And It's Some Show, Too

Here is a comic strip clipped from an old 1924 newspaper I found in the frame of an old map, scanned and cleaned up in Photoshop. I don't get it:


The strip is by Jerry Doyle, a political cartoonist from the New Deal era.

Here is the text from the comic strip:

Gent: "Boy o'boy!! This bill would certainly make a Scotchman dig deep!"
Bill 1: "Why Men Leave Home? Featuring Tommy Loughran"
Bill 2: "Football, or Who Has the Pigskin?"
"Baseball Season": "Sleepin' Sound"
Moneybag: "$ Players' Share"
—By Jerry Doyle

Me: "WTF?"

Fat Soap

Dove boasts their bold new campaign for Real Beauty, Dove Firming lotion and cream for curvy women. Looking at the La-Mar Reducing Soap ad on the left, found in an American newspaper from 1924, Dove's "Firming" concept doesn't seem all that new. In fact, very little has changed in the last eighty years. Snake oil is still snake oil, no matter what century or how many cute chubby chicks are in the ad.

According to Century Women, La-Mar was hocking "Reducing Soap" in Woman's Weekly magazine in the UK as early as 1911.

Compare the two adverts here:

1924

WASH AWAY FAT AND YEARS OF AGE
La-Mar Reducing Soap

The new discovery. Results quick and amazing—nothing internal to take. Reduce any part of body desired without affecting other parts. No dieting or exercising. Be as slim as you wish. Acts like magic in reducing double chin, abdomen, ungainly ankles, unbecoming wrists, arms and shoulders, large breasts or any superflous fat on body. Sold on a money-back guarantee by Geo. B. Evans and Jacob Bros., and all good drug and department stores, or direct to you by prepaid parcel post if your dealer cannot supply you. Price 50c a cake or three cakes for $1.00; one to three cakes usually accomplish its purpse. You'll be surprised at results.

LA-MAR LABORATORIES
431 Beckman Building, Cleveland, Ohio

2005
“A highly effective blend of glycerin, plus seaweed extract and elastin peptides known for their skin-firming properties, the formula goes to work on problem areas to help skin feel firmer and reduce the appearance of cellulite in two weeks.”

My Squirrelfriends

Click the images below to watch QuickTime movies

Mad Squirrel

This is Jimmy Squirrel (who, I later learned is actually a female.) She comes around my apartment window sill here in Park Slope every year, begging for handouts. This time she was very aggressive. I think it is because she was pregnant. Listen carefully to this clip, you can hear her growling and chattering her teeth!

Squirrel Family

Looks like Jimmy Squirrel has been quite busy, having given birth to at least four kits. One of them is bigger, and is either her boyfriend, or a kit from a previous generation, or possibly the father. But judging from the little black squirrel, we may have to do a paternity test.

Suckling Squirrels

This was quite a site: four baby squirrels all suckling on their mother's teats while she eats some Spanish peanuts from the window sill! (I had to keep her occupied with a treat so they'd stick around for the photo op).

Squirrel Rape!

I wasn't sure exactly what was going on at first, but it quickly became apparent that this older squirrel, possibly the father, but more likely the mother's boyfriend, was busy establishing his dominance over the babies. He seems to have taken a fancy to the black kit, making this not only a case of statutory rape, but also a possible hate crime.

Yin & Yang

The quintessential interracial squirrel couple of Park Slope

We live in a wonderfully diverse neighborhood, where squirrels of all colors and sexual orientations can express their love for each other, openly and freely. These two baby squirrels are like a microcosm of that Park Slope vibe. Dark and light, entwined in a harmonious Squirrel Swirl, these little rascals remind me of a furry yin and yang Taijitu symbol.

This photo was taken through my window screen as baby squirrels Yin & Yang rested in the sun on the ledge. (I couldn't open the screen to get a clear shot because they would have been startled.)


Here are the same two squirrels (I think) a few weeks later, almost fully grown but still hanging around their old stomping grounds outside my window.