# Cartoon Strip Blondie: is she a D-cup? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041 "2004-12-29T02:13:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/1 "2004-12-29T02:13:11Z")
I haven’t looked at this strip in years; looking today I said to myself, that’s quite a chest. So are my eyes deceiving me or is Mrs. Bumstead blessed with D cups? Certainly at least a C cup? ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/2 "2004-12-29T02:17:01Z")
Blondie is at least a D, more likely a double. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/3 "2004-12-29T02:24:32Z")
One of the many benefits of breastfeeding. 😉 (Of course, without the proper, um, support, they tend to go rather drastically southward. Which is why I never understood the appeal of large chests.) ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/4 "2004-12-29T02:38:04Z")
Ah, they’re 1920s style “big tits.” ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/5 "2004-12-29T02:45:37Z")
Yeeeeeeee-ees. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/6 "2004-12-29T03:30:36Z")
Were they really that big in the twenties? Or did they shift style to match later styles and just sort of stick there? I wasn’t around then, but have always thought of flappers as kinda flat. I as only for historical reasons. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/7 "2004-12-29T03:52:34Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Were they really that big in the twenties? Or did they shift style to match later styles and just sort of stick there? I wasn’t around then, but have always thought of flappers as kinda flat. > > I as only for historical reasons. No see here [The Blondie Story](http://www.blondie.com/blondie.html) and especially here (below) for the B cup 1933 Blondie [Blondie](http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/blondie/images/uc03232u.jpg) She had a nice, but not va-va-voom shape. At some point [see this strip from 1944](http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/blondie/images/uc02860u.jpg) her waist became amazingly small, and this makes her breasts look larger, although the “cups” aren’t as defined here as in the modern strip. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/8 "2004-12-29T04:06:31Z")
If y’all are really concerned about a comic strip characters bustline… Y’all have problems you aren’t discussing on the boards. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/9 "2004-12-29T04:14:09Z")
[Here she has morphed into the wasp waisted, torpedo chested Blondie of the 50’s & 60’s (to present).](http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/blondie/images/meatballs.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/10 "2004-12-29T06:09:41Z")
Comparing her appearance to mine as a girl, I am going to say she is about a 36 G. I think her measurements would be about 42-22-36, possibly smaller on the waist. The 20s styles did not favor big breasts, but rather boyish figures. [This page](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tebeosfera.com/Seccion/DMH/01/blondie.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.tebeosfera.com/Seccion/DMH/01/MujeresDibujadas.htm&h=200&w=189&sz=13&tbnid=s8gxjbFis1EJ:&tbnh=98&tbnw=93&start=11&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dblondie%2Bbumstead%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26c2coff%3D1%26safe%3Doff%26sa%3DG) has an earlier image of her and she does appear to be closer to a d cup back then, ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/11 "2004-12-29T13:25:22Z")
So the question is, was Dean Young influenced by Ruth Handler, or vice versa? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/12 "2004-12-29T13:30:25Z")
Blondie has a good shape, but for my money, Daisey Mae from Lil’ Abner is the one to watch! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9bd4f/32.png) [@The\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Cat)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/13 "2004-12-31T13:28:59Z")
This thread is just about as lame as the guys who are discussing how many confirmed times spock has been laid… but for some reason I can’t look away, damn you SDMB! ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/14 "2004-12-31T13:56:26Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > So the question is, was Dean Young influenced by Ruth Handler, or vice versa? Since the _Blondie_ strip pre-dates the invention of the Barbie doll by several decades, I’d say vice-versa, if anything. ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/15 "2004-12-31T14:06:36Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > Since the _Blondie_ strip pre-dates the invention of the Barbie doll by several decades, I’d say vice-versa, if anything. Yeah, the strip predates it. But the observable growth in Blondie’s breast seems to have come right around the time that Handler invented Barbie. Was this just a common trend at the time, influenced by Mansfield, Monroe, Turner, etc? I’d be just as interested in seeing the day that Dean Young “grew” Blondie’s bosom. I’m picturing some schmoe eating his Cornflakes one day and reading the morning paper when his eyes pop out of his head, “Holy Toledo”, he thinks, “Look at the size of the those torpedoes!” ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/16 "2004-12-31T14:27:38Z")
