CAL THOMAS COMMENTARY FEBRUARY 29, 2024
DO YOU KNOW WHAT DAY TODAY IS? YES, IT’S FEBRUARY 29TH, A LEAP DAY IN A LEAP YEAR THAT COMES AROUND EVERY FOUR YEARS.
IT’S ALSO SADIE HAWKINS DAY. PEOPLE OF A CERTAIN AGE WILL REMEMBER THE CARTOONIST AL CAPP AND HIS STRIP CALLED “L’LIL ABNER,” ABOUT THE DOINGS OF A GROUP OF FARM PEOPLE THAT INCLUDED ABNER AND DAISY MAE, ALONG WITH OTHER CHARACTERS.
THE STRIP BEGAN IN THE 1930’S IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DEPRESSION AND LASTED UNTIL AL CAPP DIED IN 1979.
SADIE HAWKINS DAY WAS A CAPP CREATION. IT MEAN THAT WOMEN COULD PROPOSE MARRIAGE TO MEN.
THE STRIP WAS SET IN THE FICTIONAL AND STEREOTYPICAL APPALACHIAN HAMLET CALLED “DOGPATCH.”
IT RAN IN HUNDREDS OF AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN NEWSPAPERS AND ENTERTAINED READERS BEGINNING IN THE DEPRRESSION YEARS AND LASTING UNTIL CAPP’S DEATH. IN ADDITION TO THE MAIN CHARACTERS, THERE WAS MAMMY AND PAPPY YOKUM, HONEST ABE AND TINY YOKUM. AND A MAN NAMED JOE WHOSE LAST NAME WAS DELIBERATELY UNPRONOUNCEABLE. JOE WAS THE WORLD’S WORST JINX.
CAPP GOT IN HIS POLITICAL HITS AGAINST COMMUNISM, CALLING ONE PLACE “LOWER SLOBOVIA.”
IF YOU’RE A SINGLE WOMAN, YOU CAN ASK THE MAN YOU LOVE TO MARRY YOU BECAUSE IT’S SADIE HAWKINS DAY. MARRIED? TAKE YOUR HUSBAND TO DINNER AND TOAST AL CAPP. IT WAS A DIFFERENT TIME. I’M CAL THOMAS.
