Fritzi Ritz debuted in October, 1922 in her own comic strip, “Fritzi Ritz”, created by Larry Whittington. In 1925, Ernie Bushmiller inherited the strip when Whittington was hired away by William Randolph Hearst. In 1933, Bushmiller introduced Fritzi’s neice, Nancy, who would come to dominate the strip. In 1938, the daily strip was renamed “Nancy”, although Fritzi’s Sunday strip would continue until 1968.
In her early days, she was potrayed as a typical “pretty girl”, not unlike other 1920s comic strip women, such as Blondie. When Nancy was added to her supporting cast, she began to become more domesticated, although she remained more free-spirited in her own Sunday strip. Fritzi remained a regular member of Nancy’s supporting cast until 1985, when then-‘Nancy’ artist Jerry Scott ceased using her, except for occasional off-panel dialogue. She was returned to prominence with new creators Guy & Brad Gilchrist, which Fritzi’s love life becoming a significant subplot, particularly once Brad left the strip solely in Guy’s hands. When Guy Gilchrist stepped down from the strip in 2018, he signed off with a wedding between Fritzi and her longtime boyfriend, Phil Fumble. New artist “Olivia Jaimes” (a pseudonym) continues to use Fritzi, although in a manner more similar to Bushmiller and ignoring Gilchrist’s wedding to Phil.