Friday, August 19, 2016

Proof that redneck humor was around before Jeff Foxworthy: Bodacious Idjit and H.T.


Writ by hand an' seal't wit terbaccy joos

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougsheley/4212872728/


That's Snuffy Smith, from the Barney Google comic strip! Steve recognized him!]

The strip was created in 1919 by Billy DeBeck, and he hired Fred Lasswell a few years later to do the lettering. It was Lasswell who created much of the hillbilly language that actually made its way into common American vernacular.

In his biography he says he "scoured used bookshops...for books on hill folklore." He would note the language and use it in the strip.

 The Biography claims he concocted "Bodacious Idjit" on his own, but it's really from the 1888 book "The Story of Keedon Bluffs" by Charles Egbert Craddock, who wrote a number of hill folk oriented books.

2 comments:

  1. That is a B-24 Liberator that my Great Uncle was a Top Turret Gunner in.

    I went to his calling hours today.

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    Replies
    1. Wow! I have posted some planes over the years, but rarely hear from the crew's family! I'm glad you left a note!
      What are calling hours? I haven't heard of that phrase before.
      And did your uncle tell you stories about his time as crew on a bomber?
      Thanks for your note!

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