Sunny Dell Acres was a planned residential community on a parcel of land located on the outskirts of Dick Tracy's city, owned by Diet Smith. However, before any homes were built, the property was found to be unsuitable for development. When Smith discovered that his new friend B.O. Plenty was without a home, he made Plenty a gift of the property. Plenty took up residence in the dilapidated property office. While the name "Sunny Dell Acres" refers to the entire property, it is often used to refer only to the property office/dwelling itself.
Though homes were never constructed on the property, several roadways were laid with signs to mark them. Many of these signs remained standing, and identified paths such as "Love St." and "Ecstasy Ave.".
Sunny Dell Acres was located next to the Say It With Flowers nursery and greenhouse where Gravel Gertie lived and worked. Plenty met Gertie, and after an initial tumultuous period a romance developed between the two. They were eventually married and made the property office their home.
The Plenty family grew with the birth of Sparkle Plenty and the adoption of Wingy, and later with the birth of Attitude Plenty. Sunny Dell Acres continues to be a home for the Plentys, and a frequent destination for their friends.
At one point, Sunny Dell Acres burned down and an exact replica was rebuilt by Smith, at great personal expense.
Later, Sunny Dell Acres was used as a toxic waste dumping site by the criminals Dye and Oxen Cixot. The property was quarantined, and B.O. and Gertie took up residence in a luxurious new home which B.O. had renovated (on the exterior) to resemble Sunny Dell Acres. It came to be known as "Sunny Dell Acres II". The original Sunny Dell Acres was eventually cleaned and declared safe for habitation, so B.O. and Gertie moved back, with B.O. selling Sunny Dell Acres II for an undisclosed sum.
Home Improvements[]
In spite of his multiple financial windfalls, B.O. Plenty has been reluctant to make improvements to his home. He and Gertie slept in a bed while Sparkle (and later Wingy) slept on a pallet on the floor separated from their parents by a removable partition. Plenty's major financial outlay for his home consisted of the largest television set and tallest antenna in the area.
For many years following the birth of Sparkle, the house did not have hot running water or an indoor toilet. It was only after Tracy warned him that he was in violation of the city health code that B.O. agreed let his wealthy brother Canhead make him a gift of a modern bathroom. Canhead later gifted the Plentys with a clothes washer and dryer as well.
Likewise, Plenty allowed his wealthy son-in-law Vera Alldid to make additional improvements to the home, including transparent domes that served as Alldid's drawing studio and garage. Alldid also purchased a large cooking stove with a television set built into the console. This resulted in the tradition of the family sitting around the stove to eat their meals while watching television. After Alldid and Sparkle were divorced, these improvements were removed.
As recently as 2012, Sunny Dell Acres was shown to be heated by a wood-burning stove, which provided ash that was thrown on the revenge-seeking Measles.
Appearances in Other Media[]
1950s Live Action TV Series[]
Sunny Dell Acres was featured in an episode of the 1950s Live Action "Dick Tracy" television series starring Ralph Byrd. In the episode "B.O. Plenty's Folly", Sunnydell Acres (two words, rather than three, according to the sign) was shown to be the home of B.O. and Gravel Gertie.
Much like in the comic strip, the home was depicted as being in a dilapidated condition.
Notes[]
- "Sunny Dell Acres" has been used to refer to refer to entire piece of property, and also to only the property office/house where the Plenty family resides.
- The exact geography of Sunny Dell Acres, its layout and its proximity to the City has not been depicted consistently. In the 1950s, Sunny Dell Acres was shown to have the tallest television antenna in the area, but the residence has also frequently been depicted as being under an elevated freeway.