I am seeing an uptick in the number of articles the Interwebs has to offer on the True Story Behind various works of literature, and it is obviously time to take advantage of the trend. I shall therefore indulge in a pastime which has obsessed people since the early nineteenth century, and enlighten youContinue reading “Dark History, True Facts, and Mother Goose”
Tag Archives: jokes
Summers Behind Us
Labor Day no longer means an end to the vacation season, of course. Like wearing white or buying watermelon, vacations are available at any time of year. In fact, we are moving right into the season when the snowbirds will start their annual migration away from snowy parts of the world to those withContinue reading “Summers Behind Us”
Dogs Resting
One of the things which has aroused distaste among some observers and amused jealousy among others is the things dogs can get away with doing right out there in public. Yes, other domesticated animals do the same things, but few people walk through the streets with their cows or ferrets or reindeer. TheContinue reading “Dogs Resting”
Bystander Beasts
I was checking through the new inventory, searching for bloggable data and found, as usual, that there are plenty of outhouse cards, fishing cards, and dog cards. What this says about the priorities of our ancestors I am hesitant to declare. In any case, the dogs are busy with all the usual dog activities:Continue reading “Bystander Beasts”
Rolling Right
The question of how to install the roll of toilet paper is, I am told, one of the most hotly-debated questions of the past century or so. Only the fact that the roll takes a while to be used up is apparently the only thing that keeps it from being as large an issueContinue reading “Rolling Right”
Do Not Adjust Your Set
Our ancestors, to judge by postcard cartoon art, certainly were a gaudier lot than they seem in those black and white photos in the family album. We have discussed hereintofore the frequent appearance of checkered coats and trousers for men (the larger, the more likely). And as far as stripes and polka dots areContinue reading “Do Not Adjust Your Set”
Postcard Jukebox
We have discussed this hereintofore, but more cards come into the inventory and I need to venture anew into the fact that the cartoonists who produced pictures had the whole of pop culture to draw upon. One of the easiest ways to get a grin or a nod from a prospective buyer was toContinue reading “Postcard Jukebox”
In So Many Words
We have been here before, I know. But new postcards come into the inventory and I have to decide whether certain readings of the scene were intended by the twentieth century artist, or whether it is a creation of twenty-first century sensibilities. It’s a game, really: the prize being NOT getting kicked off aContinue reading “In So Many Words”
Fine Old Jokes: The Mother-in-Law
It occurred to me, looking over the postcards dealing with the, um, difficult bits of married life for our series on couples of contrasting size that I had ONE more size issue to examine. It was a popular genre once, the tales of what happened in some of those cases where a married coupleContinue reading “Fine Old Jokes: The Mother-in-Law”
The Little Woman
As we have been pointing out for the last two weeks, the postcard cartoonists enjoyed a gentle laugh at a romantic couple of contrasting sizes, while at the same time showing that love is not hampered by such concerns. What DOES hamper love? Well, in the view of the cartoonists, the chief obstacle toContinue reading “The Little Woman”
Blogsy Babbles 