Thursday, February 8, 2018

Cartoons I don't get 33

Dale McFeatters
Hello Buddies, circa 1951

Why is a child working for the company? Is it that his mother or father work there and they're off-camera?
Gilbert Wilkinson
The New Yorker May 16, 1925
This Is It, 1960s

Is the circus family his family, and if so, why would he have to beg in the street unless the circus doesn't pay anything? Or is the joke that the way he's sitting in front of the poster it looks like they're growing out of his head?
Erich Sokol
Playboy, October 1962

Another creepy cartoon nobody would publish today. I wonder if I should even be posting it in the context of "can you believe people thought this would be funny once?". If it's any consolation, I think after the cartoon he immediately put his clothes back on and brought her back home before anything could happen, never saw her again for at least a few more years, and went into counseling. He'd be in his seventies or eighties now.
For Laughing Out Loud, February 1960
Bill Ward
Fun House, February 1979

I think the joke has something to do with his bald head and her breasts, but like most other Humorama titles, they came up with captions for the same drawings over and over (this looks like at least a third-generation printing), and it looks like they didn't think the joke through this time.
Judge October 9, 1909

You just had to be there.
Eugene “Zim” Zimmerman
same issue of Judge
Life January 5, 1905
Frederick Opper
Puck June 15, 1880
Ship-Bored
Punch January 28, 1920
Punch November 9, 1927

1 comment:

  1. 1) Kid is wearing clothes that are not repaired, meaning he is poor. His unkempt appearance would reflect poorly on his employer. Why a kid? IDK
    2) Twofold: one is kids talking about “grown up” things as if they were grown ups. But the scale would be different because she’s younger. Women who date younger men would be a bit “not done”
    3) It’s a sight gag. It looks as if they are supported on his head.
    4) Yeah. He’s shocked that he just slept with a 15 year old.
    5) Ah. Wealthy woman loves her husband’s money more than her husband.
    6) She thinks his head is a boob.
    7) The Truth (the Ugly Truth) is taking a beating from doubters. Kind of like… now. Climate change isn’t real! It was cold out today!
    8) Well, other than mocking the Irish…”sorry I was taking such a long drink. My mind was somewhere else” Other guy “I wish your mouth was there as well, as I could then have a drink right away.”
    9) This is a very visceral image of what stage fright can feel like. A giant critic, staring down at a tiny you.
    10) Wowzers. No idea. Razor is unsharp, brush seems sad. Maybe long hair and beards were “in” in 1880?
    11) It’s a customs inspection, and she’s having undeclared items confiscated. Don’t know what a spotter is. Either the inspector or someone undercover to look for smugglers? I shudder to think how much 20,000 in 1880s money is worth now =?
    12) French for “Red Wins” as in roulette (get it, Russian roulette). But the game isn’t over. I.e. the Bolsheviks have made a lot of gains, but the “battle” isn’t over.
    13) I don’t know how betting works. I don’t know why the pay out would be 10 to 1 if the hounds are favored. I’d have thought it would be the other way. He’s going for the riskier bet though.

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