Terry & Smokey (D)

Gainesville

Yesterday I finally stopped procrastinating and made myself go down and spend a couple of hours in Special Collections. I'd never used any of their stuff before. I had to fill out a form, and was issued a pair of white cotton gloves. They brought out a huge flat box that held two years worth of Sunday comics pages from the New York Sun News, 1947-48. I had settled on 1948 as the year to sample-- I wanted post-war 40's, a time I have some memory of, and since I'd just finished E.J.'s books, both set in 1948, I picked that one. They are of course very fragile and brittle, so I had to be really careful.

They were fascinating! So different from today's newspaper comics. There were nearly as many advertisements as comics, and the ads were a complete hoot-- many of them short comic strips in themselves. I could make a paper just about them. Also interesting is there were never more than two strips per page, sometimes one strip plus an ad, sometimes one strip taking up an entire page, sometimes an ad or two taking the whole page.

The archive is not complete-- it looks as if someone was collecting Terry and the Pirates separately, as it is missing from many of them. In addition to Terry (post-Caniff), the date I picked (January 18) has The Gumps, Harold Teen, Smilin' Jack, Moon Mullins, Winnie Winkle, Tiny Tim, The Teenie Weenies, Sweeney and Son, The Ripples, and Smitty. I know nothing about any of them, except Terry, but luckily I've already assembled reference books at home which I studied avidly last night and they gave me a general sense of this little stable. It will take some more digging to get useful details, which will be fun. I stayed up way too late doing this, which is why I didn't blog last night.

I went back yesterday afternoon to do the scanning. It took over two hours to get scans of the 12 pages. My chosen date did not include a Smokey Stover, although others close date-wise did. I'm particularly anxious to include a Smokey, not just because I always loved him, but also because I want to see how my XML handles all the background details and text. I picked another day, March 25, that has one, and scanned the Smokey and that date's Terry. If I have time, I want to go back and scan the rest of March 25, so I'll have two examples of most strips.

This morning as soon as I rolled out of bed (late, of course) I was at the computer, making sure the CD I burned with scans worked right and patching together a page to see how that went. The originals are smaller than contemporary pages, so it took only two scans per page. My test page looks great, and was easy to do with PhotoShop. All the work I've put in on the modern pages is really paying off now, because I know how to do it efficiently.

Can you tell I'm psyched?

We did the weekly mail pickup at the P.O. yesterday, so I spent more time than I should have today getting caught up with a few magazines. Put together a quick menu plan and got out to do the shopping. Having that new Publix so close is saving me a lot of money as well as time-- there is nothing else near it, so I'm not tempted to go into Barnes & Noble or Best Buy like I was at the Butler Plaza store.

Last night I Blessed the house in short stints-- I liked the feeling I had last weekend (preparing for the guest that didn't see the house afterall) of having that out of the way that I decided to try it again. It really does make the weekend more of a relaxed time to have the place decently cleaned.

I'm really happy to hear how much you like your lecture series, Mom. Much more convenient that having to schlep down to the campus on THEIR schedule. Plus, I'm sure it's a welcome change from TV as background noise. I've been thinking about getting some of these after I retire, and your experience so far is certainly encouraging.

I keep forgetting to tell you how splendid and beautiful your thank-you note, "Herb Bouquet" was. Both Bill and I just marvelled at it-- so incredibly realistic. The herbal scents you included did not survive the USPS, but the sage, rosemary and thyme (is the other one oregano?) don't really need them to be convincing. I hope you put some on card stock, because I'd love to have a few. I'm positive you could sell them, but not sure you'd like the hassle involved-- remember what the candle biz was like...

Here's some Diry, the last of the fragmented trip entries. The next entry is after our return. Diry fans everywhere will rejoice to hear that I seriously underestimated how many entries are left-- there are actually about 70 more!

Sunday, August 3, 1952
216th Day--150 Days to Follow

Dear Diary
This morning we did not go to Sunday school. Later in the morning it started to rain. Sandy and I took Lillie's & Dan's umberellas & ran out in our bare feet. Later we went to Keosaqua for lunch. Then we went to see Elizabeth & George & Marylyn. We rode their pony, Nancy. Then we came home. Dan is in bed. She was tired. Suzy

[nothing for August 4-9]

[Cartoon of Nebraska labeled "NEB" at upper right]

Sunday, August 10, 1952
223rd Day--143 Days to Follow

Dear Diary
Left Early this morning did not like the joint too well any way. (Thunder & Lighting Last night) Had Breakfast here Went on To Grand Island and North Platte for lunch. Then on to Ogallala & Then we stopped at Chimney Rocks to take pictures. Went on To Scotts Bluff and are spending the night here. Had dinner here too. Suzy