10/20/14

Hangeford Primary School had strict rules when it came to taking responsibility for one's actions. Since Meredith was the one who broke the rope swing on the playset, it was up to her to stand in its place until it could be repaired...

Never was Myrtle more annoyed with herself than the day she soared past Clem Larson's Filling Station for charging too much and proceeded up into the Poconos on an eighth of a tank.

Darlene was highly miffed that she alone was asked to sit at the kitchen table and not the dining room table with the rest of The Bickersons on Thanksgiving, especially since she'd brought along her treasured gourd candle-holders to help dress things up for the holiday...

Cynthia couldn't believe her luck in finally getting to eat with the grown-ups after being banished so long to the kiddie table and kept looking over her shoulder to be certain it wasn't some sort of joke. 

Irritated that Whizzer had decided to roll in the flower bed that morning, Pete had to fill up the sink and give him a bath, but, in the end, Pete wound up getting hosed down a little bit himself!

After careful inspection, it was official. Harry Nuttzach had clearly decided to come to the beach that day without benefit of his athletic supporter and caused a minor sensation among onlookers...

10/17/14

Rae Jean and Clarissa thought they were going to have an uneventful afternoon at Al Snyder's Swim-While-U-Wait Auto Body, but just then Rae Jean spotted Robbie the football captain coming in after a minor fender-bender.

Though both were highly-skilled basketball players, Barry and Harry Bird had one thing going against them and that was that they both wanted the ball at all times, yet played for the same team!

The calm before the storm as Ingrid was enjoying a pleasant day at Falling Acorn Arboretum until the landscaping truck behind her became caught in its gear and drove her scurrying into some nearby hedges!

Connie kept telling Rich that the champagne was tickling the inside of her cheeks, so he told her he would even things out by tickling the outside, too!

Folks in Butternut, Wisconsin never believed that The Land-O-Lakes Recipe Guilde was going to stick around for the long haul, but no one predicted that it would fall apart at the very first meeting when Alma discovered that Dorothy Jo had used Parkay margarine in her zucchini bread!

All of the girls from Der Schatz Primary School enjoyed their excursion to Hanover, but, sadly, not one of them, nor any of their chaperones, had thought to bring along a jar of mustard!

10/15/14

The writing should have been on the wall that first night Floyd came back from the Kalihari with his fiancee Koko and realized she had a eye on his father Bruce! Within two months, Koko went from his girlfriend to his step-mother...

After Monica fretted for weeks that little Eddie's ears were too big, her husband set out to disprove her concern by comparing them to Topo Gigio's, which allayed her fears for a while... until she started to focus on Eddie's nose.

Bert and Phyllis posed for a quick photo on the occasion of their 45th Valentine's Day together as a couple, but swiftly headed out the door in order to beat the rush at Morrison's Cafeteria and avoid missing out on the ruby red gelatin salad, which had a tendency to be snatched up quickly.

Pat discovered she could squeeze in a two-mile ride while the Hamburger Helper was simmering on the stove and hoped to up her output to three miles the next night when she was preparing Shake 'n Bake chicken.

Thus, Bryan found out the hard way that pranksters had sneaked in during the night and applied pine tar to the slide at Knotty Bog Campground and Carp Hatchery.

So Jason discovered, in the form of a black eye, that Stretch Armstrong could only be stretched so far before he began to resent it.

10/13/14

Byron and Clarissa thought they'd pull one over on Clarissa's sister Jenelle by setting her up on a blind date with one of Byron's nerdier college classmates. Though Norman was so shy he actually had to bag his face, his sense of humor won everyone over and ultimately a grand time was had by all four of them!

Nothing quite beat the heat in Fire Creek, West Virginia like Hughie Beatty's above-ground swimming pool, though he stacked the deck a bit by refusing to invite any of his male playmates to take a dip with him...

A little known historical fact is that The Liberty Bell really only had a hairline fracture in it from the mid-1800s on. It wasn't until Alison and Stacey Shearer got ahold of it in 1971 that it truly became cracked!

And so Candice Ogilvy's 1967 men's swimwear line died the same day it was born in a poorly-received runway show held in the basement store room of her father's dry goods shop.

Velma and Edith Marie took advantage of the surprisingly progressive atmosphere of Freedom, New Hampshire in order to set up housekeeping and open their own ladies' accessories boutique.

While his daring stunt had made quite an impression on everyone at The Weber's pool party, Jim did find it a little humiliating to have to spend the rest of the evening chatting and eating his metts and brats with a lifesaver tautly stretched around his upper torso!

10/10/14

Marie was thrilled that Kermit's attention to dental hygiene was so great that he brushed his teeth even during their speedboating excursion, but she would know next time to sit next to him, not behind him, if she wanted to avoid a face full of minty overflow...

Scruffy thought it was great that his owners installed brand new linoleum throughout the downstairs, but he hadn't realized that they would be so protective of it that he'd have to wear protective footies whenever inside the home.

