I just love all of these strips which feature Wally. Whoevver is drawing that dog is masterful. I have a lot of strips in my favorites list which feature pets. We had a dachshund and whomever is drawing Wally has zeroed in on the best aspects of that breed. When we were a little bit late with his dinner dish, he would pick up his bowl and bring it to us. He had a basket with a pillow in it. When we were all gathered around the TV, he would pick his pillow up from the basket and move it closer to the TV so he was part of the crowd. When it was time for bed, he would pick the pillow up and take it back to his basket. Whenever the kids played hide and seek, the seeker would get to keep the dog and could always fine where everyone was hiding in a few minutes.
I love it when Nancy and her friends get together for a party! When I was in third grade, one of the stories in our reading book was about a Masquerade Ball. But it was a Christmas masquerade ball – The kids in the story dressed up as elves, angels and shepherds. Guess that wouldn’t be allowed these days – but it was a fun story back in the day.
I miss the olden days when the Wallet family, and nearly every other comic on the comics page, remembered to celebrate Veterans Day – which began as Armistice Day in 1919. In our county restaurants open up with free dinners for all veterns. So, since most will be forgotten on the comic pages this year – my hat is off to my uncle Gabe, pictured here with us in 1943, who joined up before the war broke out and was one of the first Americans to be trained in the new secret weapon – RADAR. Uncle Ernie, who was in Europe and was there to help liberate the concentration camps. Uncle Loren, who was on his way to Pearl Harbor in a transport ship when news about the attack on Pearl Harbor was announced. Coisom Royce and the Albin cousins, who were at Iwo Jima. Our neighbor Wayne, who spent the war in a POW camp. Uncle Harley, who served in Korea and cousin Loren, who helped mop up Tokyo. To many greats grandfather Martinus, who crossed the Delaware with General Washington, and spent the winter at Valley Forge. To great-grandfathers James and Charles, who were wounded at the Battle of Bull Run in Manassas, Virginia. To our neighbor James, who spent time in Viet Nam. Thanks to all veterans for your service.
LOVE IT WHEN Nancy and her friends celebrate holidays. There used to be a Big Holiday Book which featured Nancy, Sluggo, Aunt Fritzi, Philn Fumble and their friends celebrating all of the major holidays.
Back in the 70s, the school which my kids attended had a fair for the kids and my sons wanted to buy baseball cards with the money they had saved from their newspaper route. We talked them out of it, then moved from Virginia to Colorado. By the time we arrived in Colorado, we discovered that banks had discovered service charges. Their small accounts had been almost wiped out by the bank’s service charges. Somewhat later, we attended a Christmas fair at our local shopping center and they discovered that some of the baseball cards they had wanted to buy were selling for about $700 apiece! I gave up trying to convince my kids that putting money in the bank as a way to save money. The most recent CD I closed out was only making FIVE CENTS PER MONTH. Banks have changed – and not necessarily for the better!
I have heard that, about every ten years, most people find themselves sitting on a potential fortune, which they bypass because they don’t realize the value that they have. For me, it was the comic books which my mother threw out as soon as I left home – I had the original Wonder Woman – which sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I also had the first Lone Ranger ever published. Also Raggedy Amme and Raggedy Andy. Probably a lot of Pluggers wonder whatever became of those comics they had which later brought thousands of dollars.
They must have been living in or near a big city, which had television. We didm’t get televosopn until 1957. It was AFTER television was introduced that we learned you could buy toy guns made out of metal AND smokes which were already rolled. During the 50s, we played cowboys with pieces of wood which a creative relative had whittled into the shape of a gun. Likewise, nearly everyone we knew rolled their own smokes – something as high maintenance as a pre-rolled smoke like a cigar was definitely big city stuff.
Just love it when Nancy and her friends get together to talk about their hobbies. I remember trains. Used to be, if you were taking a long trip, you traveled on a bus or by train. When we traveled by train, each of us would wear two or three outfits – Jeans and a blouse, covered by a skirt and sweater. Two or three pairs of socks, etc. What we carried in our suitcases were snacks – canned salmon, mixed fruit, potted meat product, crackers, peanut butter, jelly, bread – stuff we didn’t need to cook or refrigerate. We knew that we couldn’t afford to pay for the meals which the train crew prepared in their kitchen. Last time I traveled by train, they wanted $7 for a hot dog – and that was LONG before inflation. Back in 1963, when I was first married, I seldom spent more than $7 for a week’s worth of groceries – and it took several trips from the car to bring all the groceries in to the house!
Love it when Nancy and Sluggo get time to chat with friends and talk about their favorite hobbies. They need to compare notes with Snoopy. I kind of remember that Snoopy has a pool table in the den!
They’re both reading a newspaper! I remember the olden days when everyone read newspapers and comic strips could talk about stuff like propaganda. Actually, back in the 70s, I worked for Voice of America in Washington D.C. We were in the editorial department. We had to put the news articles into perfect English so it would be easier for the translators to translate the articles. Some languages don’t have a way to show possession – so we couldn’t say My Mother’s House – we had to change everything to the phrases like the house of my mother.
I just love all of these strips which feature Wally. Whoevver is drawing that dog is masterful. I have a lot of strips in my favorites list which feature pets. We had a dachshund and whomever is drawing Wally has zeroed in on the best aspects of that breed. When we were a little bit late with his dinner dish, he would pick up his bowl and bring it to us. He had a basket with a pillow in it. When we were all gathered around the TV, he would pick his pillow up from the basket and move it closer to the TV so he was part of the crowd. When it was time for bed, he would pick the pillow up and take it back to his basket. Whenever the kids played hide and seek, the seeker would get to keep the dog and could always fine where everyone was hiding in a few minutes.