# I Don't Get This "Tumbleweeds" Cartoon **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 21, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751 "2016-02-21T23:34:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/21 "2016-02-22T18:58:22Z")
If you need me, I’m being held at pun-point. _ducks and runs_ Seriously, I think the answer needs to be something like that. Even if it’s that lame, it needs to be, I dunno, recognizable. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/22 "2016-02-22T19:06:23Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Who says the punch line has to be laugh-out-loud funny? Nobody. We’re saying it needs to be at least a failed attempt at being funny. “The morgue” isn’t funny on any level. What’s even remotely amusing about the sheriff guessing that the embalathon is at the morgue? It’s not even a bad joke. The joke probably has something to do with “insomnia in toe taggers,” otherwise, why mention it? It’s probably significant that toward the end of the cartoon, the original cartoonist no longer drew it, and it was farmed out to, among other people, Jim Davis. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/23 "2016-02-22T19:15:57Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Nobody. We’re saying it needs to be at least a failed attempt at being funny. “The morgue” isn’t funny on any level. What’s even remotely amusing about the sheriff guessing that the embalathon is at the morgue? It’s not even a bad joke. > > The joke probably has something to do with “insomnia in toe taggers,” otherwise, why mention it? > > It’s probably significant that toward the end of the cartoon, the original cartoonist no longer drew it, and it was farmed out to, among other people, Jim Davis. Jim Davis? The guy who drew Garfield? Got news for you: My own cat is a thousand times funnier than Garfield, and he doesn’t even try. IMHO, everyone (a) is way overanalyzing this silly cartoon and (b) has expectations that are far too high. Take my advice and give it a rest! ---
**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:** [February 22, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/24 "2016-02-22T20:20:23Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > It depends on what he means by “toe taggers.” Is that clear from the illustration? are they literally people who do nothing but toe tag corpses, or is he using “toe tagger” as a slang term for killer? what’s an “embalmathon?” Is he actually saying that there’s a mass execution for killers, and that’s what “curing their insomnia” is, in which case, he will be somewhere in the vicinity of the hangman’s noose, helping to deal with the bodies. I believe this is the correct interpretation. Claude Clay viewed the world from the warped and solipsistic perspective of a cartoon undertaker. It is in character for him to describe the mass execution and burial of murderous outlaws–that is, metaphorical “toe taggers”–as an “embalmathon” to cure “insomnia” among the victims. The insomnia will be cured by putting them to eternal sleep. The sheriff, familiar with Claude’s odd locutions and ways of thought, sees the reality behind the euphemism. He “can guess” what is really happening. The joke fails in more than one way. First, it would be better to remove the words “raise funds for”; the embalmathon will cure insomnia more directly. Second, the emphasis on _where_ the embalmathon will take place, rather than what it represents, is misplaced. Because where _will_ it take place? Right under the hangman’s noose? At the morgue? What’s funny about an embalming at the morgue? That’s where embalming _normally_ takes place. But the joke, weak as it is, is that Claude describes his participation at a mass execution in such stilted terms, but that the sheriff divines his real meaning. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2016, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/25 "2016-02-22T20:39:36Z")
Speaking as a former newspaper editor in Dodge City, other than the idea of just too much information regarding the subject, it was not one of his best. If I were asked, I would have moved the gathering to Arizona…that way it could be held in Tombstone and information about the convention could be posted to the city’s newspaper, the Epitaph (one of the great newspaper names in the Old West). Granted, Dodge did have the most famous Boot Hill in the west. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/26 "2016-02-23T00:17:18Z")
