CLEARWATER, Florida (Reuters) - The oversized sandwiches lovingly constructed by Dagwood Bumstead in the "Blondie" comic strip will soon be on real-life menus thanks to cartoonist Dean Young, the character's alter-ego.
Young said on Thursday the first of his Dagwood's Sandwich Shoppes should open this summer in Clearwater and then spread across the United States and internationally.
"This is a dream come true for me," Young, 66, said at a news conference. He said he has been collecting sandwich recipes for over 20 years.
Young's father, Chic Young, created "Blondie" in 1930 and he took over the strip when his father died in 1973. It has more than 250 million readers in 2,300 newspapers in 55 countries.
One of Dagwood's passions has been eating, especially the multi-layered sandwiches of cold-cuts and leftovers he often has before going to bed.
Those Dagwood sandwiches will be the featured item at the new restaurants. The 1-1/2-pound (0.68-kg) Dagwood includes ham, salami, pepperoni, mortadella, cappicola, cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato, red pepper and a secret Italian spread on three slices of bread topped with an olive skewer.
For those with smaller appetites, the menu includes roast beef, corned beef, pastrami, chicken curry and Cuban sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads, desserts, beer and wine.
The restaurants will be decorated with pictures of "Blondie" characters and a giant plasma screen will show comic strips.
Sandwiches are the fastest growing segment of the restaurant industry, according to Dagwood co-founder Lamar Berry.
"This is an opportunity to become the leader of this category," said Berry, who was an executive with Popeyes Fried Chicken.
Dagwood's will face strong competition from sandwich chains like Subway, Quiznos and Blimpie, local restaurants and the deli counters of grocery stores.
Berry said he hoped the chain could have 250 shops in operation after two years and 1,000 within three years.
The company plans to expand by selling 90 area franchises. The owners of those territories will then sell individual store franchises.
The headquarters will be in Clearwater, where Young lives and has his studio. He will continue producing "Blondie" with the help of his daughter Dana Coston, who he is grooming to take over the strip.
This is not the first time that the "Blondie" characters have been used commercially. A series of 28 "Blondie" movies were made starting in the 1930s and there also were Blondie radio and television shows and even a Blondie slot machine used in many casinos.
When Chic Young started the strip, Dagwood was a rich playboy and one of Blondie's boyfriends. To make the strip more relevant to readers who were affected by the Depression, Young had Dagwood's parents disown him after he married Blondie in 1933, forcing him to get a job.
SYDNEY, Australia - New Zealand is not for sale, despite somebody in neighboring Australia trying to offload the nation of 4 million to the highest online bidder.
With a starting offer of just one cent, brisk bidding for the prime chunk of South Pacific real estate quickly boosted the price to $2,330 before eBay pulled the plug on the auction this week.
"Clearly New Zealand is not for sale," eBay Australia spokesman Daniel Feiler told the New Zealand Press Association, adding that 22 bids had been made before the company acted.
"It is mostly household items we have for sale, but there are the occasional quirky items put up," he added. "We have a look at them and if they are OK we leave them, but if it is something that can't be sold, we take them off."
The trader has not been named, but apparently was unimpressed with the country he was trying to sell.
The rivalry between the two countries is intense and in his advertisement the man said New Zealand had "very ordinary weather."
Ha! Oh, and I noticed in the article prior that the location is actually in Florida. Damn Florida and taking all the same city names as my state! I drive through "Clearwater" quite regularly.
I didn't realize how seriously, until I got to the last line in this story from the Herald-Tribune.
Bars audited for watered down drinks
Drinks at Sydney pubs will be tested to see if they have been watered down.
The move to test liquor sold at pubs and bars in inner-Sydney is detailed in a Sunday Telegraph report.
It comes after an investigation revealed a Sydney hotel had been selling watered down whisky.
According to the newspaper report, beer, vodka, bourbon, whisky, gin and rum will be tested by Sydney City Council health inspectors.
Last year, the council carried out a two-month alcohol testing program involving 20 pubs, bars and clubs in central Sydney.
Dozens of schooners of beer and bottles of spirits were sampled.
A bottle of Jack Daniels bourbon at one venue was found to be watered down and a court found the offence proven.
Under the Local Government Act, the maximum penalty for watering down drinks is $55,000 for an individual and $255,000 for a company.
Well, it's most likely due to a reasonably well-educated population using birth control and not rushing it to start cranking out the kids at an early age, but whatever the reason, as I general rule of thumb I always say that if you're pissing off the Pope you've got to be doing something right.
There's always exceptions. Maybe a better way of putting it would be that if you're pissing off both the Pope and the Republicans, you're doing something right.
And besides, it was a different Pope who was against going into Iraq.
Welp, according to demographic transition, low birth rates is a natural part of industrialization since the cost of living and other factors makes children an economic liability to families instead of an advantage back when agriculture was widespread.
Welp, according to demographic transition, low birth rates is a natural part of industrialization since the cost of living and other factors makes children an economic liability to families instead of an advantage back when agriculture was widespread.
Sociology class, ftw!
Well, that makes sense, since the goals of the Vatican seem to be to bring us all back to the Dark Ages when they controlled everything.
Comments
that bar scene pissed me off more than any other alteration made.
"No you didn't, my retarded boy."
I didn't realize how seriously, until I got to the last line in this story from the Herald-Tribune.
Bars audited for watered down drinks
Drinks at Sydney pubs will be tested to see if they have been watered down.
The move to test liquor sold at pubs and bars in inner-Sydney is detailed in a Sunday Telegraph report.
It comes after an investigation revealed a Sydney hotel had been selling watered down whisky.
According to the newspaper report, beer, vodka, bourbon, whisky, gin and rum will be tested by Sydney City Council health inspectors.
Last year, the council carried out a two-month alcohol testing program involving 20 pubs, bars and clubs in central Sydney.
Dozens of schooners of beer and bottles of spirits were sampled.
A bottle of Jack Daniels bourbon at one venue was found to be watered down and a court found the offence proven.
Under the Local Government Act, the maximum penalty for watering down drinks is $55,000 for an individual and $255,000 for a company.
This just in, The Surgeon Jhonnycake says that atleast a half hour of Ska per-day will do a body good.
That is all.
"a little ska every day keeps the scene kids away!"
wow, I love using quotes today
And besides, it was a different Pope who was against going into Iraq.
Sociology class, ftw!
oh, wait. now i do.
Pictures of the event