In 1955, he left the CIA and concentrated on the strip, using a loose brush ink style to draw his chubby child.

Eventually published in 100 newspapers, it ran from 1955 to 1980, distributed by the George Matthew Adams Service and later The Washington Star Syndicate and Field Enterprises.

Frequently the family gathers around my finished work for discussion and, I hope, for a good laugh.

In 1969, a curious attempt to make the character slightly older and less childlike backfired, as evident in an April 30, 1969 statement by Harry E. Elmlark of the Washington Star Syndicate: During recent months Robert Baldwin (Rupe), the creator of the comic strip Freddy, in a sincere desire to improve the strip and make it even more desirable, changed the appearance of the characters, making them more conventional.

[2] Born in Geneva, New York, Rands studied at the Abbott Art School, was in the U. S. Merchant Marine and illustrated several Air Force magazines.

[5] Dell's Freddy comic book, which ran for three issues in 1963–64, was not by Baldwin but was drawn by Bob Gustafson.