Sometimes You Just Fall Over
Category: Fun
Happy 134th Birthday to Martin Van Buren!
Today marks the birthday of our 8th president, Martin Van Buren. This morning I couldn’t have told you one fact about him. But now I’ve learned several!
- He was the FIRST president to be born in the U.S.
- He was the first president NOT of British or Scots-Irish ancestry; he was Dutch and spoke Dutch as his first language, with English as his second.
- His political enemies nicknamed him Martin Van RUIN.
- He married his childhood sweetheart and first cousin once removed, Hannah Hoes, but she died 18 years before he was sworn in. FYI, a first cousin once removed is either your cousin’s kid or your parent’s cousin
Once I learned that, I immediately thought of FDR and Eleanor Roosevelt and how ew it was that they were cousins. And how Jerry Lee Lewis married his 13-year-old cousin back in the day. But did you know Edgar Allen Poe married his 13-year-old first cousin, too?
So did Einstein, Jesse James, and composer Stravinsky. Thomas Jefferson married his third cousin. Johann Sebastian Bach had 20 children, seven of them with his first wife and second cousin, Maria Barbara Bach. Charles Darwin married his first cousin and had ten children. Cue the natural selection jokes. The real Christopher Robin married his first cousin and had one daughter, who was later diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy. Makes you wonder.
Now check out Einstein and his handsome cousin.
Because Sometimes Tom & Jerry Just Need Rum
Flipping through my festive 1949 LIFE, I noticed this ad for Puerto Rican Rum. My first thought was how I remember the texture of glasses like that on my fingers. You never see those at the department store homeware section any more. My second thought was how odd it seemed to get “something different, something gay” for your two friends, Tom and Jerry, including a personalized mug. Are they supposed to share it? What are the chances that Tom and Jerry even fell in love? And once the bickering starts, won’t this mug be the first casualty in a heated dish-breaking episode?
To me, Tom and Jerry are a cat and mouse. And I wasn’t sure which came first, the chicken or the egg. As it turns out, it was the drink, devised by British journalist Pierce Egan in the 1820s, not the cartoon debuted in 1940. Have you ever drunk a Tom & Jerry?
For research purposes, I wikipedia’d the cartoon animals, just to make sure they weren’t lovers. I was under the impression they hated each other. It said, “both characters display sadistic tendencies, in that they are equally likely to take pleasure in tormenting each other,” but that wasn’t any help. I continued to read the list of characters:
- Toodles Galore
- Butch
- Mammy Two Shoes, who appeared in Push-Button Kitty
- Fluff, Muff and Puff
- Uncle Pecos, who plucked one of Tom’s whiskers off to replace broken strings on the guitar
- Miss Vavoom
- Meathead, a brown, mangy alley cat who wears a red toupee
I’m pretty sure I met half these people in college at downtown dance clubs. Well, maybe not Mammy Two Shoes. Evidently, she wore layers of skirts and her face was rarely shown.
I don’t get it. So confused. Guess I”ll pour a jigger of rum and catch up on some Tom & Jerry reruns.
So Wholesome For Everyone
Elsie and Elmer Borden: A Lesson In Dairy Dysfunction
The First Couple of Borden’s Milk products always seemed to be arguing, as they graced the pages of LIFE magazine throughout the 1940s and 50s.
Elmer was controlling.
Elsie was passive aggressive. But, dear…
The ad continues for nearly a DOZEN paragraphs, nothing for which today’s reader would have time. The dialog eventually addresses the product of Christmas. None Such Mince Meat.
Can you imagine an ad today making reference to Cabbages and Kings? Would most readers understand a reference to the 1904 O. Henry novel, itself a reference to Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass? I shant believe it.
Not only have I never tasted None Such Mince Meat, I have never seen hide nor hair of it. The main ingredients include raisins, molasses, dried apples, beef and spices. Not what I think of when I think of pie.
And what about you? Have you ever put a forkful of this into your gullet?
Later, Elmer asks, “Didn’t they punish nagging wives in the public square?” To which Elsie responds, “What a silly idea! Who’d make the mince meat pie while the wife was in the square?” Yikes! Better make sure that eggnog is spiked for tonight’s meal.
See You Later, Can I Have Them Please?
Stuff We Passed Up At The Salvation Army
Would you have passed it up, too?
My Spirit Animal
Crazy Eyes
I was perusing the site of a nearby dog shelter yesterday, and I came across this Anatolian Shepherd mix named Duke. I couldn’t help but share the photo. Could you wake up to this face each morning? Is the blue eye (a product of his Heterochromia iridis condition) too disconcerting? And what about his ears?
Witchy Women
Stag-Nation 1947
As we’ve seen in prior posts, deer heads graced the chests of many a student in the post-war years. Evidently, victors wear ruminant mammals as a display of pride.
The ladies of the Tee Club knew what was up. Which do you prefer: the facing double stag jump or the stags all over?
Mr. Deer Duds knew how broadshouldered these antlers could make him appear. They seem to be spreading across his frame.
And lastly, this girl from the Baptist Student Union understood how deer could be a perfect balance for her festive poinsettia.
These days, you can still find plenty of deer-dotted Christmas sweaters. Just don’t go too crazy, like this one on etsy.com
Sidelines
I Don't Get It 