Six A.M. Smells

September 28, 1966

It took me a minute but Blackie has killed at least four people in this shoot-out. Good for him!

I like how the sheriff star on his hat is just an asterisk. Just a tiny butthole on his head.

I'm the same way. I will wake up like an animal with an alarm, but if you just let it happen, I'm in a better mood. I hate waking up in the morning. I especially hate waking up and then having to do stuff.

The + symbols in the eyes when these characters are excited are weird. +s and Xs are a symbol for death. They'd be much more at home in the first panel.

See?

Hot Fudge Thursday

September 27, 1966 + "Care to give me a little hint?"

I am a huge proponent of the public education system, yet am very vocal about how it routinely lets our children down. I'd give you reasons, but I don't have time for that. And if you don't think it happens at your or your kid's school, then I got a bridge to sell you.

This teacher definitely drinks, right? She's probably kind of drunk now.

You don't want to go out for ice cream with your husband? And you said "Marvy"? I think that's two boxes on the divorce form.

So you want granite countertops? You can just say so. You don't have to make a pun.

September 26, 1966

So when you offend Brutus, he climbs a tree? Not that I'm complaining...it's better than lashing out or something. I'm just wondering how he got up there. He must be pretty good at shimmying up trees.

siiiiiiiiigh...If you need me, I'll be in a tree.

I'm Sure Standing Over Him Is Helping

September 24, 1966

Is Agnes just working on the ship? I mean, cool. Sure, she has to work, but she's still at sea. I just like that she apparently told everyone she was going on a cruise but didn't add "as an employee" to the end.

Maybe another nap?

It may also be the way you are sitting. Looks uncomfortable. I don't think I could focus on anything if I was sitting like that.

All Snuggled Up...Kind of Cute

September 23, 1966

"Of course they had to invite me on egg and tomato night..." Never offer to show up on a theme night if it's something they can throw at you. Or don't be someone people want to throw things at.

I like how your reaction to this is based on when you actually read it. If you read it early in the morning, Brutus falling asleep isn't great. But if you read it at four, it's the end of the day. Of course he's tired.

I, however, am a morning napper. That's when I typically want to doze off.

Gonna Break His Thumbs

May 10, 1987

The joke here, of course, is that Brutus only says her looks are improving after the light has been turned off. Maybe it would play better if we could see Gladys' face in the last panel. Not that I want to see more of this borderline blackface...

Ok, but let's be honest, there's a huge difference between losing your money at the casino--something you can just stop doing and walk away from--and losing your money because of, say, medical issues or some other tragedy. Unless you are going to take up a collection, maybe you shouldn't be talking about it. And if Hayes has a problem that he can't walk away from the casino, then maybe someone should urge him to go get help.

In case you missed it, take a look at the small farming neighborhood of Jaketown in central Wabaunsee County, Kansas. Never more than a handful of families, Jaketown is memorialized by a three mile road bearing its name.

School is starting for us. If you would like to donate to my wife's teacher wishlist, you can go here.

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I Hate Wilberforce's Shirt, Too

September 22, 1966

If you are this scared of walking down alleys then maybe you shouldn't be walking down alleys. I also find it odd that there's a Plum Street in an area where you have dangerous alleys, but I'm sure there's one somewhere.

You just have loose M&Ms in your pocket? Ugh, children are disgusting. Why do we keep having them?

What are they sitting on? Some kind of wooden dock?

Jaketown

Jaketown Road is one of the last reminders of a neighborhood that existed from about the 1870s until 1920s in central Wabaunsee County, Kansas. Jaketown Road is three miles of gravel road from Skyline Road to the west to Snokomo Road to the east. Also called Snokomo (or Lower Snokomo) and Pleasant Valley, Jaketown was specifically a small cluster of about eight families to the south of the Snokomo area situated where Newbury, Mill Creek, and Mission Creek townships come together. Based on maps and some county biographies, the prominent families in the Jaketown neighborhood were Weekes, Woody, Connell, Iott, and Mix.

