"On The Other Side Of The Tracks," Darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                        Hard as it may seem, loves, the Raving Queen can be wrong sometimes.  And the picture above proves it.  Now, let me introduce you to the little girl, above. This is Wing Tip, The Spick, and she is the heroine of one of my favorite short stories, "The Village Of Cream Puffs," which appears in Carl Sandburg's volume, "Rootabaga Stories."  The illustration above is from a version which appeared in an edition of one of the "My Book House" books, which I had as a child.  You should see how lushly they depict the actual Village Of Cream Puffs, and how they have to prevent it from being hauled away by wind, with a giant spool!!!!!  What a time they would have had, with Hurricane Sandy!!!!!!!!!

                                         Now, girls, I know what you are going to say. Wing Tip,The Spick???  What's that??????  Was Sandburg some kind of racist????????

                                          I know nothing of Sandburg's political beliefs, nor do I care to. But I looked up the definition of the word "Spick" and it referred to one who was clean, as in "spic and span." So the moniker refers to the fact that she is a well-groomed, well behaved child.

                                           But, I really missed the boat on this one. Not having read this story, or seen the above photo, in at least 30 years, I had forgotten an important detail. My impression was always that Wing Tip The Spick came from the Village Of Liver And Onions--hence she was a girl from the Wrong Side Of The Tracks--and she went to visit her uncles (her mother's brothers!!!!!!) who all lived in the Village Of Cream Puffs.  But it is just the other way around. So Wing Tip is not from the wrong side at all!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               Which makes sense, because, hell, I would rather live in the Village Of Cream Puffs, which has to be more interesting and enticing than the Village Of Liver And Onions!!!!!!!!!  Not to mention it would smell better!!!!!!!!!  Obviously, Wing Tip's mother married well, but what kind of skids did the brothers hit that they are all forced to live in the Village Of Liver And Onions????????  I mean, every single one!!!!!!!!!!  James Thurber never tells that!!!!!!!!!!  And you'll notice they are NEVER allowed to visit the Village Of Cream Puffs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                   Life is certainly not dull there, because, with every blast of wind, the village is at risk of floating away. Thank Heavens for that gigantic spool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                    It just goes to show one cannot judge entirely by appearances!!!!!!!

                                                     You have to just love Wing Tip, The Spick, darlings!!!!!!!!!  She has more courage than I!!!!!!!!!!!  You wouldn't catch me on the Main Street Of The Village Of Liver And Onions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                        Cry Me A River, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!