STUPID MAD PEOPLE
STUPID MAD PEOPLE is an 8X6 limited edition signed print. It was made adapting a book cover from 1908 and a postcard from the same period.
Charles Joseph Weld-Blundell posed the question in his book “Are We A Stupid People” published in London in 1908. Considered an important and scholarly work, it’s still in print because, well, we are. Still. BUT not as stupid as the guvmint (such as it is) thinks.
Blundell was a Lancaster lad born in 1844. He died in 1927. That is not his picture on the cover. It is Alfred known as Old Jack from an 1914 postcard by Harry. The face was later on an ad for painless dentistry. Early Alfred was also an alcoholic named Hooey McManus on a greeting card and, back in 1909 one of the earliest images showed up on a German calendar. As inane looking as he and hiss smile were, Al got around. In 1954 the what-me-worry face of Alfred E. Neuman appeared on the Mad and became the magazine’s mascot.
For me, Old Jack or Hooey or Alfred seems a face for our times and the book a pertinent question. Particularly for some politicians, bless their dark hearts. But folks, no one is smiling.
Charles Joseph Weld-Blundell posed the question in his book “Are We A Stupid People” published in London in 1908. Considered an important and scholarly work, it’s still in print because, well, we are. Still. BUT not as stupid as the guvmint (such as it is) thinks.
Blundell was a Lancaster lad born in 1844. He died in 1927. That is not his picture on the cover. It is Alfred known as Old Jack from an 1914 postcard by Harry. The face was later on an ad for painless dentistry. Early Alfred was also an alcoholic named Hooey McManus on a greeting card and, back in 1909 one of the earliest images showed up on a German calendar. As inane looking as he and hiss smile were, Al got around. In 1954 the what-me-worry face of Alfred E. Neuman appeared on the Mad and became the magazine’s mascot.
For me, Old Jack or Hooey or Alfred seems a face for our times and the book a pertinent question. Particularly for some politicians, bless their dark hearts. But folks, no one is smiling.