Dolly Dimples was a
syndicated comic strip
A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
character created by early American female cartoonist
Grace Drayton which appeared in various
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
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King Features Syndicate
King Features Syndicate, Inc. is a American content distribution and animation studio, consumer product licensing and print syndication company owned by Hearst Communications that distributes about 150 comic strips, newspaper columns, editoria ...
publications. Over the period 1903 to 1933 the strip's main character was known by the various names "Toodles" (1903–1904), "Dottie Dimple" (1908–1911), "Dimples" (1914–1918), and finally "Dolly Dimples" (1928–1933).
History
King Features' archivist dates the character's debut as March 22, 1903, although at that point she was called Toodles, as part of the strip ''Naughty Toodles'', which ran from 1903 to 1904. An analog character appeared in two non-Hearst strips, ''The Adventures of Dolly Drake and Bobby Blake in Storyland'' (Philadelphia Press, 1905–1906) and ''The Turr’ble Tales of Kaptain Kiddo'' (1909), both written by Drayton's sister Margaret G. Hays.
[John William Leonard, Albert Nelson Marquis, editors. ''Who's Who in America, Volume 6'' (Marquis Who's Who, 1910)]
p. 2078
[Robbins, Trina. ''Pretty in Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 1896–2010'' (Fantagraphics Books, 2013), pp. 18-21.]
As "Dottie Dimple," she next appeared in the
Hearst syndicated strip of the same name,
which ran from 1908 to 1911. She was again featured in Drayton's strip ''Dimples'' which ran with Hearst from January 1914 to 1918.
Finally, the character was part of the
King Features strip ''Dolly Dimples and Bobby Bounce'' (with the
topper strip ''Kittens''), syndicated from 1928 to the Spring of 1933.
Characterization
As described by King Features' archivist, the character "was a little girl who stumbled into mischief around the house or in the vicinity of an adult, who would suffer for it and/or give out a punishment."
She was usually accompanied by a little boy and a cute puppy. The archivist explains her appearance in ''Dolly Dimples and Bobby Bounce'': "Dolly was just Toodles/Dollie/Dimples now with a short bob replacing her Goldilocks. Bobby was just Kaptain Kiddo in 1928 style rompers, and they were joined by a fluffy white dog named Comfy, similar to Kiddo’s stalwart sidekick, Puppo, and Dimples little pet, Fido."
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dimples, Dolly
1903 comics debuts
1933 comics endings
American comics characters
Child characters in comics
Comics about women
Comics characters introduced in 1903
Defunct American comics
Female characters in comics
Humor comics