25 Dec 2012

Ralphie Becomes Wiser

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One of my favorite scenes:

2 Responses to “Ralphie Becomes Wiser”

  1. guest says:

    Ovaltine > History
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ovaltine#History

    Ovaltine was developed in Berne, Switzerland, where it is known by its original name, Ovomaltine (from ovum, Latin for “egg”, and malt, originally its main ingredients).

    The US children’s radio series Little Orphan Annie (1931–1940) and Captain Midnight (1938–1949), and the subsequent Captain Midnight TV series (1954–1956), were sponsored by Ovaltine. They had promotions in which listeners could save proofs-of-purchase from Ovaltine jars to obtain radio premiums, like “secret decoder ring” badges or pins that could be used to decode messages in the program. Children from the time may remember that “Ovaltine” is an anagram for “Vital One”.

    Little Orphan Annie > Background > 1929 to World War II
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Orphan_Annie#1929_to_World_War_II

    In November 1932 Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President and proposed his New Deal. Many, including Gray, saw this and other programs as government interference in private enterprise.

    Annie’s life was complicated by not only thugs and gangsters but by New Deal do-gooders and bureaucrats. Organized labor was feared by businessmen and Gray took their side. Some writers and editors took issue with this strip’s criticisms of FDR’s New Deal and 1930s labor unionism. The New Republic described Annie as “Hooverism in the Funnies”, arguing that Gray’s strip was defending utility company bosses then being investigated by the government.[5]

    Ha! “Hooverism”:

    Is Budget Austerity Modern-Day Hooverism?
    http://mises.org/daily/5215/Is-Budget-Austerity-ModernDay-Hooverism

    Unfortunately, Daddy Warbucks was a Neocon:

    Little Orphan Annie > Characters
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Orphan_Annie#Characters

    Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks first appears in a September 1924 strip and reveals a month later he was a small machine shop owner who acquired his enormous wealth producing munitions during World War I.

  2. Ken B says:

    Those decoder rings are dangerous. You could put your eye out.

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