Blondie - May 26, 1941 (Birth of Daisy's Pups)

This daily features the birth of Daisy's puppies, who were an integral part of the strip for decades. There were four female puppies and a mischievous male named Elmer and they were even featured in their own comic book (Daisy and Her Pups) for 18 issues between 1951-1954.

I bought this in an auction of art owned by Chic Young's son, Dean Young, who continued writing Blondie after his father's death in 1973. While Chic Young was still the primary artist in 1941, Jim Raymond most likely did some work on this strip (although he didn't take over as the primary artist until 1950).

The pups continued to appear in the strip until at least the 1970s (possibly the early 80s) when they were phased out. Per an interview with Dean Young, "The pups, I imagine, are somewhere in the neighborhood, but, in my tenure, I found that drawing five little puppies in each panel was more than I can bear." I'm assuming this answer was on behalf of the artist, most likely Jim Raymond or Mike Gersher.

I also have the strip featuring Cookie's birth, which is referenced here, as this was only about a month later. It's funny how Dagwood went from being a bachelor in 1933 to having a wife, two kids and 6 dogs in 1941! No wonder he always seemed so harried.