uncleblogsy

Wait, What? II

In our last thrilling episode, we took up the question of postcards with slightly surprising content. U grew up being told, don’t you recall, that the nineteenth century was an era of repression and tight-lipped prudery which forbade books by male and female authors to sit on the same shelf (unless they were married.) Continue reading “Wait, What? II”

Wait, What?

When making one’s way through another world’s jokes, something we do here as we examine the comic postcards of a century or half century ago, it us important not to get too judgy. Roger Ebert stated once that it is not a critic’s job to say “That’s not funny.” No one appointed the criticContinue reading “Wait, What?”

Don’t Stop Me: You’ve Heard This

Well, I heard no clamorous outcry when I suggested I might bring out my unsold quiznook of antiquated jokes and try a few of the questions on you, but I heard no pleas for mercy, either. (If you get no comments at all, you can write as you please.) So I will present aContinue reading “Don’t Stop Me: You’ve Heard This”

Love Road

It has been oh, WEEKS since we have checked in with the Dutch Kids, so I thought we might revisit this social phenomenon of the last century. Doe newcomers, and for those with psychogenic amnesia whose brains have blotted out the information in self-defense, there was a craze beginning around 1910 for postcardsContinue reading “Love Road”

Dr. Cupid

Once upon a time, starting in 1879, there lived a cartoonist named Walter Wellman. He was not a cartoonist yet when he was born, in 1879, that is to say. He probably wasn’t allowed access to ink until he was able to crawl around and grab it./ Anyhow, he was one of those cartoonistsContinue reading “Dr. Cupid”

Broad Humor

I wrote a whole book once of jokes singled out for their absolute omnipresence, what a layperson might call “old jokes”, or, if they were people were as old as the jokes, “chestnuts”. The book was presented in the form of a quiz: if the jokes were really all that stale, you would beContinue reading “Broad Humor”

Bygone Wishes II

Now in our last thrilling episode, we covered a forgotten postcard custom, that of sending postcards with pigs on them to wish someone a happy and prosperous new year. I regret that we only scratched the surface of the subject, as those pigs are legion, and could be found engaged in dozens of differentContinue reading “Bygone Wishes II”

Bygone Wishes

One of the things people do not talk about when studying serious history are the little pleasures and customs of life which have faded away. This is left to people who write mere nostalgia: a loving look back on such disappearing pleasures as the key you had to use to open canned meat orContinue reading “Bygone Wishes”

Swizzle or Swag

I was going to write about something completely different today, but I was transfixed by one of those momentous question which can change a country’s entire culture. You know the sort of thing: the little spur of the moment butterfly cough that can derail whole civilizations and send them spiralling toward doom or greatness.Continue reading “Swizzle or Swag”

The Yocks of Yesteryear

While I am waiting around for customers to make use of my new consulting firm, I would like to establish my claim to be an evaluator of old pop culture things. There must be plenty of people out there whose grandfather left them a stack of old books, or old newspaper clippings, or oldContinue reading “The Yocks of Yesteryear”