Baby Boomer Memory Lane: Nancy and Sluggo!

Hey you Gen X'ers and Millenials, did you know your parents and Grandparents (OK, and maybe Great-Grandparents!) used to hang out with a couple kids named Nancy and Sluggo?

Yep, tis true.

Comic books were a huge part of growing up 'back in the day'. If you were a part of the Baby Boomer Generation, you were lovin' some Popeye, Archie, and how about Sad Sack? Remember Sad Sack? Man, I haven't seen that dude in decades!

And then there was Nancy, and her best pal Sluggo.

Turns out these two have been friends since the 1930's! Nancy first said hello to comic book loving kids in 1933. About five years later the kids were introduced to Nancy's best pal, Sluggo.

So what did these two do together? Well, compared to today it was, ah, rather quaint (did I hear someone say old-fashioned?) stuff. 8-year-old Nancy was always trying to get Sluggo to improve himself and got jealous when another girl would make eyes for Sluggo.

Sluggo meanwhile was described back then as 'ragamuffin', a kid who was from the 'wrong side of the tracks'. Was he Nancy's boyfriend? Hmmm...that was part of the fun. We weren't sure.

There were plenty of other characters, too, like Phil Fumble and Fritzi Ritz. They were what you might call flavoring for the Nancy and Sluggo comic stew.

I don't think Nancy comic books exist anymore, and apparently the comic strip passed on into history in February of 2018 (Seems I remember seeing the comic strip in Grit magazine? Marmaduke Too!).

But little Nancy and best pal Sluggo were a big part of growing up for us Baby Boomers...and our parents!

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