It's unknown where the moniker 'Jaketown' came from. A post office existed in the area about a quarter mile south of Snokomo School named Snokomo from 1875 to 1881 and then again from 1886 until 1901. The postmasters were George Kneeland and Jasper Dallas. Schools in the area were Snokomo School which started in a log cabin in 1869. A stone building was constructed in 1883 and still stands today on the National Register of Historic Places. Lower Snokomo School was constructed in 1890 and still stands, though abandoned, along Skyline Road near Boothill Road. The third school was Union Center, a wood frame building, was at the southwest corner of Skyline and Dawsen Hill roads but burned down in 1990.

Snokomo School, District 24
Photo from author.

Lower Snokomo School, District 32
Photo from Wabaunsee County Historical Society

Union Center School, District 35
Photo from Wabaunsee County Historical Society

There was one church in the area, located in the southwest corner of E. Stephens property at the corner of what is now Jaketown and Bobcat roads. The Olive Hill Methodist Church was completed in 1884. Sadly, it burned down in 1891 and was never rebuilt. Typically, church services were held in schoolhouses or the Woodman Lodge.

The Woodman Lodge was built just north of the Snokomo School in about 1890. It held many events including the annual Woodman Picnic and Royal Neighbor Picnic. Events at the Lodge and the school also spilled over into Stratton's Grove across the road. The Lodge became a hay barn for Elmer Woody and was then moved to Paxico where it is now Mill Creek Antiques.

Woodman Hall
Photo from the Kansas Resources Historical Inventory (KHRI)

Most of the families mentioned above are buried in the surrounding cemeteries. Mission View and Bethlehem, which was also known as Jaketown Cemetery in local newspapers. There are also a couple of family cemeteries nearby, one for the Kuenzli family and another for the Iott family. One nondescript grave in Bethlehem Cemetery is for John Anderson Woody, who was killed in 1909 by Rufus "Rufe" King in Maple Hill.

Never much more than a small farming and ranching community, Snokomo/Jaketown/Pleasant Valley/possibly Spring Creek according to one account remains a small farming and ranching community near the center of Wabaunsee County.

View of Jaketown Road looking west from Snokomo Road. Photo from author.

An odd mention of Jaketown in a 1904 edition of the Alma Enterprise announcing a new store.

We're Not Even Sure Biff Is a Friend

September 21, 1966

That dog, I'm assuming it's a dog anyway, kind of looks like Killer from All Dog Go to Heaven.

That movie had dogs shooting other dogs with
machine guns.

Was the music already playing or did the dog put on the record before dancing with Brutus?

What is wrong with her? Why is she phrasing it like this? "I just heard about Biff Hooper. He has appendicitis. Do you have any questions?" No. Why do I even care? Appendicitis isn't contagious. Appendicitis also isn't all that serious. Get back to me when he has something communicable or terminal.

In for a Pound

September 20, 1966

At least people like you. Wait. That watling scale (is that what it's really called?) probably says that to everybody.

Why would you make a meatloaf if you don't have enough, you know, meat? It's usually a pound of meat, right, for one meatloaf? You didn't have a pound of ground beef? Why do you have random amounts of beef under a pound just laying around?

Resting Scowl Face

September 18, 1966

I don't think bulldogs actually know or understand the purpose of Yale's fight song, but whatever you think will help, I guess. You couldn't just beat the dog with your umbrella or go into one of those doors?

Eli Yale, or Elihu Yale, was the primary benefactor for Yale University, for those that don't know. I even had to look up what the hell is Bulldog thing was about.

Brutus knows you aren't supposed to tell women to smile anymore, right? Now Mother Gargle has even more of a reason to be a complete menace to him. He's tired of scowling now, just wait, it'll get even worse now. Brutus will wish he were dead.

Toothpick Tuesday

September 17, 1966

Should've put up a sign or something to say 'come home quietly'. Why is he even doing this? Is he trying to avoid some work at home he needs to do? "I need to go out an tar the roof. Hey! Are those toothpicks over there?"

Okay. Did they have this many toothpicks or did he go out and buy them? There have to be thousands now in that pile. Thousands.

Monotonize is barely a word and Veeblefester is definitely using it wrong here.

