The Colonel's Wife.

[Roger Kettle]

When I start work tomorrow, I'll be writing a series of strips about the Colonel. I have an idea floating around which will involve him talking about his wife. As far as I know, I've never given her a name (R.B. will correct me if I'm wrong) so I'm looking for suggestions. I want something old-fashioned. Agatha? Clarissa? Hermoine? Don't like any of those. You have until 9 a.m. Fife, Scotland Time.
Eh thank you.

[Diane CBPFC]

Rose or Lilly - then you can do a flower gag too 

[Rob Baker]

Oh, good question.  Strip 719 (3rd March 1981):  The Colonel is dictating a letter to Beau, who has been summoned to the Colonel's office to do some secretarial work....

"Right, Peep, take this down. "Dear......"  Oh, what's the name again? Don't prompt me! It's on the tip of my tongue! And do you, George Escargot, take this woman, Nancy -- THAT'S IT! NANCY!"
 
It's Nancy.

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Euphemia (Effie)

Lydia (not one for the Kettle family)

Penelope (Pen, Penny, Loppy)

Phillipa (Pippa)

Xanthe

Dorothy (Dotty)

Corrina

Persephone

Evangelina

Hecate

Bryony (Brian)

Cressida (Cress)

Hyacinth  (then you can go for a flower gag too)

Bert




What do I win?

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

No-one will remember Nancy - least of all the Colonel. They divorced anyway...1982........

[Tarquin Thunderthighs lll]

Rob, you're a Nancy! 

[Tom]

Here are some names from me. I don't know if they are old fashioned now, but they might have been once...

Mabel
Genevieve
Odette
Ida
Millicent
Bertha
Mallory
Baldhart
Solvig
Joyce
Hugiherahta

[The Peepmaster]

It's obviously Nancy, and I expected Rob to know! He's the brain-box of the forum. The intellectual zenith to Mince's nadir.

I often wondered whether strip cartoonists kept a database of info like relatives' names, favourite football teams etc., for future reference. Obviously not all of them do.

[Roger Kettle]

I suppose it had better be Nancy, then. How could I forget that strip from 1981? Thanks, Rob.
Tom, your mention of the name "Mallory" reminded me of the old Michael J. Fox sitcom, "Family Ties". (That was his sister's name in the show). In these days of multi-repeats and acres of channels, I'm surprised it hasn't surfaced somewhere. As I remember, it was rather good.
On a slightly different note, you may have noticed me raving about "Scrubs" from time to time. It was interesting to read that its creator had been hugely influenced by "The Wonder Years"----particularly in the use of a voice-over for the main character. Another show I loved.

[Tom]

It reminds me of a sketch with Victoria Wood and Anne Reid, I think their names were Valerie and Mallory Ellery (or something...)