uncleblogsy

Since You Asked

Well, Butterscotch, Brisket, I had intended to go back to talking about postcards I have sitting around, but I have had a few questions about some topics I glossed over in the last column, and they were interesting enough to make me go out and run down the information. Rice Krispies hit storeContinue reading “Since You Asked”

Food Fashions

I was worrying a bit more about things we eat and drink this week and, of course, once again turned to the Interwebs for answers. I was about as successful as I am with anything on that fickle ocean, but I did pick up a few vague answers to go with my vague questions. Continue reading “Food Fashions”

Days of Yore

So, just a touch over 130 years ago, a man named Brown and a man named Bigelow started a company called Brown & Bigelow, a company known to this day for putting pictures on things. Art prints, but also using same images on decks of cards, cigarette lighters, clothes, and, especially, calendars. Helping companiesContinue reading “Days of Yore”

Shades of Drinking

All I really wanted to know was why raspberry-flavored things are blue. The problem with these things you really want to find out, in these days of the Interwebs, is that you are led along so many other avenues which take you in other interesting directions. Come to think of it, I was likeContinue reading “Shades of Drinking”

Reality, Pre-TV

There are, of course, some postcards that are rarer than others. But there is one sort of postcard that is so rare that some people can’t be bother with it, while other people can’t get enough. This is known in the trade as an RPPC, or Real Photo Post Card. (The whole argument overContinue reading “Reality, Pre-TV”

Mid-Century Moppets

If pscyhogenic amnesia, protecting your brain from painful memories, does not prevent you from recalling our last column, you will remember that we discussed a number of strange species of being which inhabited the postcard world at the turn of the last century. Led by the Kewpies, there were numerous different kinds of smallishContinue reading “Mid-Century Moppets”

Putti, Putti

Not long ago we discussed postcard babies, who had two main roles to play, demonstrating Jerome K. Jerome’s definition of a baby as an object with a loud noise at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other. Children, however, played a multitude of roles, depending on the artist’s notions Children mightContinue reading “Putti, Putti”

Gags With Footnotes

In the last column, we dealt primarily with postcard jokes that might be a bit obscure because of changes in our language. Today I thought we might poke out a few jokes which are funnier if you know a little bit about history. All topical jokes run the risk of obsolescence. How will weContinue reading “Gags With Footnotes”

Vocabsolescence

So I asked an acquaintance “Does anyone still refer to making out as ;petting’?” He stared at me. “I’m not sure how many still call it ‘making out’.” It’s just a matter of the passage of time. Some slang expressions are here and gone, while others disappear for a while and thenContinue reading “Vocabsolescence”

You Need to Know

We care going to discuss technical matters today, using a hidden language defined by Mort Walker. Walker’s work in cartooning from early on led to his creation of an awkward teenager named Beetle Bailey. One day Beetle, fleeing some typical comic strip catastrophe, ducked into an Army recruiting office to hide, and a legendContinue reading “You Need to Know”