Old-Fangled Health Nut Humour Part 2
In today's reprint of For Better or For Worse, we have another day into our blast from the past session of “Reasons people used to make fun of diets.” The giveaway in the first panel is the word "newfangled." Who says “newfangled”? To use this word, instead of a less-prejudiced word like "new", Lynn Johnston tells us right away how the diet is to be considered.
There is no such thing as a fangle The word first appears in the 14th century as newfanglyd or newfangel and was applied to a person who delighted in novelty. The fangle portion of the word comes from the Old English word fon meaning "to capture or seize". Thus a newfangled person was one who seized new things.
The giveaway in the second panel is the use of plain yogurt. Yogurt used to be the standard food of choice for mocking health nuts.
When nutrition promoter Benjamin Gayelord Hauser published an excerpt from his book Live Younger, Live Longer (1950), in the October 1950 issue of Reader's Digest magazine extolling the health virtues of yogurt, the product's sales soared. They leaped again when so-called health foods were popularized by the counterculture of the 1960s.
The giveaway in the last 2 panels is where the diet is mocked by Anne Nichols. The diet described appears to be a standard low calorie, low fat and low carb diet. Plain meats and leafy green vegetables. That’s not too bad a diet, even though it is bland and boring. Obviously these are the days before more mockable diets like the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Grapefruit Diet, the Coconut Diet, or the Bread and Butter Diet. If Lynn really wanted to have fun, she would replace the items in that diet list with those of one of the fad diets. Then it might be funny now, just as it was back in 1980.
As for the Nichols’ kid, this child is about the same age as Richard Nichols when he previously appeared in the new-runs. and he is clearly younger than the Christopher Nichols who previously appeared in the new-runs. The child is not named (so far), but I believe it was originally considered in the strip to be Christopher Nichols. We have seen the updated Who’s Who on the FBorFW website point out that Christopher is the only Nichols boy born so far. Now the question is whether or not Lynn Johnston will abide by that correction, or if she will defiantly spell out the boy is named Richard. Lynn has proved in the past that she ignores Beth Cruikshank’s autobiographies and she ignores what is in her own old strips. Can Lynn admit a mistake? Or will Lynn continue to insist on her error? I find it very amusing that the most dramatic tension delivered by these new-runs is how badly Lynn Johnston will intentionally screw up her own continuity.
There is no such thing as a fangle The word first appears in the 14th century as newfanglyd or newfangel and was applied to a person who delighted in novelty. The fangle portion of the word comes from the Old English word fon meaning "to capture or seize". Thus a newfangled person was one who seized new things.
The giveaway in the second panel is the use of plain yogurt. Yogurt used to be the standard food of choice for mocking health nuts.
When nutrition promoter Benjamin Gayelord Hauser published an excerpt from his book Live Younger, Live Longer (1950), in the October 1950 issue of Reader's Digest magazine extolling the health virtues of yogurt, the product's sales soared. They leaped again when so-called health foods were popularized by the counterculture of the 1960s.
The giveaway in the last 2 panels is where the diet is mocked by Anne Nichols. The diet described appears to be a standard low calorie, low fat and low carb diet. Plain meats and leafy green vegetables. That’s not too bad a diet, even though it is bland and boring. Obviously these are the days before more mockable diets like the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Grapefruit Diet, the Coconut Diet, or the Bread and Butter Diet. If Lynn really wanted to have fun, she would replace the items in that diet list with those of one of the fad diets. Then it might be funny now, just as it was back in 1980.
As for the Nichols’ kid, this child is about the same age as Richard Nichols when he previously appeared in the new-runs. and he is clearly younger than the Christopher Nichols who previously appeared in the new-runs. The child is not named (so far), but I believe it was originally considered in the strip to be Christopher Nichols. We have seen the updated Who’s Who on the FBorFW website point out that Christopher is the only Nichols boy born so far. Now the question is whether or not Lynn Johnston will abide by that correction, or if she will defiantly spell out the boy is named Richard. Lynn has proved in the past that she ignores Beth Cruikshank’s autobiographies and she ignores what is in her own old strips. Can Lynn admit a mistake? Or will Lynn continue to insist on her error? I find it very amusing that the most dramatic tension delivered by these new-runs is how badly Lynn Johnston will intentionally screw up her own continuity.
posted by howard at 9:59 PM
4 Comments:
That was Christopher, as you suspected. Like you, I'm curious to see whether Lynn will switch the names. I wouldn't be surprised if she did this: Switch the names in a new-run, and then run an original strip, from the same period, in which the baby is called Christopher. In the same week. Without any attempt to reconcile the discrepancy. Because she doesn't care! Mua-ha-ha!
howard,
That’s not too bad a diet, even though it is bland and boring. Obviously these are the days before more mockable diets like the Cabbage Soup Diet, the Grapefruit Diet, the Coconut Diet, or the Bread and Butter Diet. If Lynn really wanted to have fun, she would replace the items in that diet list with those of one of the fad diets. Then it might be funny now, just as it was back in 1980.
She wouldn't change the bland-but-sensible diet to a loony fad diet any more than she'd admit to a discrepancy in her continuity. She just doesn't care about the continuity of her strip; remembering who was born when takes an attention to detail and process she just can't be bothered to muster. She's not trying to create art; she just wants to produce glurge Kool-Aid drinkers can tape to their fridges.
aprilp_katje,
I wouldn't be surprised if she did this: Switch the names in a new-run, and then run an original strip, from the same period, in which the baby is called Christopher. In the same week. Without any attempt to reconcile the discrepancy. Because she doesn't care! Mua-ha-ha!
I can very well see this happening. After all, this is the same woman, who will insert a new-run in the middle of a reprint sequence, without bothering to make sure that the characters are wearing the same clothes in the new-run as in the reprint. On the other hand, the Carrie person said that the continuity would have to be fixed before Lynn could go to straight reprints. Since it has been more than 8 weeks since the error was made and pointed out to her, what we may be seeing is Lynn’s attempt to retcon the Nichols kids back into shape.
DreadedCandiru2,
She's not trying to create art; she just wants to produce glurge Kool-Aid drinkers can tape to their fridges.
Produce and reprint, although I doubt that most Kool-Aid drinkers can tell the difference.
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