Cul de Sac by Richard Thompson for December 29, 2015

It’s a what? Never heard of such a thing.

An epergne — a Victorian table decoration for grand dinners that held either flowers or food in the small containers. And guaranteed that you wouldn’t be able to see, let alone converse, with anyone across the table. But a typical over the top Victorian posh touch.

Sounds French, but the French call that a “surtout”.

Yeah, I had to Google it.

Better than being a rude troll…

Madeline is so droll. Maybe she does think it could be a Transformer, though.Now see what you’ve done to your Mom, Alice….

Grandma must be down-sizing.

While I was looking up that eper-thing, I noticed how much some of them are selling for. Sheesh! You could buy a lot of Transformers if you sold that puppy on e-bay.

That’s why I looked it up in a standard dictionary, not Wikipedia. Learned a new word today. :)

Grandma probably used it for Big Shirley’s water bowl(s) and food.

I find it strange that A word I have never heard of has over a thousand listings on EBay.

If it’s a family heirloom, and Alice loves it, I believe it has found its next home.

Google Images has a large amount of pictures of these “epergnes”….including today’s strip. :D

Wikipeadia “Someone else’s collaborative dictionary” Wikipedia