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{{Short description|American comic strip}}
{{italic title}}
{{Infobox comic strip
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|image = [[File:Fritzi Ritz.jpg|alt=|235px]]
|caption = '''''Fritzi Ritz'''''
|author =
|website =
|rss =
|atom =
|status = Concluded
|syndicate = {{ubl|[[World Feature Service]] (1922–1931)
|first = {{ubl|October 9, 1922 (dailies)
|last = {{ubl|October 23, 1938 (dailies)|September 24,
|genre = Humor, [[gag-a-day]], satire, children, adults
|followed by = [[Nancy (comic strip)|Nancy]]
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==Publication history==
Distributed by [[United Feature Syndicate]], ''Fritzi Ritz'' began October 9, 1922, in the ''[[New York World|New York Evening World]]''. Whittington left after three years, and starting May 14, 1925,<ref name=Holtz/> 20-year-old Bushmiller stepped in as his replacement, eventually modeling Fritzi after his fiancée, Abby Bohnet, whom he married in 1930. In 1931, when the ''Evening World'' and the ''[[New York World-Telegram|New York Telegram]]'' merged, ''Fritzi Ritz'' was
==Characters and story==
In one 1920s strip, she says she is 19 years old. In later decades she appears to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She states in the December 3, 1930, strip that she was born in New York.
On January 2, 1933, Fritzi's niece Nancy appeared as a houseguest and eventually overtook the strip. During the 1930s, it is mentioned at least twice that Fritzi and Nancy live in New York City, though it is uncertain whether that means Manhattan or another borough. It is mentioned during the 1935 continuity when Nancy runs away from home and winds up at an Indian reservation. After that period, their city of residence is never mentioned again.
By 1938, Sluggo Smith had been added and the daily was renamed ''Nancy'' with Fritzi becoming Nancy's guardian and parental figure and her portrayal in the main strip became more authoritative as she took on parental and disciplinarian responsibilities. In her own Sunday strip, which continued for several years after the daily strip's name change, she maintained more of her original fun-loving spirit.
When Bushmiller died, the ''Nancy'' strip was taken over by [[Mark Lasky]] (dailies) and [[Al Plastino]] (Sundays). Both kept the strip and Fritzi much as Bushmiller had left her. When [[Jerry Scott]] took over the dailies following the death of Lasky, he gradually reduced Fritzi's appearances until, by the time he took over the Sundays as well, she was reduced to only an off-panel voice, at most.
When [[Guy Gilchrist]] and his brother Brad took over, they re-introduced Fritzi, increasing her visibility to the point where she was equally prominent with Nancy herself. They also re-introduced Phil Fumble, an early boyfriend of Fritzi's, and the final strip of Gilchrist's run saw Phil and Fritzi getting married.
Current writer/artist [[Olivia Jaimes]] rebooted the series, bringing it back to the status quo of the late Bushmiller era, albeit with a focus on modern tech. Fritzi is once again the unmarried guardian of Nancy, making regular appearances.
==Daily strip==
[[File:Fritzi10-09-22.jpg|left|thumb|450px|The first ''Fritzi Ritz'' strip]]
The ''Fritzi Ritz'' daily strip began Monday, October 9, 1922.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030193/1922-10-09/ed-1/seq-28/ |title = The evening world. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1887-1931, October 09, 1922, Final Edition, Image 28|date = 1922-10-09}}</ref> In the early strips, Fritzi lived with her father and her Aunt Evelyn (who would eventually be retconned into her mother), with her father being the most commonly seen. She had a regular boyfriend, Ted Nichols (who was poor) and fended off the attentions of Bobby Bonds (who was rich). Fritzi began working at Star Studios in
By 1927, her mother had disappeared completely
Judging by very extensive examination of ''Fritzi Ritz'' dailies at newspaperarchive.com, Nancy made her first appearance in the January 2, 1933 daily strip as a houseguest
Occasionally, Fritzi's rich Uncle Zack appeared, though he only lasted a few years in the mid-1930s. It was rare for Fritzi's father and her boss to appear together; also rare for her father and uncle to appear together as well.
