Fritzi Ritz
Encyclopedia
Fritzi Ritz was an American comic strip
created in 1922 by Larry Whittington. It eventually evolved into the popular Nancy
by Ernie Bushmiller
.
Distributed by United Feature Syndicate
, Fritzi Ritz began October 9, 1922, in the New York Evening World
. When Whittington left in 1925, 20-year-old Bushmiller stepped in as his replacement, modeling Fritzi after his fiance, Abby Bohnet, whom he married in 1930. In 1931, when the Evening World and the New York Telegram
merged, Fritzi Ritz was one of the strips lost in the shuffle, but she returned January 10, 1932 in the New York Daily Mirror
.
, whose main concerns were men, clothes, cosmetics and money. Readers familiar with the somewhat more responsible Aunt Fritzi (who was Nancy's guardian
) would be surprised to encounter the original Fritzi, who was quite sexually active (between the lines) and was constantly throwing herself at good looking or rich men.
In one 1920s strip, she says she is 19 years of age. In later decades, she appears to be in her late twenties or early thirties. The December 3, 1930 strip finds Fritzi stating she was born in New York. She worked as an actress. Her boss, Mr. Blobbs, a short plump man with glasses, was a nice guy, although sometimes cheap. Blobbs' last appearance was in May 1932.
On January 2, 1933, Nancy, Fritzi's niece, appeared as a house guest and very quickly overtook the strip. During the 1930s, it is mentioned at least twice that Fritzi and Nancy live in New York City, though it is uncertain whether that means Manhattan or another borough. It is mentioned during the 1935 continuity when Nancy runs away from home and winds up at an Indian reservation. After that period, their city of residence is never mentioned again.
By 1938, when Sluggo Smith was added, the daily was renamed Nancy and Fritzi became a guardian, or quasi-mother, for Nancy. From that point on, Fritzi seemed to lose a lot of her vitality and enjoyment of life, and she often admonished Nancy for various infractions, telling her she could not do this or eat that. In her own Sunday strip
, however, Fritzi seemed more vivacious and lively.
at the beach, the mountains, in the country or at a farm. In 1925, Larry Whittington left the strip to create another, Mazie the Model. In May of that year, Bushmiller took over the strip, and Fritzi began dating a regular boyfriend, usually Wally.
By 1927, her mother disappeared completely, though her father appeared until the mid-1930s. The gags taking place at work seemed to diminish by the early 1930s, and the strip took place more around the house and neighborhood. During the 1931-32 period, Fritzi's cousin James appeared. He was about ten years old and usually had a mean scowl on his face. Bushmiller was attempting to pair Fritzi with a child, but James did not catch on. It may have been James' bad attitude that did him in, though some cantankerous, mean characters have been popular in strips. He struck gold when he tried again, introducing Nancy in January 1933. James disappeared once Nancy was introduced.
Judging by very extensive examination of Fritzi Ritz dailies at newspaperarchive.com, Nancy made her first appearance in the January 2, 1933 daily strip as a house guest, despite other sources stating both August and December 1933 as her first appearance. There was never a sequence of episodes exploring Fritzi's adoption of Nancy; Nancy just seemed to appear as Fritzi's niece and gradually was seen more and more often throughout the 1930s. An examination of the very first week of Nancy's appearance in January 1933 has Nancy addressing Fritzi like a sister, not "Aunt" Fritzi. However, very quickly Nancy shows her respect to her aunt.
Occasionally, Fritzi's rich Uncle Zack appeared, though he only lasted a few years in the mid-1930s. Oddly, it was rare for Fritzi's father and her boss to appear together; also rare for her father and uncle to appear together as well. Apparently Bushmiller believed Fritzi needed only one male father figure at a time. Lastly, the daily strip was never officially called Nancy and Sluggo, although in the 1950s and 1960s the comic book was changed from Nancy to Nancy and Sluggo during its Dell Comics run, but it was always called Nancy and Sluggo during its St. John Publishing and Gold Key runs.
In January 1938, Sluggo Smith made his first appearance in the dailies, and through 1938, Nancy and Sluggo were often in the Fritzi Ritz Sundays. Proving the pair's popularity, it was not unusual to find Fritzi Ritz Sundays in 1938 to only have Nancy and Sluggo in the episode with Fritzi nowhere to be seen.
Phil Fumble did not appear in any of the dailies. Only rarely were Nancy and Phil seen together; Phil and Sluggo almost never appeared together. Phil did join Nancy and Sluggo in new comic book stories or comic book cover gags. Some of the comic book covers, especially in the 1940s, were done by Bushmiller himself. As the 1950s progressed, Bushmiller ceased drawing any comic book covers for St. John Publishing, Dell and Gold Key Comics comic books.
