The Passing Scene – November 1968

Gene Patrick outdid himself in November 1968 with five hilarious editions of his Passing Scene comic strip.

The November 2, 1968 strip ran the week before the presidential election.

I like the panel showing the old-style voting machine, where you flipped levers in complete privacy behind a curtain. (I think it was a better system, myself.) Patrick’s satiric depiction of Lorain City Council as a clown is unusual, but still funny. And I suspect that the ‘Schmedly’ name in the first panel is probably related to the U.S. Marine Corps slang term ‘Smedley,’ referring to someone who handles simple tasks for a superior.

The November 9, 1968 strip includes a dark, but very funny gun gag.

That’s a great caricature of the Journal’s Chief Photographer Norm Bergsma in the second panel. I like the drawing of the hippie, too!

The November 16, 1968 strip (below) puts a humorous spin on several things going on around Lorain County, including Oberlin College’s resistance to military recruiters on campus.

The November 23 strip (below) includes more Oberlin College hijinks as its subject. And note that local stores had their Christmas stuff out before Thanksgiving back then, too. I like the expression on the policeman’s face in the first panel too.

And lastly, the November 30, 1968 strip includes Patrick’s well-honed caricature of Mayor Woodrow Mathna.

As the panel points out, the Civic Center was originally planned to be the new home of Lorain City Hall. But somehow, it ended up being a mere office building, and a new (and hideous) Lorain City Hall was built where the old one was.