Dennison produced this Pa and Ma Pumpkin set of diecuts in 1964. You can tell this is "Pa" by his broken and repaired glasses and by the ubiquitous hay stem clenched in his mouth.
But let's get back to that hay stem. Why is it farmers and "hicks" are always depicted as chewing them?
Well, it seems that there's some grain (ha!) of truth to that depiction. In the pioneer days, dental hygiene wasn't easily available on the prairie. A stem of hay could act as a toothpick or a toothbrush, removing bits of food stuck in teeth. Chewing it produced saliva which further helped rinse the teeth of bacteria. However, this doesn't appear to be working for "Pa" who only has 1 tooth left or for that matter "Ma" who has but 3. Time for a trip to the dentist, Pa. And get those glasses fixed while you're at it.
Interesting carrot nose on pa - I wonder what inspired that? The need for something to support his broken glasses? I like these two and I have never them before.
ReplyDeleteI'm imagining the idea room at Dennison: Okay, we need some new diecuts, folks. How about a country Ma and Pa? Let's start with Pa. How do we infer he's elderly? "Glasses", someone shouts. Good! Okay, but pumpkins don't have noses or ears. How would the glasses stay up? "Carrot!" someone shouts. Now we're getting somewhere people!
Deletethe only thing that looks completely weird to me is the lock of hair for Ma. the couldn't come up with anything else for her? i mean, she could have a different shape of glasses, at least. maybe a different small vegetable (potato?) for her nose, or something. i could see using corn husks as hair, or even the corn silk, but if you're going to do that, put hair all the way around. Ma's gone bald, poor thing.
ReplyDeleteMaybe some corncob dentures too? But you're right, I had no clue that was supposed to be "Ma" until I figured out that was "Pa" and these were a set.
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