The Popeye radio program was broadcast over three different networks by two
sponsors from 1935 to 1938. Wheatena hot cereal first sponsored the show on
September 10, 1935 thru March 28, 1936. A total of 87 episodes aired on the
NBC Red Network on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday nights at 7:15pm. The 
show followed Amos & Andy, one of the most listened to programs in radio
history. Popeye the Sailor starred Detmar Poppen as Popeye along with
most of the major supporting characters,Olive Oyl (Olive Lamoy), Wimpy
(Charles Lawrence), Bluto (Jackson Beck) and Swee’Pea (Mae Questel).

The comic strip Blondie has been published by King Features Syndicate in
newspapers around the country since Monday, September 8, 1930. The strip
features Blondie Bumstead and her sandwich-loving husband Dagwood. Chic
Young (below) drew Blondie until his death in 1973, and the duties were then
passed on to his son Dean Young, who continues to write the strip today. The
strip has remained popular, appearing in more than 2,000 newspapers in 47
countries and translated into 35 languages.

Chic Young

Dean Young

Sally Brown is the younger sister of Charlie Brown in the comic strip Peanuts by
Charles Schulz. She was first mentioned in early 1959 and throughout a long series
of strips before her first appearance (above) in August 1959. 

Charles Schulz

The comic strip Li’l Abner featured a clan of hillbillies in the town of Dogpatch,
Kentucky. The strip was written and drawn by Al Capp (below) and ran for 43
years, from  August 13, 1934 through November 13, 1977. It was distributed
by United Features Syndicate to many newspa[ers throught the United States,
Canada and Europe and was read by millions of people.

Al Capp (1909-1979)

Little Orphan Annie was initally a daily comic strip created by Harold Gray (below) and syndicated by Tribune Media Service. The strip took its name from the 1885 poem
“Little Orphant Annie” by James Whitcomb Riley, and made its debut on August 5,
1924 in the New York Daily News. It ranked number one in a popularity in a Fortune  
magazine poll in 1937. The strip’s popularity began to decline over the years and 
and was running in only 20 newspapers when it was cancelled on June 13, 2010.

Harold Gray

First Little Orphan Annie Sunday newspaper comic strip, November 2, 1924.