Hugh and Opal bickered continuously over who their daughter Doris resembled the most, yet they always reached an impasse. So they decided to pose her for a photo and send a copy to each set of in-laws to see if anyone could come up with a conclusive decision as to which side her genes favored...

Prior to Melanie's latest blind date, Ray and Eileen stopped their bridge game with The Feddersons long enough to cheer her on and warn her not to order the most expensive thing on the menu yet again...

Sherry had been told by both her mother and her grandmother that beer worked wonders on hair, but she decided that rather than wash hers in it, she'd try it from the inside out and put down a six pack.

Both weeks apart and friends all through grade school and juvenile hall, Teddy and Neil knew each other's tastes like the back of their hand, so birthday exchanges were a breeze.

10/8/14

Knowing there was a good reason for veils that heavy, Fiona wondered just what Leon's reaction was going to be when he peeled them back...

And so Alan headed out to his first day on the job as assistant ticket-tearer at Piedmont Airlines. He originally hadn't intended to start employment this young, but extra income became necessary in order to help cover his family's light bill!

Having heard through the grapevine that Bridget only dated muscle men, Wes decided to try subterfuge for the first few hours of his approach, trying to win her over with his personality before revealing his true physique.

An otherwise peaceful and uneventful day was spoiled when a red-tailed hawk mistook Nathalie's hair for a female of the species and swooped down to try to mate with it!

As much as Joanne appreciated Julie's thoughtful housewarming gift, the dish towels were purple and green and so there was no possible way she could accept them...

While she and Philomena finished up the supper dishes, Therese couldn't get past the sneaking suspicion that that no good daughter-in-law of hers, Carol, was preparing instant coffee for them all instead of percolated!

10/6/14

Marvelle and Clea wanted a photo snapped before the Elmwood Heights Sock Hop, but since their own house was being painted that day, they discreetly posed before Mr. Krawl's place, unbeknownst to him.

Bonnie liked her men tall and had set her sites on Chet, though she still had to elbow the always-threatening Sherilyn out of the way before she slithered in for the kill...

Susan liked to take the sun on her family's front porch and though her father worried about her safety in that curve-hugging swimsuit, she knew that Grippo wasn't going to let anyone get too close!

Nights over at The Ringlings were always enjoyable, but the one thing that stuck in Anne Marie's craw was the fact that they not only had no coasters for the drinks... They had no end tables, period!

Knowing that Barry was heading overseas for at least a year, to Shanghai of all places, Melora decided to have her initials engraved on his left flank so that no one else would get any ideas while he was there!

As the sun continued to bear down on him, Herb wondered how he was going to avoid strap marks, especially since there was to be a campsite luau that night and he was scheduled to perform in one of the ceremonies.

10/3/14

Even though Elder-Beerman's Santa Claus, Brooks Foster, had scotch breath that could peel wallpaper from the walls of the store, he begged all of his little visitors, such as Carrie, not to tell on him!

It was humiliating enough to be stripped down and weighed in front of people like a hunk of ham at the grocery store, but what really irked Guiseppe was the fact that his mother did this AFTER he'd had a heaping dish of pablum!

During the scorching summer months in Taos, New Mexico, Brenda and her son Todd just loved to while away afternoons in their swimming pool. And once the drought was ended, they planned to make it even more fun by adding water to it!

And so The Andrews Family began hour two of waiting for little Rudy to blow out his birthday candle (with only one candle left in the box of 24 by now), never having thought to move the cake closer so that his infant lungs stood a chance of extinguishing the flame!

As she headed off to be crowned Mango Queen at the annual St. Veronica Citrus Festival and Pig Roast, Jocelyn hoped that the occasion might be enough to finally warrant replacing her brother Joaquin's baby picture with one of herself!

Susan was slowly becoming more assured when it came to allowing her bust line to show from beneath her blouses, but still clung to the insecurity that her ears were too big to be put on public display...

10/01/14

Everything about Sandy's excursion to the beach had been amusing and delightful, including being buried by his pals, but things did take an ugly turn when Buford went too far and overturned a cup of Sprite on Sandy's head when so many fire ants were in the vicinity...

Grandma Goldie's homemade shampoo (containing lye, heavy cream, dandelion and honey) seemed to have that one key ingredient that brought on sudden attacks such as this one against young Donnie.

Filbert was very much against his usually-demonstrative parents showing any sort of affection during their family portrait sitting at Rolan Hills Studio and he was willing to spoil every shot in order to achieve his goals to that end.

If it made Clint happy, Claudine was willing to be carted back and forth across the pool this way all day, though in the back of her mind she did wonder if chewing up the kick-board might ultimately result in him buying a slightly larger one next time...

Irving was truly enjoying his seaside vacation, his first in years, but in order to maintain his business in the meantime, he kept his watch on and fully wound and never gave up his shoes in case he had to dart inside to make an urgent call.  

Patty loved those lazy Saturday late afternoons when her mother Gert would finish up her latest bout at the Iron Grid Roller Derby and come over for a relaxing Harvey Wallbanger and a four-compartment TV dinner.