I wonder why that is…as a kid, you resist getting into the bath or shower…and then once there, you resist getting out. Kind of like going to bed on the weekend a few years later…you don’t wanna go to bed, and then no power on earth can drag you out of it.
I know a little boy who, if he had a fireplace at his house, would do this. He’s been a big challenge all his life; I’m surprised he’s lived this long. He’s 9.
My brother had a brief stint in his teens as a furnace-flue cleaner (ie chimney sweep in the modern world). Night after night he left black sludge in the bathtub, and couldn’t imagine why his sisters refused to clean it out after him!! The parents eventually got tired of him coming home looking like a California Raisin and told him to get another job.
Calvin’s activities are St. Peter’s account of my boyhood. Definitely: snakes and snails and puppy-dog’s tails, and hunting and magnifying glasses and ants and really big fire crackers and misplaced fires and probation officers then adulthood then university then Bell Labs and Top Secret Clearance then 33.5 years later, retirement.
The grim reality behind those Mary Poppins scenes: Victorian houses had a fireplace in every room and very intricate chimney and flue systems, which could not be cleaned by just pushing a brush through. So small boys were used as self-propelled chimney brushes. Since creosote and ashes are full of carcinogens and toxins, the adult sweeps were always on the lookout for more boys. Orphans preferred, but in a pinch they might try to inveigle a middle-class kid into running away.
BE THIS GUY over 10 years ago
Mom should hose him down in the backyard.
ORMouseworks over 10 years ago
The Chimney! I guess you left your trusty companion, Hobbes, outside because he is still clean! ;)
cloudy now over 10 years ago
Santa never complains.
Kali39 over 10 years ago
So how come Santa can come through without getting dirty?
rentier over 10 years ago
As black as night, that will need an abundant, thorough bath!
Meh~tdology, fka Pepelaputr over 10 years ago
When Santa shrinks down to fit in the chimney he doesn’t touch the sides.
Ragarm350 over 10 years ago
No wonder Calvin doesn’t have any sibling’s!
orinoco womble over 10 years ago
I wonder why that is…as a kid, you resist getting into the bath or shower…and then once there, you resist getting out. Kind of like going to bed on the weekend a few years later…you don’t wanna go to bed, and then no power on earth can drag you out of it.
RoadTrip3500 over 10 years ago
Hiding in a chimney before a bath… kinda like the old joke of eating a whole box of Oreos in the dentist waiting room… get your money’s worth.
Aaberon over 10 years ago
I know a little boy who, if he had a fireplace at his house, would do this. He’s been a big challenge all his life; I’m surprised he’s lived this long. He’s 9.
aejb over 10 years ago
Yah, Santa and Mary Poppins come out all clean …
Pirate Mike creator over 10 years ago
This is one of my favorites. so simple and perfect.
sundogusa over 10 years ago
I remember getting hosed down as a kid. Water was frickin’ cold too!
Poollady over 10 years ago
Chim Chiminey Chim Chimeny chim charoo, it’s clean now.
Phapada over 10 years ago
like be crazy mom…
francisrossi over 10 years ago
Tsk. Someone ought to tell him blacking up is frowned upon.
orinoco womble over 10 years ago
My brother had a brief stint in his teens as a furnace-flue cleaner (ie chimney sweep in the modern world). Night after night he left black sludge in the bathtub, and couldn’t imagine why his sisters refused to clean it out after him!! The parents eventually got tired of him coming home looking like a California Raisin and told him to get another job.
Sailor46 USN 65-95 over 10 years ago
Calvin had his ashes hauled, to the bathtub!
Number Three over 10 years ago
Love Calvin’s ‘evil eyes’ in the last panel.xxx
zeexenon over 10 years ago
Calvin’s activities are St. Peter’s account of my boyhood. Definitely: snakes and snails and puppy-dog’s tails, and hunting and magnifying glasses and ants and really big fire crackers and misplaced fires and probation officers then adulthood then university then Bell Labs and Top Secret Clearance then 33.5 years later, retirement.
markmoss1 over 10 years ago
The grim reality behind those Mary Poppins scenes: Victorian houses had a fireplace in every room and very intricate chimney and flue systems, which could not be cleaned by just pushing a brush through. So small boys were used as self-propelled chimney brushes. Since creosote and ashes are full of carcinogens and toxins, the adult sweeps were always on the lookout for more boys. Orphans preferred, but in a pinch they might try to inveigle a middle-class kid into running away.
tlynnch over 10 years ago
Twas the Night before Christmas
“He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;”
Yes Santa suffers from the same problem.