Winnie Winkle

Winnie Winkle
Winnie Winkle Sunday page of March 6, 1927
Author(s)	Martin Branner (1920–1962) Max Van Bibber (1962–1980) Frank Bolle (1980-1996)
Current status / schedule	Concluded
Launch date	1920
End date	1996
Syndicate(s)	Chicago Tribune Syndicate
Genre(s)	humor

Winnie Winkle is an American comic strip which appeared over a 76-year span (1920–96). The strip's premise was conceived by Joseph Medill Patterson, but the stories and artwork were by Martin Branner, who wrote the strip for over 40 years. Winnie Winkle was one of the first comic strips about working women. The main character Winnie was a young woman who had to support her parents and adopted brother, serving as a reflection of the changing role of women in society. It ran in more than 100 newspapers for several decades, and translations of the strip's Sunday pages were made available in Europe, focusing on her little brother Perry Winkle and his gang.

Due to its originality and longevity, Winnie Winkle became a household name and an icon, inspiring even Pop Art artist Roy Lichtenstein.Winnie Winkle was reprinted in Dell Comics, and for a time her face appeared on a cigar box lid. In retrospect, Winnie Winkle is seen as one of the comic strips heralding a new, more independent role for American women after World War I.

The Chicago Tribune Syndicate launched the comic strip on September 20, 1920. By 1939, Winnie Winkle was running in more than 140 newspapers. It was titled Winnie Winkle the Breadwinner until 1943. By 1970, Winnie Winkle still ran in more than 150 newspapers.

Winnie Winkle ended July 28, 1996, after 76 years, one of the longest runs in American comic strip history. Tribune Media Services, the syndicate that distributed the comic strip, "felt that the Winnie Winkle character was not recognized as a contemporary role model for the '90s." At the time, the strip was carried by only a handful of newspapers.

The eponymous character Winnie Winkle was a young, unmarried woman who had to support her parents, making it the second popular comic strip about working women (after Somebody's Stenog, which debuted in 1918). It was a reflection of the new role of women in society, as could also be seen in comics such as Tillie the Toiler from 1921. Writing for the Associated Press in 1993, Hugh A. Mulligan noted, "After women got the vote and joined the work force, family-centered comics were joined by working-girl strips like Winnie Winkle, Tillie the Toiler, Dixie Dugan, Somebody's Stenog and Brenda Starr, which was drawn by a woman, Dale Messick. Almost from the beginning, politics and a social conscience hovered over the drawing board."