give their blessing. They disapproved of his marrying below his class.

Marriage caused a change in Blondie’s personality. She gradually bcame the sensible head of the household. Her husband became the strip’s clown.

The Bumsteads, a middle-class suburban family, includes Alexander, now in his late teens, Cookie in her early teens and their dog, Daisy. Their neighbors and best friends are Herb and Tootsie Woodley.

Dagwood works for J.C. Dithers Construction Co. and often naps on the job. His tyrannical boss, Julius Caesar Dithers, who is hen-pecked by his wife, Cora, always denies his employee’s frequent requests for a raise and often threatens to to fire him.

The strip has kept its distinctive look and running gags such as Dagwood’s love for big sandwiches. It has also kept up with the changing times. In 1991, Blondie and Tootsie started a catering business. Dagwood rides to work in a car pool and uses a computer.

Do you follow “Blondie?”