That is Priceless by Steve Melcher for December 30, 2021

My original post back in 2015:

The girls with flower-sticks could never figure out why the ice cream girls did better business.

Melony realized something was wrong when everyone got a rose.

You’re right – that dress DOES make her butt look big

/// We young ladies, (each one of us gems),

meet each week on stone stairs to the Thames.

One by one, each girl poses,

holding specially-grown roses

which are bred for their extra-long stems.

/// The tall stems are all perfectly straight,

and, of course, without thorns, (which we hate).

They appear in these pix

as rose-topped walking sticks,

an impression we will not negate.

Lilly was ready, waiting by the stairs to trip the first unwary pedestrian to pass within reach of her flower stick. Unfortunately, Rose was wise to her tricks and descended on the far side.

The lady descending the stair

Is blissfully unaware

Of the strange ornament

That attends her descent..

She just doesn’t know that it’s there..///

Down the stairs she’s quite happy to sail

But tomorrow she’ll surely grow pale

When she looks at TikTok

And learns – to her shock -

That she’s leaving a “paper trail”….

Doris was thinking, “how ironic that the portrait of me tossing my bouquet would be posted on Throwback Thursday!”

/// They have gathered here late in the day

to prepare for the full-moon soirée.

Each girl holds in her grip

a long pole. At the tip

wolfsbane keeps all the werewolves away.

♪♫"We’re perfect young ladies

Preparing to take

Our places among the noblesse

We’re perfect young ladies

Preparing to make

The most of the charms we possess

We’re being finished

And our families’ wealth

May be diminished

But at least we all have perfect health

And making the grade is our duty, you

see

For perfect young ladies are we…."♪♫

— The Boyfriend

Now where did that flower girl go? She was here a second ago.

/// Not one bride-to-be here mourns the loss

of the old-fashioned bride’s bouquet toss.

For an accurate throw

where she wants it to go,

practice javelin mixed with lacrosse.

Her Steel hooped skirt was picking up morris code from a wireless radio.

Oh! She mumbles so. Did she say wait here or waiter.

The scent of freesias makes Liza Doolittle forget she is at the Duchess’ garden party, and she suddenly shouts: “G’wan Guvna, bouy a buncha flaahs offa poor gel.”

oh, how the roses feared the vicious women and their horrible stakes…

“Good, now we can talk about her…..”

“I have no idea what she was talking about! She said something about having a bustle in her hedgerow….and now she’s off to buy some Stairway to Heaven?”

Gwendolyn was about to be introduced the the new game called “Whack a Ho”.

“I suppose that they do understand / That my tush is not theirs to command / Still, I don’t want it known / And still less want it shown / That Victoria’s Secret’s my brand!”

Great Moments in Women’s History : 1 May 1816 – Lucilla de Montrachet-Chanton of Bumbottom, Kent dares to carry her May Day posy at shoulder height instead of above her head. There were horrified gasps all around at her audacity in changing the rules, but by the following May everyone was doing it.

Earliest entry into the Rose Bowl Parade.

I’ve got a 5 pound bet that she trips before she gets to the bottom stair.

Zelda thought she was the only one who was going to be carrying poppies on a stick.

“This… is my BLOOM-STICK!” – Ashley Williams

GIRL, BOTTOM LEFT: When she stops to smell the flowers I put on the step, I’ll clobber her with this pole. That’ll teach her to give her sister lousy Flower Girl duties instead of making her Bridesmaid. The bee-atch!

“My word! That is quite an elaborate hospital gown. She should tie it closed, though.”

Mary Katherine won the best in show for her very long stemmed rose.now the other bitches will love me.

Everyone else seemed ready, but Gwendolyn still hadn’t checked to see if her flower was loaded.

That should wrap up the dress rehearsal.

Remember during the actual event – they will be tiki torches; so remember to hold them high!

The Rose Queen: 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:G._D._Leslie_-_The_Rose_Queen.jpg 

has info and links that point to more info about this circa 1892, huge painting. The image of it shown here has been horizontally flipped, as evidenced by the Description.

A slightly larger strip image is shown by (⌘- or Ctrl-) clicking the image at 

http://thatispriceless.blogspot.com/2015/09/masterpiece-1311.html 

I have added a comment there (awaiting Mr. Melcher’s approval) pointing to the artist info I used to point to here. So far 5 works, by this artist, have been used here (6 times total, including this Throwback Thursday repeat). 

https://www.gocomics.com/that-is-priceless/2015/10/01?comments=visible 

has the first time this was used here (the 16 hyperlinks in my comment there have been deactivated, and the line breaks removed, but perhaps the text remains informative). Forgot to mention the circa 1892 date there and only mentioned in passing that the image was horizontally flipped compared to the painting.

Look how the bitches all stare/at her face, and her dress, and her hair!/She’s too perfect for words/makes the rest look like turds/So they pray that she’ll fall down the stairs!

And Julia realized, to her horror, that she was staging a re-run of Full- Moon Friday!