Thursday, May 10, 2018

cartoons that don't age well, part 1

I said I wouldn't go there, but I might as well get it over with.
I don't know whether to give a trigger warning or spoiler alert, so I guess readers will have to gamble.
These are cartoons that would never be printed today, so I will try to “save” some of them.

This is an organization of sports fans celebrating a member's birthday. Its membership is actually quite racially diverse (which you can't see) and it is only a coincidence that they happen to have hoods and robes, and burn crosses. Poor choice of wardrobe, I know.

John Dempsey
Playboy, November 1965
Charley Jones' Laugh Book, June 1954
Notice the spelling. They are not talking about American soldiers but the "calvary". I have no explanation for the native-wear that never really existed, though.

Bill Wenzel
Debonair, November 1968
Stereotypes aside, note the igloo in the background has a chimney. How would that work?
The Dude, November 1957
E. Simms Campbell was known for the theme of the harem, which is taboo for two reasons. Here there are two additional taboos. See if you can point them out. Now see if you're brave enough to say them over the internet.

Esquire, January 1934
They misspelled the Dutch village of Haarlem.

Gregory D'Alessio
Esquire, January 1934
Shaming aside, isn't the story supposed to be that Eve came from Adam's rib and not from somewhere else in the jungle? Or maybe this is just some other place and these are two different people?

Adam, July 1973
This borders between 'cartoons that don't age well' and 'cartoons I don't get'. If the “what else” is sex, I'm going to assume this is before the act, but if she's naked and in his bed, he's already there and wouldn't have to woo her or get her drunk.

If he's trying to slip her a mickey, that goes without saying he's an asshole, but again, if he has her in bed already he wouldn't need to. Maybe the joke is he's about to do something silly, but then you'd have to put the silly thing in there for the joke to work. Or maybe she's saying “what else” sarcastically, as in “that's all you've got?”

Adam, September 1963
Adam, September 1963
I think the people who did some of these would have voted for Trump. Not that it makes it better, that's just an observation.

Adam, October 1966
It's completely consensual.

Adam, July 1967
The planet they landed on takes more than 365 days to revolve around the sun, therefore four of their years is five of ours, making her 20. Still creepy, but legal.

Adam, May 1968
This takes place in a state where the voting age is in your thirties. Cad, May 1969

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