EasyEW posted:

Funky Winkerbean

Weembles posted:

Does that Iron Man look like Richard Nixon to anyone else or is it just me?

PainterofCrap posted:

Over in Pet Island, they're not seeing the joke

Slammy posted:

And He Did! (December 22, 1917)

riderchop posted:

Rae the Doe, which you can support by pledging to the author's Patreon

Haifisch posted:

And She Dyed!

Haifisch posted:

And She Dyed!

Johnny Walker posted:

Mark Trail



Whoa

PainterofCrap posted:

Monster Rally - 1950

Discendo Vox posted:

The item in the lower right isn't a strop; I can't find examples of it being held on a separate stand and it's oddly shaped for that. The reel mechanism matches some designs used to dispense disposable straight razors, but still not a reasonable position. I found an image of such an item in an old film still:



Note the looping cord.

A similar device appears in a couple other actual photos from the period, on a similar stand, pushed to the back of the room.



Fake edit: I am not positive (because it's depicted as free-standing and has no power cord, and its placement is odd), but it might be a Stim-U-Lax, a handheld vibrating massager that is still being made today. The reciprocating motor goes on the back of the barber's hand.
http://www.russianaz.org/news/2005/Oct_13_Barber.html, http://progress-is-fine.blogspot.com/2017/02/oster-stim-u-lax-junior-and-oster.html. This doesn't fully match the photos; I think this one may be a bit off-model?

I'm pretty confident I'm missing something here. Anyone have any ideas? I did find this fun vid in the process.

Haifisch posted:

Origins of the Sunday Comics

Discendo Vox posted:

Vox's food regulatory history derails, Origins of the Sunday Comics Edition

This comic depicts a variety of programs by the USDA, as well as directly by states under the Hatch Act and several other related subsequent laws, which funded public land grant universities to conduct research on a huge variety of agricultural activities and areas, in every state of the union. These programs usually funded product-specific "agricultural research stations" that tried a variety of things to increase yields, quality, processing efficiency, or produce other improvements to agricultural output.

The USDA programs, as well as the Hatch Act and its successors were (like all legislation from this period) a massive porky payout to the states, but they also served an incredibly vital role- improving the food security of the nation. Though it's hard to fully appreciate these days, farming is an incredibly resource-intensive, risky activity that routinely fails to produce useable results. The modern, massive surplus of food the US produces is due to both sustained market control subsidies by the US government that make farming predictably profitable, as well as several generations of federal investment in agricultural science- a level of societal and institutional investment in research, education, and progress on a scale that's now hard to appreciate.

This cartoon illustrates how the public perceived these newfangled "scientific" programs at the time-both with optimism, and bemusement. There's a lot to go over in this image, and I'd be happy to answer questions about any individual part of it. I will say that, to the best of my ability to determine, all of the programs mentioned in the image are real, aside from the featherless chicken and combined organ/incubator.

Yes, that includes the radium ones. Look, we put radium on everything back then.

I'd like to particularly draw attention to the "butter and cheese testing station" in the upper right. Before the FDA was created, the USDA attempted to address some of the rampant issues the US faced with food fraud and impurity. I've written about the colossal debate over butter, margarine, etc that was a major driver in the creation of the FDA in an entirely suitable place- the funny panels thread. This post inspired this 1100 word essay, "Vox's food derails: butter orgy comic edition". Strongly recommended reading for people who are fans of the Vox Expanded Effortpost Universe. Add it to your pulls.

Through the land grant university system, and through funding for university research in agriculture, the USDA and the Hatch Act represented a massive investment by the federal government in the very idea of science as a tool of progress itself, as well as in the potential of the American farmer. This investment ultimately paid off with a remarkably stable domestic food supply, a major source of domestic prosperity, international soft power and food aid that we now take for granted. Many modern pesticides, growth media, equipment, ag practices and even new crops are the product of this sustained, intense expression of trust in the power of progressive research.

I don't want to make these programs sound perfect - they were haphazard and uneven, the quality of research was often rough (it was before the postmodern scientific apparatus was formalized post-WW2), and initial ag research programs focused so heavily on product development that larger externality issues of agriculture were ignored. Many research projects (like, uh, increasing crop size with radiation exposure) were total busts early on. The institutions of research pioneered during this period would later be turned to the recovery from the Dust Bowl and toward conservation purposes as well. Agricultural research programs still exist (including the Hatch Act), but they do not capture the public imagination the same way they once did.

