Monday, April 19, 2010

Bil Keane Had It Goin' On



Many of you will immediately recognize the above cartoon, Family Circus, and think of its creator, Bil Keane. You will easily recognize the "Not Me" ghost pictured here. Not Me was often accompanied by his partners, I Don't Know, and Nobody. These 3 were always present at the site of broken vases, spilled juice, or after mud had been tracked into the house.

As a child, around the age of 8, I'd read Family Circus in the comic section of the Sunday paper. The bright colors of the strip, along with the guaranteed quick read in a few sentences always caught my eye, but every time I'd read it I'd think, "Lame. lame lame lame lame. Lame." I'd then announce to the closest person, sometimes to just the air, "Family Circus is so dumb." Heavy emphasis on the last letter "m," followed by an eye roll.

Last week, while at the library, my 8 year old son came across the Family Circus Treasury, the bible of Bil Keane's work. He had found it on the shelf, while looking for the cooler, hipper comics, like Foxtrot, and Calvin and Hobbes. The cool hip stuff was out, like much the rest of cool hip stuff in life is. So, he picked up the Family Circus, drawn to it by its simple white cover with a large colorful circle in the front. He had never heard of it. We took it home.

He sat on the sofa, feet up on the coffee table, flipping through the large volume quickly he pronounced it, "lame-o, lame-o, lame-o." It fell to the side of the coffee table.

I picked the heavy book up from the floor later that night, and sat and leafed through it. I began laughing. Like hard laughing. I went to show my husband. He recognized the cover, and remembered, "Oh, yeah, him. I always thought it was so dumb."

We sat together and read. And laughed. Family Circus was wasted on the foolish youth we were. We have now grown into Family Circus. It is for the parents we have now become.

Later that night while cleaning up the kitchen, my bare feet stepped on some sticky ketchup that had been left on the floor, right in front of the refrigerator, where it was visible to anyone. Anyone. "Who spilled ketchup all over the floor?!," I shouted. Boom. I had become the short black haired Mom on Family Circus. All 3 boys came running, and right on cue, they began down the line."Not me," said the oldest. "I don't know," said the middle boy, "Nobody," said the youngest.

Bil Keane, Sir, please consider this my public apology here to you, today, in front of the world. Bil Keane, you were not lame! In fact, you rocked at this parenting gig!

And to Family Circus, to quote the Na'vi in Avatar, " I see you! I see you!"
****************************************************
Bill Keane is now 87 years old and is happily living in Arizona, enjoying the heck out of the children of his 5 children. He has also graciously accepted my humble apology.

25 comments:

  1. Yep, that about sums it up, doesn't it. My girls will both say, "Not me!" in sync when I ask who has broken, spilled or destroyed something. The boy is still dumb enough to admit to it, but he'll learn soon.

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  2. I remember Family Circus! I imagine it is much funnier now. I always liked the ones where Billy would run around the neighborhood when given a simple task. I would follow the dotted lines and see the circuitous path he took. That one always intrigued me.
    Thanks for the walk down memory lane!
    Enjoy the day!
    Erin

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  3. This is perfect! There were five of us kids in my family - usually three of them were competing for "I Don't Know"!

    Have you noticed that it's not just youth that's wasted on the young? It's humor, nature, shoot - pretty much everything! We appreciate it all so much more, the older we get!

    Great post!

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  4. Excellent as always!

    I, too, read Family Circus as a wee lassie and found it incredibly lame. Funny how our perspective changes. :)

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  5. Oh I remember as a child the denial of wrongdoing and trying to pass the blame! Great post - I've never heard of Family Circus, I don't think it appeared over the pond but I will have to check it out.

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  6. I JUST had the same realisation about Bill Keane! Seriously! I always thought Family Circus was, yup, lame, and then last week I read the comics in a coffee shop while waiting to pick up the kids and happened on Family Circus - and laughed. Out loud. It was something about Billy having to go back outside "so my friends can enjoy me some more..." which is so my four-year old that I nearly cut it out to put on the fridge. It just goes to show what a difference a few years and some perspective makes. Tell Bill I'm sorry too!

    Peryl

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  7. Family Circus has always been right-on. But you have to be a parent to know it.

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  8. And, yes, it is way funnier to me now, as a grown-up. Also? Erma Bombeck is a laugh riot now.

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  9. Ida Know. That was her name - I still remember.

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  10. You are so right! When I was younger, I definitely thought that Family Circus was lame, but I get it now, too.

    In our house, "Not me" stops up our toilet on a regular basis (darn low-flow toilets and preschooler wads of toilet paper). Oh, too much information, sorry.

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  11. I read Family Circus (because I could), and felt the same way (but was not hip enough to think in cool terms like, "lame"). It's funny to look at what I read and watched as a kid and now see that hidden humor geared toward the parents! I, too, thank those writers now. Honestly, I think they knew that had it going on - that's how they got through!

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  12. It's funny how things morph and change as we get older. What was dumb back then is hilarious now. (Family Circle et al.) What was hilarious then is kinda dumb now. (fart jokes, poop jokes, more fart jokes, etc.) Great post and I love your update on Bill Keane too!

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  13. I ALWAYS read Family Circus and loved it! I think I liked the fact that it was shaped differently from regular comic strips.

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  14. Hilarious that Bill accepted your apology.

    I must admit that I recently had a similar epiphany. Things that I thought were funny as a kid and later lame as an adult, I am now finding oh-so-enjoyable as a parent to toddler children.

    You are not alone!

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  15. What a great post! I've got a big smile plastered across my face.

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  16. how fun! now I have to go back and read Family Circus, because I always thought it was dumb too. as always, empress, you are sideways-hip.

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  17. family Circus was the best ever. I'd always go right for it in the paper....

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  18. My grandparents saved the comics (they called them "funny papers") every week for use as wrapping paper for gifts. I remember going to their house and entertaining myself by reading the comics for Sunday after Sunday. I loved For Better or for Worse, I thought Cathy was so funny, though I doubt I really "got it" at the time and I also liked Family Circus. Did not think it was lame at all, which probably means that I was the lame one! I haven't read any comics in years, except a little Zits . . . I'd love to revisit Family Circle again.

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  19. Thanks so much for bringing all this back! Family Circus was definitely only something I skimmed over too, after reading the "cooler" stuff. I'd love to pick it up again now as a parent! I wonder what other perspectives of ours have changed...would we look at Brady Bunch in a different light?!

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  20. My youngest man-child hasn't quite grasped the concept of lying, but my older brute is trying to turn him.

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  21. I used to really enjoy Family Circus!

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  22. I agree! It is funnier now that I'm older! That's so true and I'm glad he accepted your apology! :-)

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  23. Hello, everyone: Yes, whoever does his email, said the apology was accepted. So, we cool, we cool....

    Thanks for the walk down memory lane with me..

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  24. I can't believe you were in official contact with him - crazy!

    Fantastic post. I was always bored out of my mind reading that cartoon. Was it because I had no circus of my own? Me thinks.

    I'm back from vacation and in the land of the living! Hope you're doing well.

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  25. How I loved reading this and remembering. My mom often sends this cartoon to work for me. I will walk into my desk and it will next to my keyboard ..my SD is one of my bosses so he can bring me the "gifts" my mom cuts off for me.

    I agree, that this cartoon is so much more poignant and funny now that I'm grown up with children of my own. Just like Bill Cosby's "Himself" it just makes more sense, the laughter mixing with the tears of "knowing" how parenting really is now.

    *sigh*

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