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Delayed at the Office

Last week in this space, we considered a couple of the cartoon side effects of marriage: fighting about money and carrying groceries. In checking my inventory of fascinating but somehow not yet sold postcards, I find another popular cliché about the married man, especially, the married man of business: the suspicion that his workContinue reading “Delayed at the Office”

FICTION NOT-QUITE FRIDAY: Soaring Prices

“Is this your entire stock of flying carpets, shopkeeper?” “As far as I know, ma’am.” “What’s THAT mean?” “I suspect three or four may have floated to the ceiling over the years, but it’s hard to be sure.” “I like that. No need to suspect the maid is sweeping dustContinue reading “FICTION NOT-QUITE FRIDAY: Soaring Prices”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XVII

The foursome made cautious progress through a broad square room with dark blue walls. They had deciphered the floor tiles so as to proceed without immediate impalement, but this brought Bott no great sense of accomplishment. Anyone who couldn’t figure out not to step on the tiles with holes in them didn’t deserve toContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XVII”

Shop Around

As you no doubt recall, we spent our last thrilling episode discussing how postcard cartoonists addressed the age-old question of how husbands and wives handled their mutual finances. Here is another expression of a perennial joke, as mentioned in that essay. (And, again, if you decide to hunt through the world for other examplesContinue reading “Shop Around”

Not a Chance?

One of the most reliable gambits for the cartoonists preparing our postcards in days of old was marital discord. And among the prime choices of causes for marital discord was one that just about any postcard buyer could sympathize with was financing said marriage. Long before a genius noted that “Romance without finance ain’tContinue reading “Not a Chance?”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XXVI

At a great distance from the ravine, four eyes were able to watch the screaming woman drop, not only as a figure on a screen but as a blip on a graph. A third screen blinked on to allow them to witness the impact. “We will not make that mistake in the future.”Continue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XXVI”

Spanish Moss: Legendary Legends

When I received THIS wordy postcard, I checked, as I usually do, to find out how many other examples were for sale on eBay. Hoo boy, as they say in Paris. There were at that moment 1183 postcards featuring the Legend of Spanish Moss, at prices ranging from low to exorbitant. There was aContinue reading “Spanish Moss: Legendary Legends”

Lots To Say

It has been a while since we have discussed the postcard which is all, or nearly all, words. Our ancestors were great fans of an art form which some prefer to call poetry, though sometimes the same sentiments were written in a paragraph that didn’t pretend to be anything but prose. I don’t knowContinue reading “Lots To Say”

DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XXV

Bott hit the big golden door first. The black knob turned a fingerwidth to the left, but no farther. The grumbles of the grobbles grew louder as more pushed up onto the bridge. The scent pf burning grobble was unattractive, but not as unattractive as the odor of approaching unburnt grobble. A dimpledContinue reading “DRAGONSHELF AND THE DROVER XXV”

FICTION FRIDAY: Virtual Game Replicator

“Deluded human!” The skeleton swung its gladius and slashed a dozen pictures pinned to Debbi’s kitty bulletin board. She pulled to the left, jamming a thumb down on the console. Armor clanked and Dirk struck out with his claymore, slicing the creature in half (and severing the bottom two feet of the HelloContinue reading “FICTION FRIDAY: Virtual Game Replicator”