Editing Bloom County (section)

==Bloom County location ==
The fictional setting of ''Bloom County'' served as a recurring backdrop for the comic and its sequels, although the nature of the setting was frequently altered.

In the comics, the county is presented as a stereotypical [[Midwestern United States|American midwestern]] small town. The small town setting was frequently contrasted with the increasing [[globalization]] taking place in the rest of the world; though Bloom County contained the likes of farmers and wilderness creatures by default, it was frequented by [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness|Hare Krishnas]], feminists, and [[rock and roll|rock]] stars.

While the location of Bloom County is never explicitly mentioned, there have been some clues in the strip. When Oliver Jones identified Bloom County as the place where [[Comet Halley|Halley's Comet]] would crash into Earth, a sign was seen saying that it was at 35.05 N  146.55 E. This would place it in the Pacific Ocean, about 300 miles off the coast of Japan. Oliver's previous calculation was 39.43 N  105.01 W, which would place it just south of [[Denver, Colorado]]. In an early strip, Milo gives his address as "Box 163, Bloom County, N.I., 12460", the zip code for which would place it about 30 miles southwest of [[Albany, New York]]. Another strip has Opus trying to make airline reservations to [[Des Moines, Iowa]].  He balks at the outrageously high quoted price for a ticket stating that "Des Moines is just 94 miles from Bloom County". Geographically, this would place Bloom County in either [[Iowa]] or the far north-central tier of counties of [[Missouri]], but likely referring to the distance from [[Iowa City]], where the strip was produced, to Des Moines {{xref|(see {{slink||Real-world references}} below)}}. Also, in a Sunday strip with L.H. Puttgrass, he is holding a [[King Soopers]] bag, which would place the comic in Colorado.  On January 29, 2016, Berkeley Breathed posted on Facebook that "The Bloom County boarding house still sits in beautiful hayseedless Iowa City, home for this cartoonist for four years."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Breathed|first1=Berkeley|title=Berkeley Breathed's Bloom County|url=https://www.facebook.com/berkeleybreathed/posts/1124245374272881|website=Facebook|publisher=Berkeley Breathed|access-date=30 January 2016}}</ref>

The county was home to the Bloom Boarding House, Steve Dallas' law offices, the ''Bloom Beacon'' and ''Bloom Picayune'' newspapers, at least one pond, and Milo's Meadow. In the comic's later years, the county contained what appeared to be a big-city [[ghetto]] ("the wrong side of the tracks", as it was known).

The geographical profile of the county was fluid as the artistic style of the strip evolved. During most of ''Bloom County'''s run, the rural meadow setting was presented realistically, while in its later years it became increasingly more abstract.

The ''Outland'' setting of the strip was originally set apart from the county by way of a magical doorway. By ''Outland''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> end, the Outland appeared to be a part of Bloom County itself.

The final ''Outland'' strip listed the characters as living at "555 Hairybutt St., Bloom County, Outland".

''Opus'' also takes place in Bloom County.

===Real-world references===
[[File:Iowa city linsay house.jpg|thumb|left|250px|[[Linsay House]], Iowa City, model for the Bloom boarding house.]]
Breathed lived in [[Iowa City, Iowa]] during the early years of the strip, and the setting of ''Bloom County'' resembles Iowa City in several ways. The Bloom Boarding House, which appeared as a high contrast photo within the strip, is modeled after the [[Linsay House]] located at 935 East College Street.<ref>{{citation | last=Holden | first=Greg | title=The Booklover's Guide to the Midwest: A Literary Tour | page=113 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ItuQdL22RKgC&q=linsay+house+bloom+county&pg=PA113 | publisher=Clerisy Press| isbn=9781578603145 | year=2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Langton|first1=Diane|title=Time Machine: Bloom County House|url=http://thegazette.com/subject/news/time-machine-bloom-county-house-20150126|access-date=26 March 2015|work=Cedar Rapids Gazette|date=January 26, 2015}}</ref> Another Iowa City landmark, The [[Prairie Lights]] Bookstore, was referred to in the strip as the "Prairie Lights Newsstand"; original ''Bloom County'' artwork from Breathed now hangs in the bookstore. Another original ''Bloom County'' strip hangs in the [[Iowa City Public Library]]. Breathed used the [[call letters]] [[KRNA]] to refer to ''Bloom County'''s rock radio station featuring "Rockin' Charmin' Harmin". The call letters belong to an actual Iowa City rock station which featured a disc jockey named "Charmin'" Jeff Harmon in the 1980s.<ref>[http://www.krna.com 94.1 KRNA – Eastern Iowa’s Real Rock<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Several Iowa City local news items also directly inspired ''Bloom County'' story lines. For example, a fictional Ronald Reagan sexist gaffe, referring to women as "little dumplin's", was lifted from [[University of Iowa]] football coach [[Hayden Fry]]'s comment, infuriating feminists at the university.<ref name="UPI_Fry">{{cite web|title=No changes for Bloom County|url=http://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/05/05/No-changes-for-Bloom-County/3340484113600/|website=UPI|publisher=United Press International, Inc.|access-date=15 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170315045026/http://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/05/05/No-changes-for-Bloom-County/3340484113600/|archive-date=15 March 2017|language=en|date=5 May 1985|quote=One of the more notable Iowa-born gags followed University of Iowa football Coach Hayden Fry's remark in calling women 'little dumplings.' Breathed turned that into a presidential crisis by having Ronald Reagan misquoted in The New York Times as calling feminists 'little dumplings.'}}</ref>

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