“Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch”
Remember “Droodles”? Probably not, unless you’re older than me. Humorist Roger Price–remember him?–launched this fad in 1953, which culminated in a “Droodles” game show on TV for a few months in 1954.
I have received a review copy of The Ultimate Droodles Compendium (the absurdly complete collection of all the classic zany creations of Roger Price), copyright 2019/2020 by Tallfellow Press, Los Angeles. So it’s not yet for sale, but it will be soon.
Hey, this stuff is really funny! I got some nice LOLs out of it. “Droodles” are simple little drawings that don’t make sense until you read the caption. For a little while in 1953-54, Droodles were hot. Then it faded.
As a humorist, Roger Price excelled in pure nonsense and unexpected turns of phrase. He certainly had an unusual mind. I mean, really–“Ship arriving too late to save a drowning witch”? How did he ever think of that?
Anyhow, the “Compendium” is a nice, thick book with glossy pages and quite a few laughs along the way. I recommend it. If you can tolerate Oy, Rodney, you can probably put up with Droodles.
Yes, yes, I remember Droodles! I actually had the first of the books, and I even remembered the point of the Droodle you’ve reproduced before I saw the caption. But I never saw the TV show, since we didn’t have a television at the time.
Roger Price had a wonderfully off-the-wall sense of humor. I wish I could remember which of his books demonstrated a physical defense move for women called the “Lucius Beebe Come-Along,” which made no sense whatsoever. And I still use one of his phrases meant to baffle an opponent in a debate (I think): “I had one grunch but the eggplant over there.”
There were some great humorists, back then–Roger Price, Marc Connelly, Stan Friberg, and Alan Sherman, just to name four. If these guys can’t make you laugh, better see if you can still fog a mirror.
How are you doing today? Any better (I hope)? Our prayers are with you, Phoebe.
Thank you for asking, Lee. My fever seems to be gone, but I’m still groggy, my appetite hasn’t yet returned, and my nose is running like a faucet. Keep those prayers coming!
Take *a lot* of Vitamin C! That, plus prayer, is what pulled me through.
That was back in the day when humor was still legal. 🙂
Roger Price wrote for “The Bob Hope Show” and the “Tonight Show.” His Doodles are hilarious. Too bad there aren’t more video of him doing his doodles explaining.