Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Out Of Date, Or 64 Years Ahead Of Its Time?

Ad from The Bouncer #14 (1945):

Interesting to see an ad aimed at G.I.s; they were one of the primary audiences for comic books during WWII, but you didn't see too many comic ads aimed at them.

Equally interesting is the concept that they were uncomfortable, or incapable of, writing love letters to their gals back home. It seems to me, in this era of instantaneous communication, there's even more more need for a tome like this. "How To Write Love Emails"? "Be Romantic On Twitter"? "Win Your Gal With Your Facebook Status Updates"? It seems to a cranky old man like me that, with more and more people writing more and more (yet less and less articulately), there's a real need for "Electronic Love Letters For Dummies."

So, is he a sergeant and Gomer just doesn't know the standard shorthand; or is his name really Serge?

Yes, there sure are love letters in the book, Serge--hence the book's name. I guess this guy did need a lot of help...

Mary will indeed be surprised, since Serge's last attempt at a letter was U R KEWL scribbled in crayon.

So, how many people just re-used the "example letters," rather than writing their own from the "lessons" provided? And I'd love to see who the "world-famous people" providing model letters...

Probable "other chapters":
How to start a "Dear Jane" letter
How to make the cold hell of savage warfare seem safe and happy for your gal
How to make sure she's being faithful without seeming too nosy
How to use colorful euphemisms for sexual terms

1 comment:

Menshevik said...

That "serg" spelling is interesting, maybe it indicates that by 1945 this clipped form of "sergeant" was still so new that there was no standard spelling? (After all, this is not the only way to shorten the word to one syllable, in Britain they use "sar'nt" (spelling?, pronounced with a silent "r"), AFAIK.