I grew up spending too much time at the library. I'd mostly peruse illustration annuals or books of collected cartoons.
Once, while flipping through a copy of the Best of H.T. Webster, this drawing caught my eye. At first I thought the final line of the caption said something about Chewbacca. Then I wondered if somehow this was where George Lucas got the name for everyone's favorite wookiee. I had heard Lucas was a fan of comics and illustration (somewhere there's a picture of him in his office with an original Leyendecker hanging on the wall behind his desk), so to my young mind it seemed entirely plausible.
This notion of a nearly forgotten comic strip influencing contemporary culture stuck in the back of my mind, and likely played a part in the nonsense you see here everyday.
It's probably worth noting the pencil-necked fellow in the above linked panel is Caspar Milquetoast, whose last name has since been adopted into our vernacular even though he's largely forgotten.
And speaking of George Lucas: yes, tonight's comic is a reference to THX-1138, albeit extremely oblique.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Laugh-Out-Loud Cats #1138 and a recollection
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I grew up reading old comics collections too. I remember Caspar Milquetoast, I even remember that specific cartoon.
ReplyDeleteIt need not have been that cartoon that led to Chewbacca's name, though; "chewing tobaccy" and various dialects would have been enough. I think one of the British colonial dialects is most likely.
However, today's picture reminded me more of the celebrated "climbing the office building" scene in an old Harold Lloyd movie, which my father swore they had photographed with all the materials lying flat on the ground - but it wasn't; he was a reckless young man at the time and really did climb the building. Nobody realized how dangerous it was until it was too late to stop, and he said he didn't fully realize it until it was over.
H T Webster spent his boyhood in Tomahawk WI, a fact that I, as a Wisconsinite, am proud of!
ReplyDeleteI have the Best of H T Webster - and I re-read it probably once a year. Classic! I relate to Caspar Milquestoast -
Think of it - milk toast - not much is softer or has less spine!!!!
Love that man! (whose phrase is that, by the way?) :)
I think Chewbacca actually comes from the word for "dog" in some slavic language. In Russian, "dog" is sobaka. Quite similar, no?
ReplyDeleteI always assumed it came from chewin' tobacco somehow -- now that I think about it, his fur is reminiscent of a chaw once it's pulled from the tin. Hmmm! It would be far greater if it came from the comic, which is a real prize - thanks for sharing it! I'd heard of Casper Milquetoast, but not sure I ever saw an illo.
ReplyDeleteScript Maven, you might be right. I know that Lucas hired a linguist to help make up the languages heard in the bar scene in the first movie (my brother knew the guy), so perhaps there was collusion on names.
I didn't know that about "sobaka" meaning "dog." Since Chewie was originally based on a dog, but his name is spelled like the dialect and tobacco hypothesis, I think Lucas may have been reminded of the dialect possibilities once he heard the word.
ReplyDeleteI suspect Kitteh would either have the sense to avoid Chewie, or would find a way to beat him.
Sobaka sounds much more plausible!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really need to see some Harold Lloyd films.