Boise Ed suggested this venerable “For Better or for Worse” strip (from 1993), commenting: “This one really warmed the cockles of my heart (and I have no idea where that idiom came from).“
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P.S. Ed didn’t give it a category, he called it “just sweet“, so I’ve added an “Awww” tag.
The New York Times has a Flashback quiz, which asks you to place 8 historical events in chronological order. The New Yorker has now started Laugh Lines, in which you are asked to put some New Yorker cartoons in chronological order. Here’s one:
https://www.newyorker.com/puzzles-and-games-dept/laugh-lines/no-2
I haven’t tested to what extent these are available to non-subscribers. The cartoon version would seem impossible, but there’s usually a clue to some event (e.g. the word “Obama”).
This one popped up at the end when I finished:
And now a few more Christmas LOL’s / Awws:
Danny Boy send this cutie in: “The pets’ fondness for a “little pink sock” is a running trope. But then the pairing of sock/stocking is I guess “the joke””
And a few holiday entries:
Comics I Don't Understand 
The link to the The New Yorker game did indeed reach a subscribers-only notice. But after I signed in on my own account and was able to play, it was a fun game, and a bit easier than your description led me to fear. As you say, there were pretty good clues in the content, such as naming Obama. It also helped that I knew what year Cabaret appeared. Anyway, I got the full 6 correct!
Mutts (of the little pink sock) is rarely laugh-out-loud funny. Maybe a way to describe it would be “whimsical.” It’s a bit like George Herriman’s Krazy Kat. Sometimes there is no punch line at all but usually it’s worth an aww.
For those not following For Better For Worse, model trains factored into the story arc from time to time, much to the delight of hobbyists such as my family.
The color of the loco he’s picking up off the shelf reminds me of this iconic model locomotive, made in Germany. It’s a good chunky, quality toy.
https://www.trainz.com/products/lgb-2020-0-4-0-staintz-2-steam-locomotive-green-ex?queryId=dc6c30a7a9fca0932a8ea4594a5e31af&objectId=43910976209018
I’d also like to point out my family’s interest in model trains was sparked by my mother. I grew up spending New Years Days with close friends of my parents playing with the toys my brother and I got for Christmas, and trains in particular. For this current Christmas, my brother set up a loop of track around the tree for the first time and I brought over some of the family’s old locomotives and train cars. These had not been run in a decade or two, at least. So it was fun to remember my late parents and crawl around on my brother’s hardwood floor getting them to run. There’s just something about a charming train running around a Christmas tree. My family friend just lost his wife to cancer this year. We’ll be running some different model trains at his house tomorrow, remembering happier times.
To sum up, like the comic suggests, my brother, my family friend and I never “grew up”.
The rat and the pigeon one got me thinking “finks”, so I was wasting my time trying to figure out how the cockroach fit into it, not knowing it was a cockroach: is it a cricket, like Jiminee, but how does that fit in with rats and stool pigeons? Anyway, once I got off the garden path, the actual cartoon was a let down for me.
I don’t get the three kings one: what are they to have done on their phones to begin with, and why myrrh and not frankincense? Or bitcoin?
Grawlix –
Husband and I have not been fortunate to have children. So we have remained each other’s children to a large extent.
The set of HO scale electric trains my dad bought me when I was a kid is set up in our basement with additional cars, engines, etc we bought. His set of O scale trains is still in boxes.
I have an entire room of teddy (and other) bears and some dolls who are friends of theirs – plus additional bears around the house. This includes an entire village of small bears – some are toys, are figurines, etc. Right now the village is setup for Christmas – populated with small bears (toys, figurines, etc.). There are bears skiing, bears caroling, bears shopping, bears walking around, etc. There is a small tree covered in bear ornaments. (It started with my setting up the small tree to take some of the bear ornaments off the main tree.)
He has his workshop out in the garage – no room for cars of course. He also has workshop space in the basement.
We have a “family room” off of our kitchen – well that was it intended for. We use it as a general craft studio.
And let us not forget that we get dressed up in 18th century style clothing (mostly made by me) to go and play “Colonial people”. This include his having a repro 18th c musket, rifle and fowler. (I have fired all 3 at the county gun range and also have fired our unit’s black powder cannon at events when they are short handed to fire it.)
Neither of us is a natural early riser (though dealt with same when he was working and had to be at work at 8:30 am). But since Covid hit and it did not matter when we were awake and when we were asleep, well, it is now 2:42am and we are having “late night snack” – our alternative meal to breakfast. Around 3:30/4 am we will go to bed. I will be up later – 6 am sometimes. We will sleep until around noon or 1 pm and then get up and start our day – just like kids would do.
Ditto, Lark. Somebody spare us!
Meryl A-
My family’s trains were HO Gauge as well. I gravitated toward O Gauge (2 rail power as opposed to the more popular Lionel 3-rail) and that’s what I ran at my family friend’s house. Neither my brother nor I have children, though one motive for setting up his track was to entertain his cat.
Grawlix – :-)