Thursday, June 18, 2009

Hey, Mabel



This animated commercial from the '50s interests me for a couple of reasons. It exploits to comic effect the traditional division of labor between husbands and wives. But because the animation doesn't really match the words of the jingle, it is quite likely a radio jingle repurposed for television. The section about the yard chores does not suggest in any way that it's the wife who is doing them. In fact, it makes little narrative sense.

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August Wilson's Century Cycle -- Gem of the Ocean

  August Wilson seems to have had a lot on his mind when he wrote Gem of the Ocean -- history, religion, folkways, maybe even politics, but ...