Here is one of the widely popular postcard cartoons, produced by various cartoonists over several decades. Its success is a result of leaving the punchline up to the viewer’s ability to say “OH! Got it!” But we are not here to discuss that but to continue our discussion from our previous thrilling installment, which ended with a similar cartoon involving a bulldog with a modified derby and a lady dog wearing a ow.
The point was made that an animal wearing a bow carried an implication that the wearer came from a household where primping and pampering were the rule. The wearer of the bow was of the privileged classes. (Note to self: write a blog explaining words like primp, preen, and privilege and the alliteration of societal differences. Unless we save that kind of stuff for the Nobel acceptance speech.)
Although there is also a hint that anyone wearing a bow is feminine, it is not as important as the class distinction. The dog on the left here is clearly a bored millionaire playboy.
And we can assume this back fence singer is male simply because we assume anyone serenading someone in an upper window is playing Romeo to someone else’s Juliet. (PLUS another stereotype, that it is TOM cats who sing on bac fences.)
The bow, however, has a second purpose in postcard art. It is also used as a Cuteness Enhancer. This little bear might have been cute enough without a bow, but why take chances?
A.Blue and Vincent V. Colby, who built careers on cute pudgy puppies, made good use of the bow. The desperation of our protagonist here is enhanced, and our sympathies reinforced, by that broad elaborate bow.
That bow also carries a subliminal suggestion that the wearer USED to be the apple of someone’s eye, and has been forsaken in favor of a new crush. The effect would not be the same if puppy wore a collar (which Colby was also able to use with some dexterity, as in…but let’s not give away spoilers about our NEXT investigation.)
Colby and Blue were not the only artists to exploit the significance of a bow. Though THIS departed lover has not deserted that dog through misplaced affections.
Again, not wishing to dull the impact of our blog-to-come, a collar was not required to define the presence of a Tough Dog. This retriever from the Land of the Giants is no less threatening for wearing a bow.
Even cute puppies wearing bows could get tough, if the situation required it. (Who knows, this might be the same dog and owner seen hereinabove, only a couple of decades earlier.)
Although similar in form, bow ties are a separate issue. As noted in a bygone blog, the bow tie frequently signifies a wise guy, humanoid or otherwise. We will not be considering that today. I might be tempted to make a joke about someone who is bloodied but not unbowed, and I know you don’t want THAT.
