Seventy years ago-in the 1940s- we used to refer to newspaper comic strips as the “funnies.” I don’t know if that was a family thing or maybe just an Ohio expression. The “funnies” were a standard feature in almost every major American newspaper except the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Before television arrived on the scene the funnies were a major source of amusement and everyone had their favorites.
When I was 10, I would wait down by the mailbox for the afternoon’s edition of the Canton Repository. RED RYDER was the big attraction for me.
I don’t recall what Terry looked like of TERRY AND THE PIRATES but I was fascinated by the Dragon Lady’s outfits. When I was 12 she was the epitome of chic!
GASOLINE ALLEY, LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE AND POPEYE were “before my time” and they didn’t hold my interest.
The lush illustrations in PRINCE VALIANT caught me as a young adult. The cartoonist was big on historical details and it made for fascinating reading. The first comic strip I recall reading where people got older.
DAGWOOD has been around since 1933.The guy never ages and seems to entertain generation after generation.
I still like the funnies but read them only occasionally now. They were a major part of my growing up. Books are my reading now.
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Joan
I still like the funnies but read them only occasionally now. They were a major part of my growing up. Books are my reading now.
If you would like to respond, just click the link below that refers to “comment.”
Joan
The funnies! Haven't used that term in ages and never thought about it. Of course it's the comics now, at least in this part of the country. I remember my father reading Alley Oop, and Pogo. Didn't understand the attraction! I can't really remember what "funnies" I liked to read back then, and I only give them a cursory glance nowadays. Agree with Prince Valiant!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading "For Better or For Worse" for years, well into my adult life - it also had the unusual convention of allowing its characters to age. I still remember how traumatized I was to read that the family sheepdog, Farley, had died while rescuing a child from drowning in a flood!
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