Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Noodles Ad – Nov. 3, 1965

For many years, the Lorain Journal used to run a lot of national and regional ads, which were likely part of a carefully planned marketing strategy by the respective companies. These ads were a nice source of advertising income that the Morning Journal and all other surviving newspapers no doubt sorely miss today. The practice seemed to taper off in the 1980s and end completely with the rise of the internet.

I've featured a lot of these ads on the blog over the years and here's one for Pennsylvania Dutch Egg Noodles. The ad copy is written in a manner that would be grammatically correct in Pennsylvania Dutch, but seems curious to us. (An Old Dutch Beer campaign used the same gimmick.) 

It's interesting that by having an actual person represent the company (Pennsylvania Dutch-Megs Inc.), it seems to mimic the "Quaker Oats" man (who is based on William Penn). He's even clean shaven like the man on the Quaker Oats package.

But it seems kind of off to me.  When I think 'Pennsylvania Dutch,' I think of those old-time stick candy displays with the advertising mascot consisting of a man with a beard. One of those displays is for sale on the internet right now.

The same candy company (Pennsylvania Dutch Co. Inc. of Mount Holly Springs, PA) also sold their candy in various package designs, sometimes with a slightly different version of the bearded mascot.

For many years, I thought the 'Dutch' in Pennsylvania Dutch meant Dutch people (as in windmills and wooden shoes). Eventually I learned that Pennsylvania Dutch are largely German emigrants who arrived in the U. S beginning around the late 1600s. 

But what about the Amish? 

This website explains it nicely. Summing it up: the Amish are considered Pennsylvania Dutch, but not all Pennsylvania Dutch are Amish.

Speaking of the Amish, I made my first trip down to Amish Country in a long time just a few weeks ago on a beautiful Fall day. Dinner, of course, was at Der Dutchman in Walnut Creek – a Brady tradition since the 1970s. (By the way, Der Dutchman celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2019, having opened in 1969. You can read a nice article about it here.)

Lorain Journal Comics Page – Nov. 10, 1937

If you're not a fan of Popeye (the comic strip, not the monotonous big screen cartoons of the 1940s and 50s), you might want to skip today's post. 

You see, originally I was just going to post the Lorain Journal comics page from November 10, 1937. But the Popeye strip from that day so intrigued (and amused) me that I had to go back and read the whole storyline, which ran for several months. Before I knew it, I was retrieving the majority of the comic strips to post here.

It's pretty hilarious and shines the spotlight on Popeye's father, namely Poopdeck Pappy. The storyline, entitled "Wild Oats," begins with the old reprobate helping himself to $10,000 of Popeye's money and generally causing trouble in the one-eyed sailor's household as well as the community. Eventually Pappy is arrested (after throwing a woman in the river), leading to the funniest part of the plot line – his courtroom trial.

Poopdeck Pappy's interaction with his lawyer, the prosecutor, the jury, his accuser and finally, the judge, is side-splitting (to me at least), with hilarious dialogue and a cockeyed view of the justice system.

Here's my selected strips from the story, which ran from the end of August 1937 until the second week of November 1937. E.C. Segar usually let his readers know when a new storyline was starting by featuring a special introductory panel.

Popeye plans to use Eugene the Jeep (his magical pet that knows everything) to help him solve the crime. However, Poopdeck Pappy is one step ahead in his effort to cover up his theft.

Poppdeck Pappy causes other trouble before he's finally arrested – which isn't an easy job for the police.

Finally, the storyline reaches its hilarious climax with the trial of Poopdeck Pappy. Popeye finds his father a lawyer, who soon regrets ever taking the job.

Poor Popeye feels bad for his dad  – who doesn't feel any remorse at all and seems happy in prison! And with that, Segar launched a brand new story on Nov. 15th.

Several of the dialogue lines made me laugh out loud: Jake and his "I'm not in the habit of eating in prisons" line and, of course, Poopdeck Pappy's exclamation upon hearing his 'guilty' verdict: "We wins the case – I don't get hung!"

Ah, the simple joy of reading the funnies. Many of us have fond memories of it, others will never know the pleasure of looking forward to their arrival in our daily newspaper.

Oh, and here's the Nov. 10th, 1937 comics page that initiated this unusual post. Besides Popeye, our old pals Barney Google and Snuffy Smith are there, as well as Blondie & Dagwood, and Mickey Mouse.