In one 1939 daily sequence, it appears as if Fritzi may be getting married. ==Sunday strip==
The ''Fritzi Ritz'' Sunday page began October 6, 1929. On Sunday, December 20, 1931, ''Phil Fumble'' was added as a separate Sunday, approximately 1/4 of the full page. Nancy, who first appeared in the Fritzi dailies in January 1933, appeared sporadically in the ''Fritzi Ritz'' Sundays as well. Sometime around the middle of 1933 the ''Phil Fumble'' Sunday and the ''Fritzi Ritz'' Sunday were reformatted so each took up one half of a full Sunday page. Through the 1930s, Nancy began to overtake Fritzi's world and in late 1938, Nancy began as a separate Sunday, and Phil Fumble, losing his own strip, began appearing in the ''Fritzi Ritz'' Sundays.<ref
Bushmiller ceased drawing the Sundays in the late 1940s.<ref name=lam/> Later ''Fritzi'' Sundays were drawn by various ghost artists, such as Bernard "Dib" Dibble<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/d/dibble_bernard.htm |title = Bernard Dibble}}</ref> and [[Al Plastino]]
==
[[File:TipTopperNumber1.jpg|thumb|170px|Fritzi and Phil on the cover of ''Tip Topper'' no. 1 (October, 1949). Art by [[Ernie Bushmiller]].]]
Fritzi Ritz appeared in a number of comic books published by [[United Feature Syndicate]] (a few titles were continued by [[St. John Publications]] and then [[Dell Comics]]).<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://comicvine.gamespot.com/fritzi-ritz/4005-9878/ |title = Fritzi Ritz (Character)}}</ref> Some of the comic book covers, especially in the 1940s, were
*''Comics on Parade''
*''Fritzi Ritz''
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*Walker, Brian. ''The Best of Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy'', 1988. Includes history of ''Fritzi Ritz'' from 1922.
*Thompson, Kim, editor. ''Nancy Is Happy: Complete Dailies, 1943-1945''. Introduction by [[Daniel Clowes]].
==Other media==
Fritzi did not appear in either of the ''Nancy'' shorts produced by [[Terrytoons]] studio in the 1940s, but she did make occasional appearances in the ''Nancy'' segments made for ''[[Archie's TV Funnies]]'' in 1971.<ref name=Scheimer>{{cite book |last1=Scheimer |first1=Lou |title=Creating the Filmation Generation |date=2015 |publisher=TwoMorrows Publishing |isbn=978-1-60549-044-1 |page=157 |edition=2nd}}</ref>
In 1976, then-University students Neil Wedman and Bob Strazicich produced a [[public-access television]] program called ''Medium Nights'' in [[Vancouver, Canada]] which featured, among other segments, recreations of ''Nancy'' comic strips. Fritzi Ritz was portrayed by Cynthia Zirkwitz and Nancy by Jan Church.<ref>{{cite magazine |last= Frey|first= Philip R.|date= 2021|title= Amazing But True: The Untold Story of the Live-Action Fritzi Ritz and Nancy|url= |magazine= Hogan's Alley #23|location= |publisher= |access-date=}}</ref>
==References==
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==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20151014121320/http://citypaper.net/articles/091996/article021.shtml "Foxy Fritzi" by Howard Altman. ''Philadelphia City Paper'', September 19, 1996.]
*[http://dougsploitation.blogspot.com/2009/04/nancy-or-strange-tale-of-fritzi-ritz.html "Nancy or The Strange Tale of Fritzi Ritz"]
*[http://goldenagecomicbookstories.blogspot.com/2010/10/ernie-bushmiller-1905-1982-nancy-fritzi.html ''Nancy'' and ''Fritzi Ritz'']
<!-- Newspapers at newspaperarchive.com from the 1920s that carry Fritzi Ritz (do not assume consecutive runs):
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*''Syracuse Herald'', Syracuse, New York (1922,23,24) (Includes first strip of Monday, October 16, 1922)
-->
[[Category:1922 comics debuts]]
[[Category:1968 comics endings]]
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[[Category:Female characters in comics|Ritz, Fritzi]]
[[Category:Fictional actors|Ritz, Fritzi]]
[[Category:Flappers]]
[[Category:Gag-a-day comics]]
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