From late 1938 on, Phil Fumble appeared only in the Fritzi Ritz Sundays as Fritzi's sole boyfriend until the Fritzi Ritz page ended in 1968. Bushmiller ceased drawing the Sundays in the late 1940s. Later Fritzi Sundays were drawn by various ghost artists, such as Bernard "Dib" Dibble and Al Plastino
. Non-Bushmiller Fritzi Sunday artwork was less detailed than Bushmiller's style when compared to the mid-1930s/1940s style. Dibble's style was different from Bushmiller's, as evident in Fritzi Sundays of the 1950s. Fritzi and Phil never married.
Comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
created in 1922 by Larry Whittington. It eventually evolved into the popular Nancy
Nancy (comic strip)
Nancy is an American daily and Sunday comic strip, originally written and drawn by Ernie Bushmiller and distributed by United Feature Syndicate....
by Ernie Bushmiller
Ernie Bushmiller
Ernest Paul Bushmiller, Jr. was an American cartoonist, best known for creating the long-running daily comic strip Nancy....
.
Distributed by United Feature Syndicate
United Media
United Media is a large editorial column and comic strip newspaper syndication service based in the United States, owned by The E.W. Scripps Company. It syndicates 150 comics and editorial columns worldwide. Its core business is the United Feature Syndicate and the Newspaper Enterprise Association...
, Fritzi Ritz began October 9, 1922, in the New York Evening World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
. When Whittington left in 1925, 20-year-old Bushmiller stepped in as his replacement, modeling Fritzi after his fiance, Abby Bohnet, whom he married in 1930. In 1931, when the Evening World and the New York Telegram
New York World-Telegram
The New York World-Telegram, later known as the New York World-Telegram and Sun, was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.-History:...
merged, Fritzi Ritz was one of the strips lost in the shuffle, but she returned January 10, 1932 in the New York Daily Mirror
New York Daily Mirror
The New York Daily Mirror was an American morning tabloid newspaper first published on June 24, 1924, in New York City by the William Randolph Hearst organization as a contrast to their mainstream broadsheets, the Evening Journal and New York American, later consolidated into the New York Journal...
.
Characters and story
At least for the first decade or so, Fritzi Ritz was a silly, frivolous flapperFlapper
Flapper in the 1920s was a term applied to a "new breed" of young Western women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior...
, whose main concerns were men, clothes, cosmetics and money. Readers familiar with the somewhat more responsible Aunt Fritzi (who was Nancy's guardian
Legal guardian
A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability...
) would be surprised to encounter the original Fritzi, who was quite sexually active (between the lines) and was constantly throwing herself at good looking or rich men.
In one 1920s strip, she says she is 19 years of age. In later decades, she appears to be in her late twenties or early thirties. The December 3, 1930 strip finds Fritzi stating she was born in New York. She worked as an actress. Her boss, Mr. Blobbs, a short plump man with glasses, was a nice guy, although sometimes cheap. Blobbs' last appearance was in May 1932.
On January 2, 1933, Nancy, Fritzi's niece, appeared as a house guest and very quickly overtook the strip. During the 1930s, it is mentioned at least twice that Fritzi and Nancy live in New York City, though it is uncertain whether that means Manhattan or another borough. It is mentioned during the 1935 continuity when Nancy runs away from home and winds up at an Indian reservation. After that period, their city of residence is never mentioned again.
By 1938, when Sluggo Smith was added, the daily was renamed Nancy and Fritzi became a guardian, or quasi-mother, for Nancy. From that point on, Fritzi seemed to lose a lot of her vitality and enjoyment of life, and she often admonished Nancy for various infractions, telling her she could not do this or eat that. In her own Sunday strip
Sunday strip
A Sunday strip is a newspaper comic strip format, where comic strips are printed in the Sunday newspaper, usually in a special section called the Sunday comics, and virtually always in color. Some readers called these sections the Sunday funnies...
, however, Fritzi seemed more vivacious and lively.
Daily strip
The Fritzi Ritz daily strip began Monday, October 16, 1922, though some sources say October 9. During that decade, Fritzi's parents were seen regularly, though her mother didn't appear nearly as often as her father. Fritzi began working at Star Studios in February 1923. Most of the 1920s gags took place at work, either in the studio or on location shootingLocation shooting
Location shooting is the practice of filming in an actual setting rather than on a sound stage or back lot. In filmmaking a location is any place where a film crew will be filming actors and recording their dialog. A location where dialog is not recorded may be considered as a second unit...
at the beach, the mountains, in the country or at a farm. In 1925, Larry Whittington left the strip to create another, Mazie the Model. In May of that year, Bushmiller took over the strip, and Fritzi began dating a regular boyfriend, usually Wally.
