One of my favorite comic strips
when I was growing up was L’il Abner, which ran from August 13, 1934 until
November 13, 1977, an astonishing run of 43 years.
The strip ended almost exactly 2
years before the death of its creator, Al Capp, on November 5, 1979. The main
characters were L’il Abner Yokum, Daisy Yokum, Mammy Yokum, Pappy Yokum, Honest
Abe Yokum, Tiny Yokum, and Salomey. In addition, though, there were numerous
supporting characters, one of whom was Joe Btfsplk, who is famous for being the
world’s worst jinx.
Joe’s name was pronounced something akin to the Bronx cheer.
If you don’t know what that is, here’s a sample:
The Yokums live in the fictional town of Dogpatch, and it was
set someplace in one of the southern states of America. Inspired by the comic
strip, an area of San Francisco was renamed “Dogpatch” sometime in the late
1940’s and 1950s. It was
initially a working-class neighborhood, but has experienced rapid
gentrification since the 1990s. Now it boasts similar demographics to its
neighboring Potrero Hill – an upper
middle-class working professional neighborhood.
If
life ever returns to normal, and it’s safe to once again to travel to other
cities in the country, I’d recommend a trip to San Francisco, a town that I
used to get to frequently when I worked for Fireman’s Fund. The “city by the
bay” has a lot to offer, and it is considered to be a very safe city. However,
if you see Joe Btfsplk walking down the street, run the other way as fast
as you can.
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