It didn’t happen in real life, but in the frames of the comic strip. Mark this under, Who knew?

Ever read “Blondie and Dagwood”? To me, the bumbling husband was known solely for his Dagwood sandwiches. And not much else.

But apparently, he was an upstanding romantic. He was the sole heir to a multimillion dollar fortune–his dad was J. Bolling Bumstead, after all–who gave his inheritance up and was disowned when he married Blondie Boopadoop, a former ditzy flapper. It took three years for him to do so, but he did it, proving his undying love for the flakey blonde.

Here’s the interesting part. According to the online site comicstripoftheday.com, “That first change was in reaction to the Great Depression, when people were no longer amused by the excesses of a silly, pretty girl and her rich, foolish boyfriend. Blondie and Dagwood struggled along with the readers, trying to pay their bills and living in a small house with all the frustrations of real life.”

The real backstory to the comic gives us a peak into the minds of social America back in the 1930s when it was first created by Chic Young. And the couple is still together, ageless and happy.

I’m not one for comic strips, but those who read the newspaper are. Apparently, it’s one of the most read sections of the Erie Times-News. You can read today’s right here online.