R S T L N E

September 16, 1966

I don't know why Thornapple would be thrilled about that. She offered to go on this jungle excursion with you. Not many women would be willing to do that. You sure you want to trade her in for a couple of goats and a shield?

Why does the chief look like that? What's he going to do with her?

I appreciate Art making this indigenous tribe white. Less problematic.

You're going to work? Okay. Where else would you be going at 8 A.M. on a Monday morning?

Wheel of Fortune seems more up Brutus' alley than, like, Jeopardy!. Is Brutus watching the new stuff with Ryan Seacrest or the Wheel of Fortune channel on PlutoTV where it's just Pat Sajak? Maybe both?

Is That Keyboard to a Commodore64?

May 3, 1987

If you can't make out what Gladys is saying, and I could barely make it out, there are still some parts that I'm like, "What is this word supposed to be?", Gladys is talking to Doris about Claudia whose husband went to Pittsburg with his secretary. Don't worry, Claudia took him back despite her mother's objections.

Did Brutus disconnect the phone because Gladys was tying up the phone or was the phone always disconnected and Gladys just didn't notice? If it's the former, that's abuse and Gladys should be talking to Doris about that.

I only found one instance of this happening, but it's weird it happened, now, twice, right?

Look, I understand things can happen on the way to work making you late, but it constantly happening is something you need be talked to about. Brutus is clearly late because he sleeps too long, takes too long to get ready, then blames city transit for his failure. Not knowing what day it is is probably also a problem. He should talk to a doctor about that.

Despite The Born Loser being in reruns for the last week, there was a new post yesterday about the Felix the Cat Nintendo game. Check out some cute screenshots and download it for your own console.

If you would like to support me or this website, you can throw some money at one of the sites in the Support page above. I start back to work this week so posts will go back to being at the end of the day. Thanks for your readership.

Felix the Cat: The Video Game

One of my favorite video games growing up was "Felix the Cat" from Hudson Soft on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I still have the game cartridge somewhere. It was released in 1992 and follows the game mechanics started by "Super Mario Bros. 3" in 1988. In the game, the Professor has kidnapped Felix's girlfriend, Miss Kitty. Felix has to go from world to world defeating his rogue's gallery--Rock Bottom, the Master Cylinder, King Neptune, and maybe one other, I can't remember. Boss battles are repeated in the game. This is a very playable game and if you would like to try it out, it was rereleased by Limited Run Games and Konami in 2024 and is available on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation.

The game honestly isn't too hard. It starts out with your typical green hill, soothing music level like so many of these games started out with to lure you in with a false sense of security. The first world is so easy, just walk to the right and punch/shoot these cute animals. Each world has its own unique set of weapons to help you get across the level. The game is very generous with power and extra lives. To keep your magic, you have to keep your hearts up. To keep your hearts up, you have to drink milk which comes out in threes with every 6 or so Felix heads. Every 10 Felix heads gives you a heart which fills your magic meter and gives you an extra life or changes your power. Every 100 Felix heads gives one extra life.  You can also get an extra life by shooting random Professor heads in the sky. You get an extra 500 points by touching random Miss Kitty heads that are also in the clouds.

All the weapons you have are serviceable. The magic stars seem to kind of have a delay and the airplane is a bit hard to control. Also, during the air levels, you have to keep "jumping" to stay in the air so going back and forth from jump to fire is hard work on your thumb. But the worst weapons, and it's really just because of the world, are the rowboat and the dolphin. These games always have to have a water and ice level and they always have to be the hardest levels. You keep bouncing up and down while in the water so it's hard to dodge enemies and aim your weapon.

Despite your first end level boss being the Professor, you battle the Professor again after the ice level and at the end of the game. He also repeatedly calls Felix to taunt and threaten.

Why does Felix keep going home? You need to save Kitty!

The last battle takes place on the Moon. Felix turns his Magic Bag into a spaceship, I guess, and heads off into space. The spaceship is the only weapon you have in this level and if you get hit, you die. You then arrive at the Professor's moon base, which is made out of large gold bricks, and, thanks to many Magic Bag "secret" rooms, beating the Professor is pretty easy.

You rescue Kitty and head back to the Earth together. The End.