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Alan Mays

Alan Mays club

Posted: 22 Nov 2015

Taken: 21 Nov 2015

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Saved at Thanksgiving! Curfew Shall Not Toll This Evening

Saved at Thanksgiving! Curfew Shall Not Toll This Evening
The humor of this postcard may not be evident to us today, but when it was published in the early twentieth century the poem that it refers to—Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight—was well known. It tells the story of a brave woman who prevents a bell from ringing in order to stop the planned execution of her lover (Wikipedia provides a synopsis and reprints the entire poem in case you're interested in the details).

So—as the original recipient of a postcard like this would have realized—it's ludicrous to compare a woman's heroic efforts to spare her lover's life with a boy's attempt to stop the ax from turning his pet turkey into Thanksgiving dinner. To top things off, the kid's wide-eyed expression and wild gesticulations (as if he's reciting a dramatic poem!) makes the situation seem even more absurd.

Smiley Derleth has particularly liked this photo

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