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"Scoop, we're giving all the boys on the paper turkeys this year, which they can take home, where they will chop off their heads, blood spurting everywhere."

That's our Boss.

Yes, I found somre more. Very early. The first year, I think; that means the strip had about a four- or five-year run. I got this from a Detroit paper, which ran it when they had the space, or liked the strips, or remembered to put it in. They had one regular comic, then added Scoop, then dumped them both in 1914 for Polly and her Pals. Whether it's even possible to collect the entire run of Scoop, I don't know.

By the way, speaking of things I don't know, I don't know why I left the word GIF in yesterday's Bleat. There was supposed to be a gif to illustrate a point. When I wrote the entry, I thought "I'll just get out a copy of the movie and snip the scene and turn it into a gif, that should take five minutes tops" and it did. It was also 10 MB, so I said to hell with that. But I didn't take out the word, and perhaps there was great mirth and finger pointing and howls of derisive language.

How ever can make it up? How about panoply of old Thanksgiving-related material. I've been setting it aside for years in a folder, and I forget the folder existed.

Now it sees the light of day. Let's begin!

You know the name. Right? Yes, it's him. He did more than machines.

It's 1912. I've no idea what happened. Did something wipe out the flock?

It's a big strip.

The Ifticaniffs.

You know, there were . . . better cartoonists around /

But his concepts and gags were a notch above the usual stuff of the day.

Perhaps there was Turkey Flu.

I wonder when the jagged line was first used for mesmerism-type powers.

Also from 1912, a reminder what the holiday is really about. Gratitude? Nah!

It's one of the two or three products advertised in the paper that's still made.

		From the front page of the Tribune, 1934
		Hard times.
		Uh . . . that's a bright? It was so common, it was a bright?

Why did I mention it was 1934? Well:

WE CAN DRINK BEER AGAIN

Well, we always did, but now we can be obvious about it

The editorial cartoonist tries to get some mileage out of it:

Foley, the cartoonist, always had a lady in a wrap and hat in the corner. She became more stylized, and more unrecognizable, as the years went on.

His cartoon the next day:

Business, delighted by this New Deal!

Oh, and no pollytics today.

Then as now, there would be ads for Christmas shopping.

Walk a flight, because they're upstairs. Was it worth ten dollars? Sure.

As for what kids could expect under the tree in 1934 . . .

Please send me The Star for three onths to help the bearer get All Rubber Doll FREE

Eh?

Finally: the Kraft Food Company would like to have a word with you about Thanksgiving.

Gildy passes on some words for Mr. Kraft, who was quite devout. Imagine any of this on a sitcom today.

We return to the utterly generic story of . . .

Okay, let's see how that went. We saw him zapped by an electronic vaporizing doorway, right?

Afterwards everyone sits down, has a drink, falls asleep exhausted, wakes ten hours later, showers, defecates, and eats breakfast. Kidding! Right back to it. Purps and his men lure Foster to the hideout to do away with him. Nice ride.

Purple Monster is waiting.

Waiting, with his crack henchmen.

Here we see the Purple Monster misjudging the gravity of Earth, and throwing things too high. And you have to love, love, love that little kick he does.

It goes on in this vein for quite a while - the longest hats-on fistfight of the series - and only ends when Foster gets his gun back and starts shooting, whereupon the fearsome Purple Monster from Mars, who is the vanguard of the invasion, runs away.

Meanwhile, Diana, the Spunky Niece of Dr. Uncle Science goes to the lab where Dr. Humphries was murdered, the place where Foster almost got vaporized; she confronts the assistant, who is MARSha of course, and they have a brief catfight. MARSha flees, after changing into her Purple Monsterss form, and Diana wakes and follows.

MARSha has Purple's predeliction for hoofing it when the heat's one. Anyway, the ending - and it probably created 10, 000 Irving Klaw customers.

Keep in mind these are the super-smart beings who've been sent to take over Earth.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving Day! See you FRIDAY, since I'm talking tomorrow off.