''Dixie Dugan'' is best known as a long-running syndicated newspaper comic strip published from October 21, 1929 to October 8, 1966. The title character was originally modeled after 1920s film actress

Louise Brooks Mary Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985) was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She is regarded today as an icon of the Jazz Age and flapper culture, in part due to the bob hairstyle that she helpe ...

and early stories followed Dixie's exploits as a Hollywood showgirl.

Novels

''Dixie Dugan'' first appeared in two slightly risqué novels written by J. P. McEvoy, serialized in 1928-29 in the pages of ''

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

''. McEvoy's novels were then published in book form by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

as ''Show Girl'' (1928) and ''Hollywood Girl'' (1929). In the first story, Dixie begins as a

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

chorus girl, and in the second she moves to Hollywood. The stories combine romance, glamour and a bit of scandal as Dixie pursues a career in

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

. The novel's illustrations by John H. Striebel show a strong resemblance between Dixie Dugan and 1920s film actress Louise Brooks, complete with Brooks' then-fashionable "helmet" hairdo.

Comic strip

Beginning in October 1929, writer McEvoy and Striebel teamed to produce a daily newspaper comic strip, syndicated by the McNaught Syndicate. The name of the strip was originally ''Show Girl'' but changed to ''Dixie Dugan'' on December 23, 1929. As time went by, the strip dropped the show business aspect, and Dixie became a career girl pursuing a more wholesome variety of jobs. The stories varied from romance and comedy to crime and suspense. Other characters featured in the strip included Dixie's elderly parents Ma and Pa Dugan, her niece Imogene and Dixie's best friend Mickie. The strip added a popular feature also used by Bill Woggon in his ''

Katy Keene Katy Keene is a character created by Bill Woggon that has appeared in several comic book series published by Archie Comics since 1945. She is a model/actress/singer marketed by the publisher as "America's Queen of Pin-Ups and Fashions". In the bo ...

'' comic books: fashion designs for Dixie were submitted by fans and credited to them in the strip. In addition, when Dixie opened a small cafe, recipes were requested. When the action occurred on the town's streets, there was always in the background a bass player carrying his instrument on his back. The ''Dixie Dugan'' Sunday page included a topper strip, ''Good Deed Dotty'', which ran from February 5, 1933 to October 17, 1948. Striebel continued to work on the strip until the early 1960s, when he became ill. Streibel's assistants were Al Bare, Dave Huffine and Frank McNitt, the son of McNaught Syndicate co-founder Virgil McNitt. Striebel's daughter, Margery Ann Huffine, did the strip's lettering from the age of 14.Lambiek: John H. Striebel
/ref> Like many other popular newspaper comic strips, the daily strips were collected and reprinted in various early comic books beginning in the 1930s.

Films

Both novels were quickly adapted to movies, both starring Alice White as Dixie Dugan and both produced by

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

: '' Show Girl'' (1928) and ''

Showgirl in Hollywood ''Showgirl in Hollywood'' is a 1930 American pre-Code all-talking musical film with Technicolor sequences, produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. The film stars Alice White, Jack Mulhall and Blanche ...

'' (1930). The first film featured music and sound effects using the

Vitaphone Vitaphone was a sound film system used for feature films and nearly 1,000 short subjects made by Warner Bros. and its sister studio First National from 1926 to 1931. Vitaphone was the last major analog sound-on-disc system and the only one ...

sound-on-disc Sound-on-disc is a class of sound film processes using a phonograph or other disc to record or play back sound in sync with a motion picture. Early sound-on-disc systems used a mechanical interlock with the movie projector, while more recent syste ...

system, while the second film was a talkie using the early Western Electric

sound-on-film Sound-on-film is a class of sound film processes where the sound accompanying a picture is recorded on photographic film, usually, but not always, the same strip of film carrying the picture. Sound-on-film processes can either record an analog ...

system. In 1943,

Twentieth Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

produced another film titled '' Dixie Dugan'' featuring Lois Andrews as the title character. By this time, Dixie had long since left behind her origins as a show girl. In this wartime movie, Dixie gets a job working as a secretary in a government office. Her new boss has a romantic interests in Dixie, but she remains faithful to her fiancé, a defense plant worker.

Novels

Comic strip

Films

References

External links