Richard's Poor Almanac by Richard Thompson for March 10, 2025

Transcript:

richard's poor almanac ~~~ by richard thompson benjamin franklin cartoonist benjamin franklin, who turns 300 on tuesday, was more than just a wit, inventor & founding father. he was also the creator of the first cartoon published in america (below) which urged the colonies to unite. s.c. n.c. v. m. p. n.j. n.y. n.e. join, or die. the cartoon was a big hit, & soon appeared on greeting cards, t-shirts & page-a-day calendars. eager to repeat his success, franklin took the snake, named it "slinky mcbits", and put it in a daily syndicated comic strip. slinky mcbits by benny franklin tail: owch! i've got the gout! snake: that's a tail of woe! but slinky mcbits was a failure. and all the other founding fathers just made fun of it. man 1: a dismembered snake who talks? i don't get it. man 2: why don't you go invent something useful, ben? like the comb-over! discouraged, franklin folded "slinky." but his next venture was more successful. he started the franklin mint and, 90 years before the civil war, invented the civil war chess set ($1,20000). its immediate popularity ensured that, for the rest of his life, franklin was rolling in the benjamins.