By 1927, her mother disappeared completely, though her father appeared until the mid-1930s. The gags taking place at work seemed to diminish by the early 1930s, and the strip took place more around the house and neighborhood. During the 1931-32 period, Fritzi's cousin James appeared. He was about ten years old and usually had a mean scowl on his face. Bushmiller was attempting to pair Fritzi with a child, but James did not catch on. It may have been James' bad attitude that did him in, though some cantankerous, mean characters have been popular in strips. He struck gold when he tried again, introducing Nancy in January 1933. James disappeared once Nancy was introduced.
Judging by very extensive examination of Fritzi Ritz dailies at newspaperarchive.com, Nancy made her first appearance in the January 2, 1933 daily strip as a house guest, despite other sources stating both August and December 1933 as her first appearance. There was never a sequence of episodes exploring Fritzi's adoption of Nancy; Nancy just seemed to appear as Fritzi's niece and gradually was seen more and more often throughout the 1930s. An examination of the very first week of Nancy's appearance in January 1933 has Nancy addressing Fritzi like a sister, not "Aunt" Fritzi. However, very quickly Nancy shows her respect to her aunt.
Occasionally, Fritzi's rich Uncle Zack appeared, though he only lasted a few years in the mid-1930s. Oddly, it was rare for Fritzi's father and her boss to appear together; also rare for her father and uncle to appear together as well. Apparently Bushmiller believed Fritzi needed only one male father figure at a time. Lastly, the daily strip was never officially called Nancy and Sluggo, although in the 1950s and 1960s the comic book was changed from Nancy to Nancy and Sluggo during its Dell Comics run, but it was always called Nancy and Sluggo during its St. John Publishing and Gold Key runs.
Sunday strip
The first Fritzi Ritz Sunday page began October 6, 1929. A few years later, Phil Fumble was added as a separate Sunday. Nancy, who first appeared in the Fritzi dailies in January 1933, appeared sporadically in the Fritzi Ritz Sundays as well. Through the 1930s, Nancy began to overtake Fritzi's world and in late 1938, Nancy began as a separate Sunday, and Phil Fumble, losing his own strip, began appearing in the Fritzi Ritz Sundays. This was the first time Phil and Fritzi teamed up. Fritzi's previous boyfriend, Wally, disappeared completely. Thus, Wally and Phil Fumble never fought over Fritzi's affections.In January 1938, Sluggo Smith made his first appearance in the dailies, and through 1938, Nancy and Sluggo were often in the Fritzi Ritz Sundays. Proving the pair's popularity, it was not unusual to find Fritzi Ritz Sundays in 1938 to only have Nancy and Sluggo in the episode with Fritzi nowhere to be seen.
Phil Fumble did not appear in any of the dailies. Only rarely were Nancy and Phil seen together; Phil and Sluggo almost never appeared together. Phil did join Nancy and Sluggo in new comic book stories or comic book cover gags. Some of the comic book covers, especially in the 1940s, were done by Bushmiller himself. As the 1950s progressed, Bushmiller ceased drawing any comic book covers for St. John Publishing, Dell and Gold Key Comics comic books.
From late 1938 on, Phil Fumble appeared only in the Fritzi Ritz Sundays as Fritzi's sole boyfriend until the Fritzi Ritz page ended in 1968. Bushmiller ceased drawing the Sundays in the late 1940s. Later Fritzi Sundays were drawn by various ghost artists, such as Bernard "Dib" Dibble and Al Plastino
Al Plastino
Al Plastino is an American comic book artist best known as one of the most prolific Superman artists of the 1950s, along with his DC Comics colleague Wayne Boring...
. Non-Bushmiller Fritzi Sunday artwork was less detailed than Bushmiller's style when compared to the mid-1930s/1940s style. Dibble's style was different from Bushmiller's, as evident in Fritzi Sundays of the 1950s. Fritzi and Phil never married.
Fritzi Ritz comic books
- Comics on Parade
- Fritzi Ritz
- Nancy
- Nancy and Sluggo
- Single Series #5
- Sparkle Comics
- Sparkler Comics
- Tip Top Comics
- Tip Topper Comics
- United Comics
Books
- Walker, Brian. The Best of Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy, 1988. Includes history of Fritzi Ritz from 1922.
- Thompson, Kim, editor. Nancy Is Happy: Complete Dailies, 1942-1945. Introduction by Daniel ClowesDaniel ClowesDaniel Gillespie Clowes is an American author, screenwriter and cartoonist of alternative comic books....
. Scheduled for March 2011 publication by Fantagraphics Books.