> [@Jophiel](#): > > “[Cow tools](http://agonist.org/cow_tools_revisiting_a_comic_masterpiece/)” was an infamous Far Side strip which shows a cow standing in front of a table with various odd implements. . . . Gotcha! Thank you for that. > [@Arizona\_Mike](#): > > I remember Tumbleweeds in its day was wildly popular with a lot of the Native American tribes in the area, who published it in their tribal newspapers. I would often see clipped out cartoons stuck on refrigerators in homes, on bulletin boards in tribal offices, etc. . . . Ryan actually gave permission to several tribal groups to use his certain of his Indian characters as logos for their newspapers, etc. Many have said they enjoy the Poohawks’ low-key calm and insouciance in the face of absurdity. The strip dipped horribly in quality, when the words first started being type-set instead of lettered. But that problem, as well as the overall drop in humor, was soon repaired, and if it is due to a staff of guest/ghost writers, well…that’s good enough for us fans! It’s also fun to note the amazing size of the cast! Tumbleweeds has hundreds of named, recurring characters! I used to think that Pogo had a huge cast, but Tumblyweeds is even bigger! ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/27 "2016-02-23T01:01:58Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > It’s also fun to note the amazing size of the cast! Tumbleweeds has hundreds of named, recurring characters! I used to think that Pogo had a huge cast, but Tumblyweeds is even bigger! Gosh, I wonder how many named, recurring characters\* L’il Abner\* had? that one was huge too. ---
**Author:** ![Katriona](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/katriona/32/113_2.png) [@Katriona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katriona)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/28 "2016-02-23T01:07:02Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Speaking as a former newspaper editor in Dodge City, other than the idea of just too much information regarding the subject, it was not one of his best. If I were asked, I would have moved the gathering to Arizona…that way it could be held in Tombstone and information about the convention could be posted to the city’s newspaper, the Epitaph (one of the great newspaper names in the Old West). Granted, Dodge did have the most famous Boot Hill in the west. When were you there? I grew up there until I went to college in1986. Worked summers at Boot Hill and everything! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/29 "2016-02-23T01:31:52Z")
I wish our paper still carried Tumbleweeds. ☹ Claude Clay was one of my favorite characters. I loved the sign at his shop. “You plug 'em, we plant 'em” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/30 "2016-02-23T01:35:08Z")
_Oh give me a spot A wee, picturesque plot Where the lichen and bryophyte spawn On the hilltop’s brown crown Overlooking the town I will see what I’ll miss when I’m gone._ ---
**Author:** ![Sodalite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@Sodalite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sodalite)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/31 "2016-02-23T09:11:25Z")
> [@TV\_time](#): > > Speaking as a former newspaper editor in Dodge City, other than the idea of just too much information regarding the subject, it was not one of his best. If I were asked, I would have moved the gathering to Arizona…that way it could be held in Tombstone and information about the convention could be posted to the city’s newspaper, the Epitaph (one of the great newspaper names in the Old West). Granted, Dodge did have the most famous Boot Hill in the west. Tombstone was the first thing that came to my mind, too. Taking the conversation as is it just seems the most natural answer. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/32 "2016-02-23T14:00:52Z")
> [@Katriona](#): > > When were you there? I grew up there until I went to college in1986. Worked summers at Boot Hill and everything! We over lapped a bit. I left in '88 after about five years there. I liked Dodge…still do, but it had begun to fade with the closing of St. Mary of the Plains College. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/33 "2016-02-23T14:36:10Z")
My guess is that the Sheriff wants Claude to stop being so gruesomely enthusiastic. Think about what “embalmathon” means: there’s going to be a convention of morticians competing against each other to embalm as many corpses as possible until the last one remains standing. This concept is counterproductive to the intention of helping morticians (toetaggers) sleep better, as the most sturdy of competitors is going to resist falling asleep as long as possible. Think about a dance marathon, but instead of couples dancing, it’s a convention hall full of morticians fondling dead bodies. It’s not an immediate-laugh gag. It’s one that requires some thinking, and the more one imagines what takes place during an embalmathon, the more grotesque it gets. It’s not so much the location that’s the punchline; it’s what’s being done there. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/34 "2016-02-23T14:46:43Z")
