# These toons are making me looney! or Old pop culture references in WB cartoons **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2002, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-toons-are-making-me-looney-or-old-pop-culture-references-in-wb-cartoons/139057 "2002-11-27T06:12:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-toons-are-making-me-looney-or-old-pop-culture-references-in-wb-cartoons/139057/101 "2003-02-27T20:46:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by furryman \* > \*\* > > I’ve seen several cartoons where you see a bunch of people passing something back and forth. As their passing it back and forth they keep saying “Bread and butter, bread and butter” very quickly. Does anyone know what this refers to? \*\* I _think_, although I’m not sure, that “bread and butter” was something you uttered when “splitting a pole” to ward off the polespitting demonds (or whatever bad thing is supposed to happen when two people pass on either side of an obstruction.) ---
**Author:** ![TGWATY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5e925/32.png) [@TGWATY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TGWATY)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-toons-are-making-me-looney-or-old-pop-culture-references-in-wb-cartoons/139057/102 "2003-02-27T21:12:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by furryman \* > **On another celebrity filled cartoon you see one of the characters go up to the cashier. He gives the cashier a large cash register. The cashier gives him several small cash registers as change. Does anybody know who this actor is supposed to be and what the joke refers to?** I think that what you are remembering here is the cartoon in which an animated Ray Milland pays for drinks with a typewriter and receives little typewriters as change. The reference is to _Lost Weekend_, in which Milland plays an alcoholic writer who, in a fit of desperation, wanders the streets looking for a pawn shop to hock his typewriter so he can buy some booze. But the shops are all closed due to a Jewish holiday. And, man, those old typewriters were _heavy_! Tragic. I second Biggirl on the bread-and-butter. ---
**Author:** ![SadTomato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@SadTomato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SadTomato)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-toons-are-making-me-looney-or-old-pop-culture-references-in-wb-cartoons/139057/103 "2003-02-28T16:39:21Z")
In the Bugs cartoon where he becomes an organ-grinder and uses a gorilla to forcibly get loot from patrons, at the end, Bugs looks into the camera and says “I sure hope Pertrillo doesn’t find out about this!” A good friend of my informs me that “Pertrillo” was James Caesar Petrillo, powerful President of the American Federation of Musicians. Guess Bugs was afraid Pertrillo would get angry if he didn’t get his cut. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-toons-are-making-me-looney-or-old-pop-culture-references-in-wb-cartoons/139057/104 "2003-03-04T01:48:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dougie\_monty \* > \*\*Also from “Hollywood Steps Out”: > When the woman does her bubble dance, one man keeps saying “Gee ! Gee! Gee!” He’s J. Edgar Hoover, the “Chief G Man.” Seated at another table is the mustachioed Jerry Colonna, along with the imaginary “Yahoodi,” one of Bert Gordon’s characters from his “Mad Russian” characterization. Yahoodi doesn’t exist, of course, and all we see are the binoculars “Yahoodi” is using, suspended in mid-air. Harpo, of cousr, spoils the fun by drawing a bead on the bubble with his slingshot, and bursting it. 😃 \*\* Technically, Yahoodi should be Yehudi. On a radio episode of either the Eddie Cantor or Bob Hope shows (I believe) they were thinking of a name for a baby. At this point, Yehudi Menuhin (did I spell it correctly?) was of some note as a violinist to the general public, and Jerry Colonna decided to propose the name Yehudi. The audience that had never heard of Menuhin thought it hillarious, and the bit became a long-running catchphrase. ---
**Author:** ![initech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/439d5e/32.png) [@initech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/initech)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-toons-are-making-me-looney-or-old-pop-culture-references-in-wb-cartoons/139057/105 "2003-03-04T05:14:50Z")
SadTomato, you’ve answered a little mystery that’s been stuck in the back of my mind for about 30 years. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![SadTomato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@SadTomato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SadTomato)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-toons-are-making-me-looney-or-old-pop-culture-references-in-wb-cartoons/139057/106 "2003-03-04T05:39:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by initech \* > \*\*SadTomato, you’ve answered a little mystery that’s been stuck in the back of my mind for about 30 years. Thanks! \*\* You’re welcome, **initech**. Until my friend told me about Pertrillo, I’d always assumed “Pertrillo” was the organ-grinder seen at the beginning of the cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-toons-are-making-me-looney-or-old-pop-culture-references-in-wb-cartoons/139057/107 "2003-03-04T13:29:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SadTomato \* > \*\* > Guess Bugs was afraid Pertrillo would get angry if he didn’t get his cut. \*\* This may have been produced during one of the musician’s strikes of the 1940’s, in which case Bugs doesn’t want Petrillo to find out that he’s been working as a musician (e.g., organ-grinding) on film, which may have been in violation of the strike. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2003, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-toons-are-making-me-looney-or-old-pop-culture-references-in-wb-cartoons/139057/108 "2003-03-04T13:35:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by furryman \* > \*\*I’ve seen several cartoons where you see a bunch of people passing something back and forth. As their passing it back and forth they keep saying “Bread and butter, bread and butter” very quickly. Does anyone know what this refers to? \*\* To be precise, it is an old superstition. If a couple is walking together and have to walk on opposide sides of a pole, they both say “bread and butter” or else they will break up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/these-toons-are-making-me-looney-or-old-pop-culture-references-in-wb-cartoons/139057.md?page=5)