I hear that "Archie" (the teen cartoon character) had been around before the well-known Saturday morning cartoon show of the late 1960s. I think the character was invented in the 1950s.
However it seems to me that Ginger was like Veronica because they were vain, spoiled and rich. Mary Ann was like Betty because the characters are "girl-next-door" types who are down-to-earth, and sweet though sometimes haplessly ditzy .
Were the Ginger and Mary Ann characters fashioned after Betty and Veronica?
Anyone know?

I hear that "Archie" (the teen cartoon character) had been around before the well-known Saturday morning cartoon show of the late 1960s. I think the character was invented in the 1950s.
However it seems to me that Ginger was like Veronica because they were vain, spoiled and rich. Mary Ann was like Betty because the characters are "girl-next-door" types who are down-to-earth, and sweet though sometimes haplessly ditzy .
Were the Ginger and Mary Ann characters fashioned after Betty and Veronica?
Anyone know?

Archie has been around since 1939. Betty was never ditzy. At least not in the comics, unless she became this way in the ones from the 90's and newer, haven't read much of those.

I hear that "Archie" (the teen cartoon character) had been around before the well-known Saturday morning cartoon show of the late 1960s. I think the character was invented in the 1950s.
However it seems to me that Ginger was like Veronica because they were vain, spoiled and rich. Mary Ann was like Betty because the characters are "girl-next-door" types who are down-to-earth, and sweet though sometimes haplessly ditzy .
Were the Ginger and Mary Ann characters fashioned after Betty and Veronica?
Anyone know?

Cool thread idea! There are certainly some parallels, such as the simultaneous friendship and rivalry, though I don't think Mary Ann and Ginger were intentionally modeled after Betty and Veronica.
The concept itself wasn't an original part of the Archie world; Betty was there from the start, but Veronica was introduced later.
The archetypes themselves, as Alan Brady's Hair noted above, are as old as the virgin/whore dichotomy, though I wouldn't place extreme labels on Mary Ann, Betty, Ginger, or Veronica.

From Miss Lodge's first appearance, circa early 1940s:

The title of the thread's correct!

Archie has been around since 1939. Betty was never ditzy. At least not in the comics, unless she became this way in the ones from the 90's and newer, haven't read much of those.

Archie first appeared in 1941.....

Archie first appeared in 1941.....


True...the company that published Archie started in 1939, but Archie, Betty, and Jugheqd themselves premiered in '41.