OK, I can’t remember the last time I heard anything about Dodge City or Tombstone (and my grandfather had the crime beat for the _Wichita Eagle_ for decades), and I don’t know if I ever knew enough to make the connection, but I definitely don’t now. However, I am not the sort of person who reads _Tumbleweeds_ on a regular basis. If I were, that probably would have come to my mind right away. I think that’s what we’re meant to jump to. It also makes sense in context, because I don’t know whether undertakers of the time actually spent time in morgues. Morgues, IIRC, were where bodies of crime victims were kept if they needed to be pending a coroner’s inquest, and rudimentary autopsies were done, but burials took place ASAP, and unclaimed bodies were kept by the police. If someone in your family was missing, you could check out the morgue. I’m not even sure when the word “undertaker” came to mean a funeral director. An “undertaker” was the head of a plantation in the 1700s. In the UK, an undertaker was someone who worked for the English crown and took over forfeited properties in Ireland. Embalming started during the civil war, when people wanted bodies back. So undertakers maybe were a little crazy, because they dealt with a lot of arsenic. Was Tumbleweeds set in a specific year, or was it explicitly before or after the civil war? I really can’t handle that second cup of coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Arizona\_Mike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Arizona\_Mike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arizona_Mike)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/35 "2016-02-23T15:52:19Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > My guess is that the Sheriff wants Claude to stop being so gruesomely enthusiastic. > > Think about what “embalmathon” means: there’s going to be a convention of morticians competing against each other to embalm as many corpses as possible until the last one remains standing. This concept is counterproductive to the intention of helping morticians (toetaggers) sleep better, as the most sturdy of competitors is going to resist falling asleep as long as possible. > > Think about a dance marathon, but instead of couples dancing, it’s a convention hall full of morticians fondling dead bodies. > > It’s not an immediate-laugh gag. It’s one that requires some thinking, and the more one imagines what takes place during an embalmathon, the more grotesque it gets. It’s not so much the location that’s the punchline; it’s what’s being done there. I think that’s the best answer. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/36 "2016-02-23T16:17:09Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > My guess is that the Sheriff wants Claude to stop being so gruesomely enthusiastic. > > Think about what “embalmathon” means: there’s going to be a convention of morticians competing against each other to embalm as many corpses as possible until the last one remains standing. This concept is counterproductive to the intention of helping morticians (toetaggers) sleep better, as the most sturdy of competitors is going to resist falling asleep as long as possible. > > Think about a dance marathon, but instead of couples dancing, it’s a convention hall full of morticians fondling dead bodies. > > It’s not an immediate-laugh gag. It’s one that requires some thinking, and the more one imagines what takes place during an embalmathon, the more grotesque it gets. It’s not so much the location that’s the punchline; it’s what’s being done there. The problem I have with this interpretation is that the logical response from the Sheriff, then, should have been “I get it, I get it!” rather than saying he can guess. The actual response still suggests to me that the reader ought to be able to fill in the blank on the location. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/37 "2016-02-23T16:47:49Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > The problem I have with this interpretation is that the logical response from the Sheriff, then, should have been “I get it, I get it!” rather than saying he can guess. The actual response still suggests to me that the reader ought to be able to fill in the blank on the location. Yup. Mellowed out with some antihistamines, and it’s all better now. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/38 "2016-02-23T17:44:55Z")
This Tumbleweeds…it is deep… How about someone post the ones before and after? I saw one of them for sale at some site. It looked like from the same week. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/39 "2016-02-23T19:15:15Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Embalming started during the civil war, when people wanted bodies back. So undertakers maybe were a little crazy, because they dealt with a lot of arsenic. On what do you base that? Embalming has been happening to important people since ancient Egypt. Are you saying embalming only started being done to average Joe’s during the Civil War? I guess the cartoon just means we should know it’s Boot Hill, since that’s the obvious place there would be a fast-food level throughput of bodies needing a mortician’s services. And cure for insomnia because…hey! Print strips are written by addled old fuckers! Stop asking questions! Har har! ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751/40 "2016-02-23T20:52:44Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > . . . Was Tumbleweeds set in a specific year, or was it explicitly before or after the civil war? . . . No specific year, just “The Old West.” If you wanted to play Sherlock Holmes games, you could… There are references to Abraham Lincoln’s death, so it’s after the Civil War. There was one reference to Custer and Little Big Horn, as the news was being spread as an early rumor, so that nails the date down. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-dont-get-this-tumbleweeds-cartoon/746751.md?page=3)