Comics That Haven’t Aged Well

Syndicate sites like GoComics and ComicsKingdom have a variety of reruns (or, if you prefer, vintage comics). But some of them don’t age well.

These are all old comics which are being repeated. There are certainly a number of old comics that we wouldn’t expect to see now (e.g. the drunken domestic violence played for laughs in old Andy Capp), but I’m limiting this to ones that I’ve currently found being repeated.

Here’s a few examples:


A fire at an asbestos factory (and there are still some) would likely be a major disaster, putting all those asbestos fibers into the air.


Mitch sent in this one, dated 1991.  George Burns was indeed long-lived, and continued performing into his very senior years — which is sort of the joke here, saying he might go on into the distant future.  But then he did die, in 1996 (at age 100).  


Concussions aren’t funny any more.


Hair tonics have historically been marketed as a way to make hair grow faster, but without much evidence. In recent years, there has been a shift towards more evidence-based approaches to hair care, with a focus on products that are supported by scientific research, such as medications like minoxidil and finasteride, which are approved by the FDA for the treatment of hair loss.


90 Years Ago in The New Yorker

August, 1933: More cultural references to decipher.

Did I miss some modern artifact (radio in 1933, or a refrigerator)?


There was a rather turbulent mayoral election in New York in 1933: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1933_New_York_City_mayoral_election

It took a while to find a candidate who would fly with the voters.



Euphemism?


Is Mooney someone we would have known?



Two CIDUey Rabbits Against Magic

This first one may not strictly count as CIDU, since in the end I do understand it. But it took a lot of work!

For this other one, the song quoted and the musician mentioned are easily verified to match up, even if not in your personal playlist. But …

… but I genuinely don’t get the part about “If you’re gonna sound like a Karen…” — there doesn’t seem to be enough basis to take that in the contemporary quasi-political sense of a denigrating term for a woman being fussy in a certain way. And without that, what is there for “sound like a Karen” to mean?