Fritzi Ritz is an American comic strip created in 1922 by Larry Whittington. In 1925, the strip was taken over by Ernie Bushmiller and, in 1938, the daily strip evolved into the popular Nancy. The Sunday edition of the strip, begun by Bushmiller in 1929, continued until 1967.
Publication history
Distributed by United Feature Syndicate, Fritzi Ritz began October 9, 1922, in the New York Evening World. Whittington left after three years, and starting May 14, 1925, 20-year-old Bushmiller stepped in as his replacement, eventually modeling Fritzi after his fiancée, 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 it returned January 10, 1932, in the New York Daily Mirror.
Characters and story
Fritzi was initially portrayed as a flapper, whose main concerns were men, clothes, cosmetics, and money. This is a far cry from her more-familiar image as Nancy's level-headed, responsible guardian.
In one 1920s strip, she says she is 19 years old. In later decades she appears to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She states in the December 3, 1930, strip that she was born in New York. Beginning in 1923, Fritzi worked as an actress. Her boss, Mr. Blobbs, a short plump man with glasses, was a sometimes cheap but nice guy. Blobbs' last appearance was in May 1932.
On January 2, 1933, Fritzi's niece Nancy appeared as a houseguest and eventually 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, Sluggo Smith had been added and the daily was renamed Nancy with Fritzi becoming Nancy's guardian and parental figure and her portrayal in the main strip became more authoritative as she took on parental and disciplinarian responsibilities. In her own Sunday strip, which continued for several years after the daily strip's name change, she maintained more of her original fun-loving spirit.
When Bushmiller died, the Nancy strip was taken over by Mark Lasky (dailies) and Al Plastino (Sundays). Both kept the strip and Fritzi much as Bushmiller had left her. When Jerry Scott took over the dailies following the death of Lasky, he gradually reduced Fritzi's appearances until, by the time he took over the Sundays as well, she was reduced to only an off-panel voice, at most.
When Guy Gilchrist and his brother Brad took over, they re-introduced Fritzi, increasing her visibility to the point where she was equally prominent with Nancy herself. They also re-introduced Phil Fumble, an early boyfriend of Fritzi's, and the final strip of Gilchrist's run saw Phil and Fritzi getting married.
Current writer/artist Olivia Jaimes rebooted the series, bringing it back to the status quo of the late Bushmiller era, albeit with a focus on modern tech. Fritzi is once again the unmarried guardian of Nancy, making regular appearances.
Daily strip
The Fritzi Ritz daily strip began Monday, October 9, 1922. In the early strips, Fritzi lived with her father and her Aunt Evelyn (who would eventually be retconned into her mother), with her father being the most commonly seen. She had a regular boyfriend, Ted Nichols (who was poor) and fended off the attentions of Bobby Bonds (who was rich). Fritzi began working at Star Studios in April 1923. Most of the 1920s gags took place at work, either in the studio or on location shooting 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 (syndicated by King Features). In May of that year, Bushmiller took over the strip, and Fritzi eventually began dating a new regular boyfriend, Wally.
By 1927, her mother had disappeared completely; her father, however, appeared until the mid-1930s. The workplace gags 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. Bushmiller struck gold when he tried again, introducing Nancy in January 1933.
