A daily almanac of events and people I admire and appreciate. All things, and the people who did things, that were WORTH DOING! Songs and Cartoons and near-insane ramblings by me, too.
Happy Sunday to you all! Snuggle back under those covers for some comic strip fun as I continue sharing "Nemo: the Classic Comics Library" and it's one and only annual, spotlighting the tradition of screw-ball comics!
This chapter focuses on the screwy Milt Gross. Gross and Bill Holman are the core progenitors of this genre of comics and of the two I find Gross to be the tastiest eye candy.
I'll give thanks to all the folks who worked on Nemo back in the day as always, and let them do the real talking. Plenty of samples of "Nize Baby", "Dave's Delicatessen" and "Count Screwloose of Tooloose", too.
Wayyyyy in the depths of "Unca Jeffy's Toy Box" are some treasures from deep in Jeffy's childhood. Dusty, scuffed and just a tad broken (much like Jeffy's memories) are glimpses of happiness from days gone by. ...and SOME were even licensed by Disney!
Here's a slick little Mickey Mouse ice cream truck. What could bring more light into a childs eyes than Mickey Mouse AND ice cream? Not much, says I...
Mickey's left arm is a casualty, but he can still steer that thing like a sumbitch!
Ice cream treats by the score, and for the low, low price of 5 and 10 cents!
Here's Mickey in a snappy roadster...
....he apparently got this bad boy up to a speed which blew the canopy cleaaaaaaaaaan off. Little speed demon rodent.
Speaking of speed, Mickey was apparently also into drag racing. Seems he blew a tire on this one...hell, the whole dang wheel...
...but he still looks cool. And the chicks dig him.
Coolest of all of these little Disney automobiles, this one is die-cast metal and features NOT just representatives of Disney's big 3 (Mickey and Donald) but they're getting chauffered by Pinocchio hisself. Those feature film stars always had to cater to Disney's short subject stars.
Here, in the "Nutty Mads" tradition, monochromatic, plastic extrusion mold, estra sturdy Disney pals! M-I-C...K-E-Y.....M-O-U-S-E!
" ...the cows and the chickens, they all squawk like the dickens, when they hear my little Minnies Yoo Hooooooooooooooo!".
"Quack, quack, quack, Donald Duck, Gee I think he's cute! Quack, quack, quack, Donald Duck, in his sailor suit!".
And Pluto. Couldn't talk, didn't wear clothes, walked on all fours and ever had a song of his own. So sad.
Hi kids!
Goodbye Mickey! I'm sure there's more of you in the toy box.
OTR Friday and time again for some of the finest Americana humor ever conceived with Paul Rhymer's "Vic & Sade".
The first episode I'm sharing today is from June 19, 1940 and features more of Rhymer's insightful running gags which made the show hum. I say insightful, because it wasn't out of laziness or economy that these things were used (though I'm sure that was part of the reason for them to come into play...when you're doing 5-6 scripts a week, it happens) but for a couple of other values. Repetitiveness and familiarity are BIG parts of humor, when the audience can be part of the joke, it personalizes and tickles another part of the funny bone. But Rhymers use of these themes (hmmmmm, maybe I ought to call them themes instead of running gags...it fits Rhymer's work better, I think) was maybe repetitiveness, but never repeating. A new slant was taken each and every time. Sometimes very slight, but never completely.
I say "insightful" because it is just these running themes (see how much better that sounded?) that make this the pure humorous examination of the American life. What is more American that the familiarity of little situations that keep us ticking and what's more familiar that living our struggles and comforts with them over and over and over again. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Sheer genius.
Back to the episode. This one revolves around Vic's penchant for wide-brimmed hats. For such a down to earth business man, Vic as a flair for exaggeration of language and panache that belies his having to have his feet planted so sturdily into firm ground. It's his way of adding magic to his hum-drum work-a-day life. And who doesn't appreciate that? The problem with wide-brimmed hats is, his wife Sade says that when Vic wears one he "looks like a peeled onion". I'm not even sure what that means, but I can hear my Mom or her friends saying it and the others nodding knowingly. He apparently also looks like "a cowboy from the wild west show". That one sounds so familiar, I'm sure my mother said that about me. If not for a hat then for a goofy shirt or pair of shoes I was fond of. Rhymer's in my head again.
This episode also mentions that pesky $2 bill from Kleeburger's Department store which Vic has been happily dueling with for years and also a mention of Bijou Theatre favorite, Miss Gloria Golden, this time quoting her admiration of men who wear wide-brimmed hats. God this is good stuff.
Rhymer's knack for nonsensical names and places also shows as Vic reads a newpaper clipping quoting "K.Z. Globbers who lives in the South-Western part of Eastern North Dakota".
I'm gonna shut up now and let you listen. You'll be glad you did.
The second in our weekly 1/2 hour of OldTime Radio distraction is from June 21, 1940. It's a hot summer day in our little Illinois town and the family discussion takes place on the porch of the little house half-way up on the next block. Rhymer's storytelling and scene-setting flexes as every now and then the conversation pauses to enjoy a cool breeze. Damn he was good.
Vic is very proud that Hank Gutstop has been hired as marketing director for "The Royal Throne Barber Shop"! Hank has big ideas for building the business by using his networking contacts he has at "The Lazy House Pool Hall", "The Brigth Kentucky Hotel" and as Exhaulted Little Dipper in "The Drowsy Venus chapter of the Sacred Stars of the Milky Way" lodge.
Just typing that last sentence makes me want to listen to this one 2 or 3 more times. Why don't you give it a listen. You'll be glad you did.
Our visual portion of this radio classic comes from the Winter 1942 issue of "Radio Album" and a brief look at our little family in an article of radio "families".
"Mad Monday" everyone, and continueing my sharing of "Mad" the comic book #5, here's Harvey Kurtzman and Wally Wood's take on Quality Comics "Blackhawks", "Black and Blue Hawks!".
I love Wood. But especially when he does superhero humor.
We can learn soooooooooo much from this genius who was just trying to pay the bills.
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