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Jessie Willcox Smith
A Child's Book of Stories
Duffield and Company, 1911.
it has occurred to MrsM
that some fairy stories could be very damaging
if read to impressionable little boys
consider Snow White and the seven dwarfs:
there is the problematic size issue...
and the worrying suggestion
that you could live happily
in the forest
with your pals
and then, without warning,
two women might come along at once
and disturb your comfortable bachelor life...
don't even start me on
the symbolism of mining...
or the disastrous implications
for healthy eating...
you have been warned
A Child's Book of Stories
Duffield and Company, 1911.
it has occurred to MrsM
that some fairy stories could be very damaging
if read to impressionable little boys
consider Snow White and the seven dwarfs:
there is the problematic size issue...
and the worrying suggestion
that you could live happily
in the forest
with your pals
and then, without warning,
two women might come along at once
and disturb your comfortable bachelor life...
don't even start me on
the symbolism of mining...
or the disastrous implications
for healthy eating...
you have been warned
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Heard, noted and understood.
ReplyDeleteFairy stories weren't originally told for children. It doesn't take much imagination to see deeper meanings in the Grimm collections in particular. Love the picture.
ReplyDeleteat home with my gnomies ...
ReplyDeleteSo true ...
ReplyDeleteI have in my possession a much loved and battered copy of 'The Witch's Kitchen, or the India Rubber Doctor' by Gerald Young with illustrations by Willy Pogany. It was given to my mother (then aged 10) by her father in 1912. The witch kidnaps two girls but the India Rubber Doctor (who was known as Doctor Springy) could transform himself into a motor car, a relatively new invention in those days, and rescues them. All is well in the end.
ReplyDeletegnomi seauthon ...
ReplyDeleteI am reminded of a time when I was on a training weekend with the TA when one of the NCOs who was training recruits came into the bar, whistled loudly and seven recruits came in on their knees. He ordered a pint and seven halves.
ReplyDeleteYou had to be there to get the full experience. The other occasion I remember very vividly was the inter-battery dwarf chucking competition ...