Looks like someone has painted a big arrow on the pavement! Are we really supposed to believe that anybody could fit in a slot machine? Even in “Dick Tracy?”

March 24, 1951:  Here’s what was on The Times’ comics page in 1951. There were the long-running stalwarts, like  “Dick Tracy” and “Nancy,” but also some obscure strips, like “Dawn O’Day” and “Casey Ruggles.” 

ALSO

The Times comics in 1931

The Times comics in 1941

That crazy Al Capp has a sense of humor! 

Ferd’nand  by Mik, one of the world’s few wordless comics.

What is going on in “Abbie an’ Slats?”  Looks like some fellow is terrorizing the office!

Oh dear. It’s “Rex Morgan, M.D.” by Dal Curtis.

“Dotty Dripple” by Buford Tune, was one of the 1950s sitcom strips.

I grew up reading “Moon Mullins” on the cover of the Chicago Tribune’s sports page. In 1951, the strip was drawn by Frank Willard, but by the time I started reading it, the strip had been taken over by Ferd Johnson.

“Terry and the Pirates” by George Wunder is one of my least favorite strips because in later years the artwork was so mannered and busy. At this point, it’s still readable.

“Ella Cinders” has somehow survived into the 1950s.

…And so has “Harold Teen,” with a redesign of the characters.

Look! It’s “Mary Meddler” (a.k.a. “Mary Worth), although the strip is now credited to Ken Allen.

“Brenda Starr!!”

Until I pulled up this comics page, I had never heard of “Casey Ruggles,” by Warren Tufts.

It’s the eyeless characters of Harold Gary in “Orphan Annie!”

Notice the distinctive lettering in “Gasoline Alley.”   But is poor old Gink part duck?

I didn’t realize “Napoleon” lasted into the 1950s, virtually unchanged.

“Dawn O’Day” by Val Heinz looks like a “Terry and the Pirates”-“Steve Canyon” clone.

And, of course, the incomparable “Nancy” by the equally incomparable Ernie Bushmiller.