In many ways it seems the American public have forgotten just how fragile our food system is. In addition to issues of power concentration among landholders, there is a growing societal alienation from how our food is produced- and a broad insecurity about the quality of food that comes from a scientific production process we do not understand. Unlike the figures in the cartoon, scientifically grown food has become bad food. With this alienation and insecurity, fearmongers and scammers (and, you know, farming companies) have realized the profit to be gained from selling fear- and "green", "natural" foods with a massive upcharge. From raw milk to organic labels to greenwashing, members of the public seek to understand and exercise control over what they eat by demanding "natural" foods that reject some of the lessons of agricultural science threaten to raise food prices and, in the long term, reduce the security of our food system, and public health at large. Although some of these naturalistic preferences are valid, many, such as a fear of GM crops or modern pesticides, do no benefit and a great deal of harm. They're little better than anti-vaccination beliefs - an instinctive expression of fear of the unknown, easily exploited.

More than an increase in federal funding for ag research, the American public need a reinvestment in ag education- in appreciation for the role that scientific research and its complexities should play in all aspects of our society, including our farms. Proper respect for scientific institutions can be a bulwark against fearmongering and uncertainty regarding to food and any number of other areas.

Because it turns out that, even if it can't safely grow giant strawberries, irradiating your food can be a pretty good thing.

edit: edited to remove some potentially erroneous funding statements- I don't know USDA as well as FDA and I'm having trouble getting a clear image of the modern funding situation.

Darthemed posted:

Retail

riderchop posted:

EasyEW posted:

Discendo Vox posted:

bahahahahaa god that could not be more perfect- it has the single hair out of place, the shirt color, every loving thing

At this rate you may actually get a cameo Vargo

Cowslips Warren posted:

drat I love the Addams. But the comic always has Mortician looking miserable in a FOOB way. And I always forget how Gomez looked, for in my mind he is always Raul Julia.

Cowslips Warren posted:

drat I love the Addams. But the comic always has Mortician looking miserable in a FOOB way. And I always forget how Gomez looked, for in my mind he is always Raul Julia.

amigolupus posted:

I think Jules might have even used a clipart of Mark Trail just for that authentic Jamsallen tracing. And a Dr. Vargo cameo would absolutely rule.

PainterofCrap posted:

Monster Rally – 1950


This is the one that folks claimed landed Addams in treatment. One of my all-time favorites!

Cowslips Warren posted:

drat I love the Addams. But the comic always has Mortician looking miserable in a FOOB way. And I always forget how Gomez looked, for in my mind he is always Raul Julia.

PainterofCrap posted:

I sent this out as a home-made Christmas card one year.

Slammy posted:

Outbursts of Everett True (February 19, 1918)

PainterofCrap posted:

This is the one that folks claimed landed Addams in treatment. One of my all-time favorites!

Slammy posted:

Outbursts of Everett True (February 19, 1918)

Slammy posted:

Hitz and Mrs. (October 1923)

amigolupus posted:

Raul Julia as Gomez was such a perfect casting.

PainterofCrap posted:

Monster Rally – 1950

Johnny Aztec posted:

I would say that it takes a special kind of heart to put out a good Addams movie.

Like, you can go by the numbers and have a quirky goth movie but,.....wouldn't be Great.





.....It's been many years since I've watched Addams 1+2. Maybe I should change that.

Maxwell Lord posted:

And of course this one was the opening gag of the 1991 Addams Family movie.

Evil Mastermind posted:

Holy poo poo that Mark Trail isn't an edit!

Professor Wayne posted:

Luann is almost as bad as 9CL in the "these are definitely clothes young people today wear" department.

Professor Wayne posted:

Luann is almost as bad as 9CL in the "these are definitely clothes young people today wear" department.

Julet Esqu posted:

What, you don't wear a sensible blazer over a turtleneck when you go to the dog park?

Julet Esqu posted:

Jack/Jock

PainterofCrap posted: