uncleblogsy

Puzzlements

The thing about the fine old jokes found on aged postcards is that some of them have become obscure with the passage of time. Sometimes even a dedicated comedy archaeologist has trouble getting to the bottom of things. One of my readers made a comment about piling something or other higher every time IContinue reading “Puzzlements”

Screen Scrooges: Tiny Tim

He sat very close to his father’s side, upon his little stool. Bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he might be taken from him. “Spirit,” said Scrooge, with an interest he had never feltContinue reading “Screen Scrooges: Tiny Tim”

Marking the Cards

As you will recall from our last thrilling episode, we were discussing why postcards go about with their identity emblazoned on them. My theory is that this derives from the late nineteenth century weirdness that had the U.S. Post Office selling Postal Cards while private publishers sold Private Mailing Cards or, as they cameContinue reading “Marking the Cards”

Calling the Cards

When we mail a letter, we do not have to write LETTER on the envelope. Our packages may have notes on them about Media Mail or International Ground, but we don’t need to label them PACKAGE. Still, postcards go right on explaining to people what they are, with the word POSTCARD (or sometimes theContinue reading “Calling the Cards”

Screen Scrooges: The Cratchit Christmas Dinner

“And how did little Tim behave?” asked Mrs. Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob on his credulity and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart’s content. “As good as gold,” said Bob, “and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. HeContinue reading “Screen Scrooges: The Cratchit Christmas Dinner”

Bearable Jokes

In the folktales of just about every group of people around the world, the Apex Predator holds a serious place. Whatever animal this is—the lion, the tiger, the wolf, the shark—is the supervillain, the great threat, the ever-present menace, the shadow in the wilderness (In fact, the traditional folk villain role was sometimes deniedContinue reading “Bearable Jokes”

Whoooo’s On Second?

We have been going through my inventory looking at birds which are not storks or chickens, which seem to be out most popular postcard avians. We have covered such obvious choices as vultures and ostriches, and looked briefly into the postcard lives of pelicans, ducks, and geese. For reasons not known to me, IContinue reading “Whoooo’s On Second?”

Screen Scrooges: The Cratchits at Home

Scrooge promised that he would’; and they went on, invisible, as they had been before, into the suburbs of the town. It was a remarkable quality of the Ghost (which Scrooge had observed at the baker’s) that notwithstanding his gigantic size, he could accommodate himself to any place with ease; and that he stoodContinue reading “Screen Scrooges: The Cratchits at Home”

Word of a Bird

During our last outing, we discussed birds on postcards who were not chickens or storks. We covered ostriches and pelicans and doomed ducks and so forth. But, of course, we could not use up our whole supply of birds in one column. Today, I thought we might consider some of the birds who talkContinue reading “Word of a Bird”

Flocking Together

I was intrigued by a couple of postcards I listed for sale over the holiday weekend, and thought about expressing my opinions about them here. This may happen one day, but what the two cards had in common was that each featured a chicken. And though I grew up in an era of reruns,Continue reading “Flocking Together”