# Archie says his job gets "kind of butthole at times" in 1947 newspaper comic **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 23, 2012, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754 "2012-04-23T22:12:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![limegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/82dd89/32.png) [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/41 "2012-04-25T15:46:47Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > While we’re on the subject, who signed off on this [ad campaign](http://tvrefill.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/vasiline-ad.jpg)? :eek: What in the nine hells is this trying to tell you to do? Grease your kids up so they won’t cry? I’m so confused… ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/42 "2012-04-25T15:58:02Z")
> [@limegreen](#): > > :eek: What in the nine hells is this trying to tell you to do? Grease your kids up so they won’t cry? > I’m so confused… I’m guessing it’s to prevent chafing at night? Like baby powder, only…lubier? I’m having a real hard time seeing that as anything but…well, a really bad interpretation. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/43 "2012-04-25T16:19:30Z")
I’m thinking preventing diaper rash plus a feminist push towards “daddy can change diapers too ya know” but…yeah, that would NEVER get off the drawing board today. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/44 "2012-04-25T16:42:01Z")
nm… already been asked. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2012, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/45 "2012-04-25T16:46:44Z")
> [@Jenaroph](#): > > I’m thinking preventing diaper rash plus a feminist push towards “daddy can change diapers too ya know” but…yeah, that would NEVER get off the drawing board today. Plus an attempt to make baby care look like MANLY work by throwing in the auto mechanics’ slang verb “lube” for “apply greasy substance to”. Back in the day when the average ad viewer automatically associated the word “lube” with car engines rather than sexual penetration, that might well have been seen as a clever slogan. ---
**Author:** ![jbaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/59ef9b/32.png) [@jbaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jbaker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/46 "2012-04-26T02:06:19Z")
The American Dialect Society discussion has pretty much wrapped up, I think. 1. “Butthole” was not offensive in 1947. The modern use of “butthole” to mean “anus” had not yet come into existence (though it was around the corner) and people did not yet make the connection. Apparently people just thought it was an unknown but innocuous term and moved on. If people had thought it were an offensive use, the strip would certainly have been pulled; a strip like this would have been reviewed by literally dozens or even hundreds of editors. 2. Nobody knows what the cartoonist meant, other than that it was something in contrast to “prime.” This was not just a nonce use, but the only known example of predicative use of “butthole.” A number of suggestions were aired, but none were thought to be particularly convincing or supported by much evidence. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/47 "2012-04-26T14:02:44Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > I’m guessing it’s to prevent chafing at night? Like baby powder, only…lubier? > > I’m having a real hard time seeing that as anything but…well, a really bad interpretation. Yeah, that’s a standard use of Vaseline – prevention & treatment of diaper rash. But jeez, that’s an unfortunate slogan they chose. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/48 "2012-04-26T15:00:32Z")
All I know is, I’m going to start using this, because my job is kind of butthole, too. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/49 "2012-04-26T19:24:25Z")
They did all sorts of stuff along these lines back in the day. Here’s a 1944 cover from a Marvel Comics publication: Gay Comics. Link spoilered because other images around the cover are NSFW in an R-rated sort of way: [Gay comics cover](http://politicallysexy.blogspot.com/2008/07/really-gay-comics.html?zx=8dcb59a50ac98447). ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/50 "2012-04-26T19:38:47Z")
“Gay,” “Swish,” _and_ “Blow?” That’s an accidental innuendo trifecta! ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/51 "2012-04-26T19:49:05Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > They did all sorts of stuff along these lines back in the day. Here’s a 1944 cover from a Marvel Comics publication: Gay Comics. If you like bizarre comic book covers with snarky commentary, you could spend all day [here](http://www.lileks.com/institute/comicsins/covers/index.html). I know I have. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/52 "2012-04-26T23:34:16Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Yeah, that’s a standard use of Vaseline – prevention & treatment of diaper rash. But jeez, that’s an unfortunate slogan they chose. I’m not sure about that. The picture of the kid has a band-aid on his forehead, and the text on the top of the jar on the display calls it, “The first-aid kit in a jar.” Seems like they’re trying to market it as some sort of treatment for minor cuts? Not sure how a jar of lube helps with that. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/53 "2012-04-27T00:24:48Z")
Wow, Lady Plushbottom got SERVED ---
**Author:** ![Patch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Patch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patch)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/54 "2012-04-27T00:49:54Z")
Kinda hard to ignore [Batman’s Boner](http://www.superdickery.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=303:batmans-boner&catid=32:seduction-index&Itemid=36). :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/55 "2012-04-27T01:25:14Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > The picture of the kid has a band-aid on his forehead, and the text on the top of the jar on the display calls it, “The first-aid kit in a jar.” Seems like they’re trying to market it as some sort of treatment for minor cuts? Not sure how a jar of lube helps with that. The moist lubricant helps keep the sensitive abraded skin of a scrape or other boo-boo from chafing on the bandage or becoming painfully dry or cracked. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/56 "2012-04-27T11:35:37Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > This. A butt used to be a wine-keg and the butt hole was where you poured out the wine. Similarly, a bung was a cork and a bung hole used to be where you poured stuff out of a barrel. It was from these meanings that butt hole and bung hole became slang terms for an anus. Seems possible but unlikely, given that “butt” has meant “buttocks” almost exactly as long as it has meant “keg”. According to the OED, the earliest attested uses for “bung” and both senses of “butt” date from 1440 to 1450. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/57 "2012-04-27T11:52:01Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Yeah, that’s a standard use of Vaseline – prevention & treatment of diaper rash. But jeez, that’s an unfortunate slogan they chose. Well, as you may have guessed, that image has been altered for humorous purposes. [The original is much more straightforward.](http://pzrservices.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451ccbc69e2013485b1091e970c-pi) ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/58 "2012-04-27T16:00:41Z")
> [@WotNot](#): > > Well, as you may have guessed, that image has been altered for humorous purposes. [The original is much more straightforward.](http://pzrservices.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451ccbc69e2013485b1091e970c-pi) Y-yeah. You could totally tell it was shopped. Wasn’t fooled for a minute. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Shroud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@The\_Shroud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Shroud)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/59 "2012-05-02T17:26:28Z")
Is it possible the Newspaper Google scanned was altered by somebody (a la drawing mustaches on photos)? Or does it show up in other sources? ---
**Author:** ![jbaker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/59ef9b/32.png) [@jbaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jbaker)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754/60 "2012-05-02T18:30:11Z")
> [@The\_Shroud](#): > > Is it possible the Newspaper Google scanned was altered by somebody (a la drawing mustaches on photos)? Or does it show up in other sources? There are at least two different newspapers that ran the strip with “butthole.” This makes it unlikely that the usage was either vandalism to the scanned copy or vandalism at a specific newspaper when the strip was first run. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/archie-says-his-job-gets-kind-of-butthole-at-times-in-1947-newspaper-comic/619754.md?page=4)