i heart wanda gag

Pretty soon the very old woman saw them coming.
“My dear!” she cried, “What are you doing?
I asked for one little cat, and what do I see? —
Cats here, cats there,
Cats and kittens everywhere,
Hundreds of cats,
Thousands of cats,
Millions and billions and trillions of cats.”

I didn't know this book at all as kid, but in college a professor of mine had me track down her sister, Flavia Gag, another depression-era kid's book artist.

Cool story innit? Wanda was the eldest daughter of an immigrant Bohemian family in New Ulm, MN. The father, an artist, died, leaving her responsible (how My Antonia is that?). She went to art school in Minneapolis, taught school, moved to New York, and ended up making a mint on Millions of Cats, continues to bring joy.

Makes me love my country.

I'm speechless.

grrr i swept the entire interweb yesterday for scans of pages from millions of cats, but the cover and the moving gif up top is the only thing i could find

ps what has wanda got on her head? it looks like a dinky little hat fashioned FROM HER OWN HAIR!!

I'm going to do some major self-exposure here to say this, but...

wrongo, fella.

Gustavus Adolphus (where I went to school [sort of regrettably]) is in nearby St. Peter. Calling "The Dive" (the requisite area in any school's union where folksingers and YMCA can be heard on alternating evenings) a "nightclub" is generous.

New Ulm is home to the Schell's brewery, pretty boring, bad beer. As to the glockenspiel, I don't know. As to the boredom, you're right.

but think of what Ulm must be like...

When did you graduate? You probably know friends of mine. I like how you call The Dive a requisite because Harvard has absolutely nothing like it.

Oh really you like that? Hahvahd has no place where freshpersons hear YMCA? Jesus wept, man, why go there?

there's a henry cow song called "Bittern Storm over Ulm"

I keep forgetting Ulm is actually a real place.