Blondie

Blondie and Dagwood

In the words of Dean Young, the son of the strip creator and current producer of the strip,

"The Blondie comic strip was created by my father, Chic Young, in the year 1930. Blondie began her cartoon life in the same flighty, pretty-girl flapper image of my dad's earlier strips (some of which, in his own words, were better not remembered!).

For historical purposes, they were: "The Affairs of Jane," "Beautiful Bab," and "Dumb Dora" (appropriately subtitled, "She's Not So Dumb As She Looks").

Anyway, Blondie Boopadoop was this gorgeous flapper who had a ton of boyfriends...one of whom was Dagwood Bumstead. Dagwood, in those days, was the bumbling, playboy son of billionaire railroad tycoon, J. Bolling Bumstead. In his town, J. Bolling not only owned all of the property on his side of the track, but also all the property on the other side of the track....plus 3,000 miles of the track!"

Dagwood's rich father and mother thought Blondie was a golddigger and beneath his status. Sadly for Dagwwod, when he married Blondie he was disinherited and had to make a living like the rest of us!

Blondie paperdolls were made throughout the forties, fifties and sixties by Whitman, Saalfield and Dell Paperdoll companies. The most prolific were the sets made in the forties by Whitman.

Saalfield made a set in 1940 which became a Whitman set #982 featuring Alexander as Baby Dumpling. However it is listed in Tomart's guide as #996 from 1941.

Here are the sets: