Toots and Casper

Comics historian Coulton Waugh commented on the strip's portrait of a happy, idealized family life: "Like Blondie, Toots is the picture of contentment, and if all homes were like these, the American Dream would be nearly realized.

Buttercup remained a baby for over 20 years, eventually growing up to a six-year-old in the early 1940s, as noted by comics historian Don Markstein: Other characters included Casper's conceited neighbor Colonel Hoofer (alongside his wife Sophie and their son Teddy), who often found himself short on cash.

In 1934, Murphy began including collectible images (formatted like postage stamps) in his Sunday strips along with paper dolls, and these features proved so popular they were subsequently imitated by other cartoonists.

[1] There was a wave of Toots and Casper licensing and merchandising, with items that ran the gamut from pins and dolls to comic books.

Murphy's illness near the end of the run prompted the recycling of earlier strips and the hiring of ghost artists.