Sunday Comics #17: 1922 B.N. (Before Nancy)

I've been wanting to do a Nancy post for a while now but I didn't want it to be your standard Nancy post. Nancy has, in my opinion, become one of the greatest strips of all time. I think you could safely add Nancy to the eschelon of comic strips with Krazy Kat, Peanuts, Pogo, and Calvin and Hobbes. Everybody knows Nancy and Sluggo and the wacky, and oftentimes weird, adventures that they get into. But more than a decade before Nancy became the star and namesake of the feature, there was another--one who still appears to this day as Nancy's aunt and adoptive guardian. Fritzi Ritz.

Fritzi Ritz was your standard 1920s comic strip featuring flapper Fritzi Ritz created by Larry Whittington. Fritzi spent many years focused on men, clothes, and money. In 1933, Fritzi's niece Nancy came for a visit and never went home. In 1938, her friend Sluggo was introduced and the title of the strip was renamed shortly after.

A comic book page featuring Fritzi and her boyfriend, Phil Fumble. By Ernie Busmiller.

Nancy strip from April 5, 2009 by Guy Gilchrist.

West Lawn Veterans Memorials

The flags of all the branches of the military fly above bronze plaques commemorating all the major wars that the United States have fought in. On the obverse are the seals of each branch.

West Lawn Memorial Gardens, Mission Township, Shawnee County, Kansas

RAYMOND C MORROW JR

KANSAS

GM3        US NAVY

WORLD WAR II

JUNE 1 1924         DEC 4 1961

West Lawn Memorial Gardens, Mission Township, Shawnee County, Kansas

THOMAS W.            TOGETHER FOREVER                      NELLE M.

May 3,         Dec. 11,                                                         Jan. 9,       Jan. 15

1889 - 1958                                                                      1892 - 1957

GLIDEWELL

West Lawn Memorial Gardens, Mission Township, Shawnee County, Kansas

HOLMES

Emmett E.         Mary

1874 - 1968        1877 - 1960

West Lawn Memorial Gardens, Mission Township, Shawnee County, Kansas

Before I get to today's gravestone picture, I thought I would reveal how I choose what gravestone gets posted. It's all a pretty simple process but I do have rules and stipulations that I follow.

1. Any gravestone can be chosen but it's typically a gravestone that stands out to me. While older stones garner the most attention, fancier ones do as well. Flat stones, while mostly unremarkable, can and have been chosen although it's rare.
2. Stones with dates newer than 40 years are not posted because I want a decent amount of time between the death and today but also because of any living relatives who may still be around. For example, stones posted in 2016 have to be dated before 1976. Newer stones could still be posted on my Twitter or Instagram and I always post pictures on Find A Grave if one isn't already on there.
3. I do attempt basic research on the person before posting. Most of the time, they are your average person but occasionally I find some gems in someone's biography.

West Lawn Memorial Gardens is located at the intersection of I-70 and Auburn Road. Being a memorial park, all the stones lay flush with the ground. West Lawn is adorned with a statue of Jesus, prayer hands and a Veteran Memorial.

Regina Margaretha Fry was born Regina Lagenwalter in Troy, Illinois to Johannes and Maria Langenwalter. She married a man named "Goebel" in about 1910. She had four children with "Goebel", August, Harold, Karl, and William. Regina then married Ben Schilling in 1917 with whom they had a daughter, Florence. Regina married one last time to Birt Fry in 1935.

In the 1930s, Regina and her sons Karl and Harry were reunited after 23 years. Karl and Harry were taken from Regina because she was behind in her payments to an orphanage. Karl and Harry were taken but Regina took August, William and Florence from the court's jurisdiction across the Mississippi River into Missouri.

REGINA M. FRY

MOTHER

1889 - 1962

William E. Goebel

(Uncle Bill)

April 10, 1917 - May 30, 1997

West Lawn Memorial Gardens, Mission Township, Shawnee County, Kansas

Sunday Comics #16: Volcano of Vengeance

Ace Magazines was one of the many comic book publishers of the 1940s and 1950s. They dipped their toes into every genre and while they had a few hits, most of their titles are unremarkable, quickly forgotten, and run-of-the-mill.

Baffling Mysteries was one of their horror comics that started in 1951 with issue #5. It originally started as Indian Braves which was your typical western title but mostly focused on the Native American side of the Old West. I'm sure each story was handled with the grace, care, and aplomb that these type of stories usually received.

Woop. Spoke too soon.

I'm assuming Indian Braves was renamed/changed because it was hard coming up with stories that showed how good Indians could be while also treating them like terrible caricatures. Baffling Mysteries would last until #26 in 1955. Ace Magazines, who had some titles used as evidence for enacting the Comics Code, would quit publishing comics at the end of 1956.

Happy Valentine's 2016

[WOODMEN OF THE WORLD

MEMORIAL]

SAMUEL OTTO

1874 - 1911

McLAUGHLIN

Rochester Cemetery, Topeka, Soldier Township, Shawnee County, Kansas

GONE TO REST

MARY K.

WIFE OF

SAMUEL H. LONG

BORN

FEB. 11, 1861

DIED

NOV. 18, 1881

------

Gone but not forgotten.

------

May she rest in peace.

Medina Cemetery, Kentucky Township, Jefferson County, Kansas