140:, was the first good-looking married woman in comics) on his own wife, but being a mere 26 years old at the time, probably didn't base Casper on himself. The strip only lasted a couple of months in this form, but was back for good in 1920. On its return, Casper was a little taller, a little hairier, a little younger and a lot more important as a character; and there were two additions—a Sunday page beginning in July of that year, and a baby named Buttercup born in December. The immensely popular Buttercup beat
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and the like serving up daily doses of high adventure, the plots got more melodramatic. But the central theme, the funny side of family life, remained. During the early years of the strip, Toots' had a brunette haircut, but by 1925 Murphy changed her hair color to a reddish blond, which was kept
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Both the daily and the Sunday strips were popular favorites for decades. In 1934, Murphy began including collectible images (formatted like postage stamps) in his Sunday strips along with paper dolls, and these features proved so popular they were subsequently imitated by other cartoonists. The
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s
Skeezix into print by three months, but Skeezix beat Buttercup to adulthood by a much greater margin. In fact, while Skeezix was in the U.S. Army, fighting World War II, the Hawkins kid was finally getting into grammar school—which is about as old as he ever got. Like the era's quintessential
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Other characters included Casper's conceited neighbor
Colonel Hoofer (alongside his wife Sophie and their son Teddy), who often found himself short on cash. Toots' uncles Everett Chuckle and Abner were also featured. Everett found and married his long-lost sweetheart Elsie in 1929, while Abner
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licensing and merchandising, with items that ran the gamut from pins and dolls to comic books. The daily continued until 1951, and the Sunday strip lasted until 1956. Murphy's illness near the end of the run prompted the recycling of earlier strips and the hiring of ghost artists.
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strip but soon settled into a successful pattern of serialized stories of romance and mystery involving newlyweds Toots and Casper
Hawkins, their child Buttercup and dog Spare-Ribs (who entered a dog race with a $ 2500 prize in 1933).
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Toots and Casper had a child, a boy named
Buttercup, in November 1920. Buttercup remained a baby for over 20 years, eventually growing up to a six-year-old in the early 1940s, as noted by comics historian Don Markstein:
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Young, stylish, vivacious Toots was the star in the beginning, with short, bald, middle-aged Casper a mere stereotype of the harried, put-upon husband. It's said Murphy based Toots (who, according to historian
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and other Hearst newspapers beginning
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silent comedy film shorts with Cullen
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29:#6 (February 1951). Toots and Casper are the second and third from the left in the bottom row.
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commented on the strip's portrait of a happy, idealized family life: "Like
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began the following year (July 25, 1920). The Sunday page carried a
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268:. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 391.
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Thelma Hill and Bud Duncan starred in the 1927-29 series of
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American
Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide
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American
Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide
367:: The Complete Index. Cambria, CA: Comics Access, 1995.
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The strip gave rise to a much recited jump-rope rhyme:
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357:. New York: Facts on File, 1990.
398:"A Few Facts about the Funnies"
355:Encyclopedia of American Comics
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353:Goulart, Ron, editor.
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1162:The Katzenjammer Kids
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233:Buttercup bought the
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195:There was a wave of
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1127:The Incredible Hulk
833:Alphonse and Gaston
607:Legalization Nation
113:It's Papa Who Pays!
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1618:Cartoon portal
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1134:Inside Woody Allen
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565:Hägar the Horrible
293:. Macmillan, 1947.
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1323:Radio Patrol
1321:
1314:
1307:
1302:Piranha Club
1300:
1293:
1286:
1279:
1272:
1267:Oh, Brother!
1265:
1258:
1251:
1244:
1237:
1230:
1225:Mickey Mouse
1223:
1216:
1209:
1202:
1197:Little Jimmy
1195:
1188:
1181:
1174:
1167:
1160:
1153:
1148:José Carioca
1146:
1139:
1132:
1125:
1118:
1111:
1104:
1097:
1090:
1083:
1076:
1069:
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1055:
1048:
1041:
1034:
1027:
1020:
1013:
1006:
999:
992:
985:
978:
971:
964:
959:Captain Kate
957:
950:
943:
936:
929:
922:
915:
910:Big Ben Bolt
908:
901:
894:
887:
880:
873:
866:
859:
852:
845:
838:
831:
826:Agatha Crumm
824:
819:Ace Drummond
817:
810:
792:
785:
778:
771:
766:
759:
752:
745:
738:
733:Sam and Silo
731:
724:
717:
710:
703:
696:
689:
682:
675:
668:
661:
654:
647:
640:
633:
626:
619:
612:
605:
598:
591:
586:Judge Parker
584:
577:
570:
563:
556:
551:Flash Gordon
549:
542:
535:
528:
521:
514:
507:
500:
493:
486:
479:
472:
465:
458:
451:
402:
391:
364:
354:
326:
320:
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290:
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234:
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207:
196:
194:
185:Sunday strip
180:
174:
170:
161:
155:
149:
141:
129:
124:
120:
119:interrupted
116:
112:
108:
101:Sunday strip
94:
87:
83:
81:
71:
70:
59:
52:
44:Jimmy Murphy
38:is a family
34:
33:
32:
26:
18:
1593:Kings Watch
1570:King Comics
1565:Jay Kennedy
1519:What a Guy!
1491:Tumbleweeds
1477:Triple Take
1379:Sam's Strip
1372:Rusty Riley
1078:Gummi Bears
1008:Dr. Kildare
1001:Donald Duck
924:Boner's Ark
726:Sally Forth
719:Safe Havens
698:Rae the Doe
663:The Phantom
572:Hi and Lois
163:Buck Rogers
109:Hotsy Totsy
97:daily strip
74:began as a
40:comic strip
1645:Categories
1155:Jungle Jim
1085:Half Hitch
973:Crankshaft
952:Buz Sawyer
896:Betty Boop
882:Baron Bean
804:Historical
635:Mary Worth
621:Mark Trail
600:Laff-a-Day
509:Carpe Diem
460:Baby Blues
291:The Comics
242:References
235:Daily News
157:Dick Tracy
1358:Rip Kirby
1330:Red Barry
1281:Ozark Ike
1176:Krazy Kat
1029:Etta Kett
1022:Edge City
1015:Dumb Dora
523:Deflocked
151:The Gumps
76:gag-a-day
1560:DailyINK
1260:The Norm
754:Six Chix
86:for the
1543:Related
1246:My Cage
1064:Grandma
945:Buckles
495:Blondie
488:Bizarro
445:Current
348:Sources
60:Blondie
1498:Tundra
1407:Skippy
1351:Retail
1337:Redeye
1316:Quincy
861:Archie
670:Popeye
628:Marvin
537:Dustin
516:Curtis
439:comics
371:
333:
272:
105:topper
1484:Trudy
1435:Teena
1386:Scamp
1120:Henry
1113:Hejji
1099:Hazel
980:Crock
787:Zippy
773:Tiger
649:Mutts
204:Films
178:daily
1253:Norb
794:Zits
747:Shoe
369:ISBN
331:ISBN
270:ISBN
121:Papa
95:The
1057:Gil
42:by
1647::
363:.
299:^
250:^
160:,
429:e
422:t
415:v
375:.
339:.
278:.
237:.
145:'
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