Sambo's, Martians, Lurkers, & Newts

[Tryg Helseth]

DAVID on Sambo's:

>I don't really think [the story, Little Black Sambo is racist] ...  WAS
>meant to be set in India ... [beyond that story,] the term "Sambo" has
>always been used derogatorily, and thus dragged this completely well-meaning 
>children's book down with it.

I quite agree about the story; and thanks for reminding me that the 
original setting was in India (I had forgotten that) which makes sense with 
the Tiger.  I wonder now if the use of "sambo" as a derogatory term has no 
connection to the story and is meerly coincidence?

>The Sambo's restaurants became Friendly's, not Denny's.

Hmmm.. I ownder if the Sambo franchises were not simply sold off to other 
chains?  The ones around here became, Denny's.  I originally thouht they 
just changed their name, but it sounds like the Denny's chain may have 
existed already and simply bought them out.

>Sambo restaurant is in (!!!) Santa Barbara, and it alone still goes 
>by the original name (and shows Sambo in a TURBAN on its shopfront 

The Sambo's around here didn't have that, but they did have sequences of 
pictures inside roughly illustrating the story of Sambo's encounter with 
the tiger.

DAVID on Martians:

>      Was the line about union workers deleted from Gladstone's 1989 
>reprint of "Lost Beneath the Sea", or from an earlier one (Whitman)?  

The original text from U$ 46 refering to labor union members was reprinted 
in Walt Dinsey's Comic Digest 10.  A decade or so later, the text was 
changed in the U$ 149 reprint.  The Carl Barks Library, however, came out 
after that with the original text.  The original text also appears in the 
Gladstone Uncle $scroge Adventures 17.

ALL on Lurkers:

In the past couple of months we've really seen quite a few lurkers post the 
first message.  It's great to see new people posting here.  Keep those 
message coming!

DWIGHT on Newt Gingrich as Uncle Scrooge:

>the Time cover had a caricature of Newt Gingrich [...] as a combination
>of Uncle Sam and Ebeneezer Scrooge. The caption, in big letters, read:
>"UNCLE SCROOGE."

I too wonder if this was a reference to Uncle $crooge or Dicken's character 
since his nephew called him "Uncle Scrooge" in the Christmas Carol.  It is 
true that many Americans (at least those in the USA) have no idea who Uncle 
$crooge is.  That may be changing somewhat with DuckTales and the Disney 
Channel, though.  In any case, I have a hard time thinking of Newt as our 
$crooge.

Tryg

Tryg Helseth  <trygve at maroon.tc.umn.edu>   Minneapolis, MN, USA
          or  <tryg.helseth at tstation.mn.org>

"I wish they all could be Calisota Ducks!"  -the Beach Drakes