# What was Blondie's maiden name? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 8, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975 "2003-05-08T21:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eliphalet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eliphalet/32/9563_2.png) [@Eliphalet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eliphalet)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/1 "2003-05-08T21:36:59Z")
From the Blondie website: [http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/blondie/about.htm](http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/blondie/about.htm) "From flapper and playboy to pop culture icons. It was way back in 1930 when Dagwood Bumstead first met Blondie. (Consider yourself a true fan if you know Blondie’s maiden name.) " OK, so what was Blondie’s maiden name? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![brianmelendez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/65b543/32.png) [@brianmelendez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianmelendez)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/2 "2003-05-08T21:40:34Z")
[Blondie Bumstead](http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/blondie/charactMaina.htm) is the former Blondie Boopadoop. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/3 "2003-05-08T21:40:35Z")
Boopadoop. She was a flapper with a well off husband, Dagwood, whose family thought she was too common for him. Eventually that aspect of the strip went by the wayside. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/4 "2003-05-08T22:46:39Z")
More from [here](http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0006/blondie1.html): > [@](#): > > Blondie Boopadoop entered the world nearly 70 years ago, on Sept. 8, 1930, the featured character of a new comic strip by Murat Bernard “Chic” Young (1901-1973). A flighty flapper, at first she dated playboy Dagwood Bumstead, son of the millionaire J. Bolling Bumstead, a railroad magnate, along with several other boyfriends. The comic strip floundered, however, until Young decided to have the couple fall deeply in love. Desperate to wed Blondie, in spite of his father’s objections to her lowly social status, Dagwood went on a hunger strike until the elder Bumstead grudgingly acknowledged their relationship. He did, however, refuse to continue to support his son. The couple married on Friday, Feb. 17, 1933, and Dagwood, now disinherited, stripped of his wealth and family connections, was nonetheless blissfully happy with his sparkling, vivacious, yet unfailingly practical new bride. Americans, caught up in the woes of the Great Depression, immediately took to Chic Young’s humorous daily reminders that love, not money, conquers all. Judging by Dagwood’s eagerness to start on the honeymoon, he was quite the horndog in his youth. Betty Boop, Blondie’s half-sister, shortened the family name when she entered show business. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/5 "2003-05-08T23:31:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Colibri \* > \*\*More from [here](http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/0006/blondie1.html): > > Judging by Dagwood’s eagerness to start on the honeymoon, he was quite the horndog in his youth. > > \*\* Well lets face it - Blondie **is** a major babe! Although I always thought Daisy Mae was way more hot! (What _was_ Lil’ Abner thinking?) ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/6 "2003-05-09T03:29:41Z")
Sister of Betty Boop. ---
**Author:** ![bcullman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bcullman/32/8207_2.png) [@bcullman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bcullman)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2003, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/7 "2003-05-09T06:48:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*Sister of Betty Boop. \*\* Is this true? Or was this just a question? ---
**Author:** ![cbird703](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@cbird703](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbird703)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/8 "2023-11-14T20:27:24Z")
Blondie’s maiden name as revealed in the strip published on June 21st 1931 is Jinkers not Boopadoop. Someone has been mixing Betty Boop with Blondie. > **[Vintage and Rarely seen comic strips | Blondie for June 21, 1931 | Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/groups/1232348390630981/permalink/1602726750259808/?mibextid=K35XfP)** > > Blondie for June 21, 1931. This strip reveals Blondie's last (maiden) name in Jinkers. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/9 "2023-11-14T20:49:10Z")
Am I the only one who was going to say Harry? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/10 "2023-11-14T21:19:42Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, and thank you for that long overdue correction. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/11 "2023-11-14T21:22:53Z")
So, she’s not _really_ B. Boopadoop? Ah! ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/12 "2023-11-14T21:32:41Z")
I hoped to say it first. You won. [ETA](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Harry): **Deborah Ann Harry** (born **Angela Trimble** ; July 1, 1945) … ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/13 "2023-11-14T22:16:24Z")
Same thought I had! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/14 "2023-11-14T22:30:45Z")
Huh, so apparently Blondie’s family was at least well-off enough to have a live-in cook… Was the culture at the time such that that could still be considered “not well-off enough”? ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/15 "2023-11-14T22:34:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Welcome to the SDMB, What he said. > [@Czarcasm](#): > > hank you for that long overdue correction. That, I’m not so sure about. Even the _Saturday Evening Post_ article about Chic Young in 1948 gives her name as “Blondie Boop-boop-a-doop”. [The Dagwood and Blondie Man | The Saturday Evening Post](https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/reprints/the-dagwood-and-blondie-man/) (page 95, third column) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/16 "2023-11-14T22:43:32Z")
[Apparently Mr. Jinkers is Blondie’s _stepfather_.](https://comics.ha.com/itm/original-comic-art/comic-strip-art/chic-young-blondie-partial-sunday-comic-strip-original-art-dated-11-30-30-king-features-syndicate-1930-mr-jinkers-is/a/15122-16411.s?ic16=ViewItem-BrowseTabs-Auction-Archive-ThisAuction-120115) Full size: [![](https://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path%5B1%2F5%2F8%2F8%2F1588863%5D%2Csizedata%5B850x600%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D) ](https://dyn1.heritagestatic.com/lf?set=path%5B1%2F5%2F8%2F8%2F1588863%5D%2Csizedata%5B850x600%5D&call=url%5Bfile%3Aproduct.chain%5D) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/17 "2023-11-14T23:09:07Z")
That strip that @cbird703 posted is a fascinating find. But it has no context. Without any question at all, Blondie’s last name was Boopadoop. She was introduced that way and referred to in the strip that way. When the syndicate did publicity and put ads in newspapers, they referred to Blondie Boopadoop. In August 1930, Blondie and Dagwood got engaged. Newspapers received a press release, like this one printed in the _The Belleville [IL] News-Democrat_. > Mr. and Mrs. J. Bolling Bumstead have the honor of announcing the engagement of their only son, Dagwood, to Miss Blondie Boopadoop, August Sixteenth, Nineteen Hundred Thirty. When the _Lebanon [PA] Daily News_ announced they were adding the _Blondie_ comic strip on Oct. 8, 1930, the ad read “Blondie Boopadopp is a character whose life is one long laugh.” The _San Francisco Examiner_ did the same on March 1, 1931, saying, “The female of the species is more deadly than the male. That’s Blondie Boopadoop…” Every history of the comic strip in general (I have many) and every history of _Blondie_ that I can find agrees that her maiden name was Boopadoop. So who was Jinkers? He was pursuing Blondie’s mom! I don’t know why Blondie was at his home in that strip, but I know he wasn’t her father. I also found the strip @Skywatcher ninja’d me with. But that indicates he not yet married to the mother, and that is what other sources say the relationship was. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/18 "2023-11-14T23:52:44Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I don’t know why Blondie was at his home in that strip, but I know he wasn’t her father. I’ve been perusing Google’s newspaper archive for any clues but, so far, I’ve only found that runs early _Blondie_ strips and they didn’t pick up the strip until a couple of years later. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/19 "2023-11-15T01:26:44Z")
I found the strip in [newspapers.com](http://newspapers.com) and searched back and later a couple of months but the storyline wasn’t picked up. Oddly, putting Jinkers into their search doesn’t put up any hits. Apparently, the lettering in Blondie strips doesn’t get read by their OCR. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2023, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975/20 "2023-11-15T17:16:42Z")
It’s fascinating to me that the Banks family from _Mary Poppins_ is described in the book as not being rich despite the fact they had a maid and a governess. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-blondies-maiden-name/173975.md?page=2)