Max and Moritz
Wilhelm Busch began Max and Moritz (A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks) in
1865 as the very first known German language comic strip.
Following the
“boys will be boys” line of reasoning, these two scamps eschewed school and
preferred climbing fences, stealing fruit and, of course, fooling the folks in
their neighborhood, especially recurring characters Widow Tibbets, Spitz and Mr.
Buck.
But, as was also the Platinum Age tradition, the boys were
eventually brought to justice for their mean-spirited taunts and minor crimes.
After killing the Widow’s chickens with a noose made entirely of bread crust;
stealing the chickens the Widow hopes to salvage by cooking and selling; nearly
drowning the town tailor and filling their uncle’s bed with May beetles, the
terrible pair have a close call while trying to steal pretzels from the town
bakery.
They fall into a vat of dough and are baked. But surprisingly,
they survive by eating their way through the baked dough. They go on to perform
one final prank–splitting grain sacks at the farmer’s barn. The farmer catches
them and stuff them into the sacks and grinds them dead in the mill.
A
morbid story, yes, but quite the memorable one. Max and Moritz remains a
cautionary tale and the boys’ cruel, yet cherubic faces adorn several
collectibles today, most popularly a porcelain bisque which portrays them as
quite the seeming innocents.
bert Mitchum</b> in 1917; <b>L. Bruce Laingen</b>, the highest-ranking
diplomat among the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days, and former
airline executive <b>Freddie Laker</b>, both in 1922; artist <b>Andy Warhol</b>
in 1927; and actresses <b>Catherine Hicks</b> in 1951 and <b>Soleil Moon
Frye</b> in 1976<br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>August 7</b>: <b>Carl Ritter</b>, the German co-founder of modern
geographical science, in 1779; the World War I Dutch spy and courtesan known as
Mata Hari (<b>Margaret Gertrude Zelle</b>) in 1876; actress <b>Billie Burke</b>
in 1885; British archaeologist and anthropologist <b>Louis Leakey</b> in 1903;
American statesman and Nobel Peace Prize laureate <b>Ralph J. Bunche</b> in
1904; film director <b>Nicholas Ray</b> (<i>Rebel Without a Cause</i>) in 1911;
comedian/producer <b>Stan Freberg</b> in 1926; singer <b>B.J. Thomas</b> and
humorist <b>Garrison Keillor</b>, both in 1942; and actors <b>John Glover</b> in
1944 and <b>David Duchovny</b> (<i>The X-Files</i>) in 1960<br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>August 8</b>: the United States’ first professional architect,
<b>Charles Bullfinch</b>
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Max and Moritz
Wilhelm Busch began Max and Moritz (A Story of Seven Boyish Pranks) in
1865 as the very first known German language comic strip.
Following the
“boys will be boys” line of reasoning, these two scamps eschewed school and
preferred climbing fences, stealing fruit and, of course, fooling the folks in
their neighborhood, especially recurring characters Widow Tibbets, Spitz and Mr.
Buck.
But, as was also the Platinum Age tradition, the boys were
eventually brought to justice for their mean-spirited taunts and minor crimes.
After killing the Widow’s chickens with a noose made entirely of bread crust;
stealing the chickens the Widow hopes to salvage by cooking and selling; nearly
drowning the town tailor and filling their uncle’s bed with May beetles, the
terrible pair have a close call while trying to steal pretzels from the town
bakery.
They fall into a vat of dough and are baked. But surprisingly,
they survive by eating their way through the baked dough. They go on to perform
one final prank–splitting grain sacks at the farmer’s barn. The farmer catches
them and stuff them into the sacks and grinds them dead in the mill.
A
morbid story, yes, but quite the memorable one. Max and Moritz remains a
cautionary tale and the boys’ cruel, yet cherubic faces adorn several
collectibles today, most popularly a porcelain bisque which portrays them as
quite the seeming innocents.
bert Mitchum</b> in 1917; <b>L. Bruce Laingen</b>, the highest-ranking
diplomat among the 52 Americans held hostage in Iran for 444 days, and former
airline executive <b>Freddie Laker</b>, both in 1922; artist <b>Andy Warhol</b>
in 1927; and actresses <b>Catherine Hicks</b> in 1951 and <b>Soleil Moon
Frye</b> in 1976<br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>August 7</b>: <b>Carl Ritter</b>, the German co-founder of modern
geographical science, in 1779; the World War I Dutch spy and courtesan known as
Mata Hari (<b>Margaret Gertrude Zelle</b>) in 1876; actress <b>Billie Burke</b>
in 1885; British archaeologist and anthropologist <b>Louis Leakey</b> in 1903;
American statesman and Nobel Peace Prize laureate <b>Ralph J. Bunche</b> in
1904; film director <b>Nicholas Ray</b> (<i>Rebel Without a Cause</i>) in 1911;
comedian/producer <b>Stan Freberg</b> in 1926; singer <b>B.J. Thomas</b> and
humorist <b>Garrison Keillor</b>, both in 1942; and actors <b>John Glover</b> in
1944 and <b>David Duchovny</b> (<i>The X-Files</i>) in 1960<br></div>
<div><br></div>
<div><b>August 8</b>: the United States’ first professional architect,
<b>Charles Bullfinch</b>