I guess some people’s year end activities have wrapped up sooner than others, that you are reduced to contemplating the bust of a cartoon character until the parties begin tonight. 😃 I’ll be in my cubicle, plugging away. Someone get me when we delve into a discussion of Kate Winslet and the many ways she desires me. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/17 "2004-12-31T15:24:33Z")
> [@ShibbOleth](#): > > Yeah, the strip predates it. But the observable growth in Blondie’s breast seems to have come right around the time that Handler invented Barbie. Was this just a common trend at the time, influenced by Mansfield, Monroe, Turner, etc? Yes, it was a common trend. The “ideal” female shape has changed over time. Here is a rough history of the decades preceding Blondie’s metamorphosis: (I refer to **astro** ’s links here) 1890s-1910s–The “Gibson Girl” shape was favored. Tall, athletic but curvy. Fashions emphasized a small waist. 1920s–Boyish and skinny. Busty women often bound their breasts. Fashions de-emphasized the waistline. The early Blondie was a “flapper,” and reflected the ideal. 1930s–Less boyish than the 1920s, but still not overwhelmingly voluptuous. Blondie had a moderate bustline in the 1933 strip. 1940-1945–There were two “ideals.” First, there was the trim figure emphasized by military inspired clothing. Wartime shortages spurred tailored fashions which used less fabric and detailing. The other ideal was the curvy feminine “pin-up,” which appealed to the soldiers and other Americans suffering wartime deprivation. The 1944 Blondie was the pin-up type. 1945-early 1960s–Shortly after the war, Dior introduced the “New Look,” which was all big boobies, tiny waists, and full skirts. Basically, Blondie’s current figure and fashion sense is Dior’s New Look. After the Depression and WWII, the '50s were about prosperity and the Baby Boom. The female ideal was ultra-feminine, very curvy, and very busty, and fashions often used lots of fabric (like the “poodle skirt.”) As **ShibbOleth** notes, Barbie, Mansfield, and Monroe were icons. So, Blondie’s figure and fashion sense seems to have followed overall trends of female attractiveness from the '20s through the '50s, but has stayed true to a '50s ideal ever since. I have no idea what her cup size might be, but I would say that she has a small frame and tiny waist. That and her close-fitting dresses emphasize what she’s got. Also, she has a truly excellent brassiere of the Playtex Cross Your Heart type–it lifts and separates! In contrast, the Wonderbra-type creates a lot of cleavage, but at the expense of protrusion (It squishes everything together and up, so it doesn’t stick out so much.) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/18 "2004-12-31T16:10:06Z")
[Impressionistic view of boobies](http://www.elizahafer.com/blue_footed_boobies.htm) painted with the artist’s boobies. One of my Exes was virtually waifish except for her breasts. She was 34-21-34, weighed maybe 100 lbs and half of that appeared to be in her chest. She was a true D cup\* but on her tiny frame it looked as though she was about two cups bigger than that. Forced perspective, I guess. _all natural. even considered reduction_\* \*\*not on MY watch! 🙂 Hell, if I had had those things, I wouldn’t have ever left the house. I’d just stay in and play with them all day. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/19 "2004-12-31T16:34:20Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > Hell, if I had had those things, I wouldn’t have ever left the house. I’d just stay in and play with them all day. [Beavis] I’d leave the house to go buy a mirror so I can stay home and look at them all day. [/Beavis] ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041/20 "2004-12-31T18:32:33Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > One of my Exes was virtually waifish except for her breasts. She was 34-21-34, weighed maybe 100 lbs and half of that appeared to be in her chest. She was a true D cup\* but on her tiny frame it looked as though she was about two cups bigger than that. Forced perspective, I guess. Photo-cite? _Pleeeeease?_ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cartoon-strip-blondie-is-she-a-d-cup/282041.md?page=2)