Blondie (radio) to the strip, like the appearance of Dagwood's famous sandwiches - and the running gag of Dagwood colliding with the mailman amid a flurry of letters, (which preceded the title sequence in almost every film). The films were typical of family-fare situational comedies of the period, and are endearingly funny in a low-key way. As the series progressed, the Bumstead children grew from toddlers to young adults onscreen. Larry Simms as Baby Dumpling (later known as Alexander) reprised his role in all the films. Daughter Cookie was played by three different child actresses, beginning in 1942 with her first appearance
Carpool development although the comprehensive technologies were not commercially available yet at the time. Their work is considered by many, a forerunner of carpooling & ride sharing systems, a precursor to technology developed by Garrett Camp, Travis Kalanick, Oscar Salazar and Conrad Whelan at Uber. The character of carpool travel has been shifting from "Dagwood Bumstead" variety, in which each rider is picked up in sequence, to a "park and ride" variety, where all the travelers meet at a common location. Recently, however, the Internet has facilitated growth for carpooling and the commute share mode has grown to 10.7% in 2005.