"A Christmas Carol" - Holiday Greeting from King Features Syndicate (1946)

"A Christmas Carol" - Holiday Greeting from King Features Syndicate (1946)

Artist: Hal Foster

Here's another goody I see out there that I'd like to get my mitts on: a nice volume of "A Christmas Carol," sent from King Features Syndicate to various newspaper editors and such in 1946.

It features a nice cover by Hal Foster, the brilliant comic strip artist who created the long-running "Prince Valiant" strip.

What I can't determine if there are any internal illustrations of the story itself, but I'd like to get a copy and find out!

What the book does feature, and what makes it a nice collectible is that the endpapers feature a couple of Christmas scenes featuring all of the "stars" from King Features Syndicates' stable of comic strips!

The scene below shows a bunch of them at the dinner table, with Prince Valiant himself seemingly enjoying the tall tale being told by Popeye.

I think that's actually Mrs. Cratchit serving the turkey and not a comic strip character, but not all of the characters are well-remembered today - but there are some big stars!

I also think that's an original Tiny Tim design, sitting down at the end with Blondie, while Dagwood feeds Daisy at the other end.

The other scene shows a bunch of other characters with Santa and his sleigh:

Lots of fun!

And for more fun, here a couple of images of Prince Valiant enjoying the holiday from other sources, as drawn by Hal Foster:

Good stuff all around!

"Blondie" (December 25, 1939) - Part 2

If, like me, you're a fan of old-time radio and got the chance to listen to the "Blondie" episode of December 25, 1939, I'm sure you'll agree that it's a lot of fun.

I like hearing Blondie reading the original text to Baby Dumpling, as many parents would have done back in the day.

Since this starts Dagwood's dream where he finds himself in the story, it's absolutely no surprise at all that his boss, Mr. Dithers, would be in the Scrooge role. The idea of a mean boss has been around for a long time and remains a comedy staple.

The Blondie franchise is one of those long-lasting all-media encompassing phenomena that can't really be explained, except that it struck a chord with audiences.

Blondie's most enduring form is, of course, as a comic strip, still being published 90(!) years after its creation by Chic Young in 1930.

It also spawned a long-running series of movies from the Columbia studio - 28 features from 1938 through 1950!

The movies had the extreme good  fortune to have Penny Singleton as Blondie and Arthur Lake as Dagwood, as they brought the characters to life in a very appealing manner.

Since the movies were so popular, it was not too much of a stretch to have them reprise those roles on a weekly radio series starting in 1939. This show also lasted through 1950. By that time television was supplanting radio and B-movies and a couple of attempts at a TV version were short-lived, but what a run the Bumsteads had!

If Penny Singleton's voice sounds familiar to those who don't know her as Blondie, it's because she voiced Jane Jetson in "The Jetsons" TV series. It's not hard at all to make the connection between the Bumstead family and the Jetsons, but you have to swap the birth order for Alexander (Baby Dumpling) and Cookie to get Judy and Elroy. And the Bumsteads' dog Daisy didn't talk!

The part of Mr. Dithers in the Blondie movies was played by Jonathan Hale, but on the radio show it was Hanley Stafford in the role. Both performed their parts quite well in their respective media.

Hanley Stafford was best-known as "Daddy" to Fanny Brice's Baby Snooks character. He was a terrific radio actor.

I'm not sure who played Baby Dumpling on this radio episode, but it's not Larry Simms, who played that part in the movies. He's my favorite child actor ever and I love how he's credited as "Baby Dumpling" on the cast list of "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), another Columbia picture!

The announcer on the radio show was Bill Goodwin, whose voice is very recognizable to OTR fans, especially for his later work on the Burns & Allen and Bob Hope shows. He also appeared in a number of movies, including a couple of the "Blondie" entries!

And it's always interesting to hear cigarettes being advertised like they were no big thing. To modern listeners, it's astonishing how ubiquitous they were as sponsors!

So, good fun!

"Blondie" (December 25, 1939) - Part 1

"Blondie" (December 25, 1939)
Scrooge: J.C. Dithers

Staying with our somewhat loose adaptations of "A Christmas Carol," we come across this episode of the "Blondie" radio show, as broadcast on Christmas Day in 1939.

It's a lot of fun, so give it a listen:

Next: a few thoughts...