scarry 2.0
November 25, 2005 5:50 AM Subscribe
Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever then & now (1963 - 1991). Pretty Stewardess -> Flight Attendant, etc.
How will today's children ever learn important expressions like ”Beautiful screaming lady”???
posted by martinrebas at 6:03 AM on November 25, 2005
posted by martinrebas at 6:03 AM on November 25, 2005
How bizarre. "Letter Carrier"?
posted by NinjaPirate at 6:04 AM on November 25, 2005
posted by NinjaPirate at 6:04 AM on November 25, 2005
How bizarre. "Letter Carrier"?
The United States Postal Service has been very aggressive about making sure people use this term, although I can't remember the last time one brought me a letter instead of a big honking sheaf of useless coupons addressed to RESIDENT.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:10 AM on November 25, 2005
The United States Postal Service has been very aggressive about making sure people use this term, although I can't remember the last time one brought me a letter instead of a big honking sheaf of useless coupons addressed to RESIDENT.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 6:10 AM on November 25, 2005
Interesting cultural snapshot. They do sometimes go overboard with the "leveling," but "beautiful screaming lady" is more than a bit anachronistic.
BTW, that's MeFi user No. 1747, Kokogiak (blog).
posted by planetkyoto at 6:20 AM on November 25, 2005
BTW, that's MeFi user No. 1747, Kokogiak (blog).
posted by planetkyoto at 6:20 AM on November 25, 2005
Best word book link ever.
posted by runkelfinker at 6:38 AM on November 25, 2005
posted by runkelfinker at 6:38 AM on November 25, 2005
That was quite interesting. I wonder if the changes would have been made if the book was printed now, rather than 1991. Do you think people are more or less politically correct now versus 15 odd years ago?
Beautiful Screaming Lady is an awesome title for someone.
posted by chunking express at 7:22 AM on November 25, 2005
Beautiful Screaming Lady is an awesome title for someone.
posted by chunking express at 7:22 AM on November 25, 2005
Nice link. I, too, loved my Scarry books as a kid. I wish I still had Busy Busy World. If memory serves me, as it sometimes does in bizarre, non sequitur fashion, that book was where I first learned the word "cassowary."
posted by Gator at 7:26 AM on November 25, 2005
posted by Gator at 7:26 AM on November 25, 2005
For what it's worth, after posting these, a few people sent me this link to an article on rotten.com (it's sfw, no idea why it's on rotten). Some of the revisionism is explained in that article:
"After twenty years with Golden Books, Scarry moved across Madison Avenue to Random House. While the publishing company was pleased as punch to receive him, it was here that Richard Scarry started to receive his first batch of hate mail.
Letters of complaint poured in about the roles played by women in reformed-gigolo Scarry's picture books. The increasing importance and acceptance of the feminist movement in the United States called into question why a large percentage of Scarry's female characters were depicted as housewives: cooking, cleaning, washing dishes. Scarry, now a significantly older man, was a bit incensed. He maintained that because his characters were animals, and because most wore trousers, it was difficult to discern whether or not a worker was a man or a woman. Besides, most of the women characters dressed just like men anyway, a trait arguably mirrored by the feminists themselves. Random House urged him to change with the times, and he wasn't too difficult to persuade once he learned sales were being affected. His Best Word Book Ever was still his number-one bestseller, and it was accused of being the worst offender. And so he drew new art, using women workers on the job, and depicting men taking a more active interest in household duties.
Then, more scandal. Racial issues began to surface when Random House re-released Busy, Busy World. This picture book had been a pinnacle of achievement for Scarry when he was at Golden Books. It was a labor of love, incorporating his fondness for travel and appreciation for other cultures. But changing times and buckets of hate mail at Random House suggested that characters like Manuel of Mexico (with a pot of refried beans stuck on his head), Ah-Choo the near-sighted panda bear from Hong Kong, and Angus the Scottish bagpiper were no longer acceptable role models for children. Random House quietly subtracted some of Scarry's best stories from future distribution, including the much-loved vignette of Patrick Pig, who shouts "UP THE IRISH" after kissing the Blarney stone. That story can be found in earlier copies of Golden Book's Busy Busy World, in the remainder bin of your local thrift store."
posted by kokogiak at 7:27 AM on November 25, 2005
"After twenty years with Golden Books, Scarry moved across Madison Avenue to Random House. While the publishing company was pleased as punch to receive him, it was here that Richard Scarry started to receive his first batch of hate mail.
Letters of complaint poured in about the roles played by women in reformed-gigolo Scarry's picture books. The increasing importance and acceptance of the feminist movement in the United States called into question why a large percentage of Scarry's female characters were depicted as housewives: cooking, cleaning, washing dishes. Scarry, now a significantly older man, was a bit incensed. He maintained that because his characters were animals, and because most wore trousers, it was difficult to discern whether or not a worker was a man or a woman. Besides, most of the women characters dressed just like men anyway, a trait arguably mirrored by the feminists themselves. Random House urged him to change with the times, and he wasn't too difficult to persuade once he learned sales were being affected. His Best Word Book Ever was still his number-one bestseller, and it was accused of being the worst offender. And so he drew new art, using women workers on the job, and depicting men taking a more active interest in household duties.
Then, more scandal. Racial issues began to surface when Random House re-released Busy, Busy World. This picture book had been a pinnacle of achievement for Scarry when he was at Golden Books. It was a labor of love, incorporating his fondness for travel and appreciation for other cultures. But changing times and buckets of hate mail at Random House suggested that characters like Manuel of Mexico (with a pot of refried beans stuck on his head), Ah-Choo the near-sighted panda bear from Hong Kong, and Angus the Scottish bagpiper were no longer acceptable role models for children. Random House quietly subtracted some of Scarry's best stories from future distribution, including the much-loved vignette of Patrick Pig, who shouts "UP THE IRISH" after kissing the Blarney stone. That story can be found in earlier copies of Golden Book's Busy Busy World, in the remainder bin of your local thrift store."
posted by kokogiak at 7:27 AM on November 25, 2005
I like Richard Scarry books. And I like pretty stewardesses. I mean, flight attendants.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 7:32 AM on November 25, 2005
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 7:32 AM on November 25, 2005
Yeah, the occupation of "commuter" is all but extinct in this modern-day world.
posted by cusack at 7:52 AM on November 25, 2005
posted by cusack at 7:52 AM on November 25, 2005
It's weird that "beautiful screaming lady" was changed to "cat in danger," when the whole book is full of anthropomorphic characters.
posted by kirkaracha at 8:18 AM on November 25, 2005
posted by kirkaracha at 8:18 AM on November 25, 2005
Interesting that "he comes to breakfast promptly when called" is considered ... what? Too harsh? Suggestive of beatings? What should a kid do when he's called for breakfast? Ignore his parents and sit continue to play video games for 20 minutes, intermittently yelling "coming...one second..."?
posted by QuietDesperation at 9:05 AM on November 25, 2005
posted by QuietDesperation at 9:05 AM on November 25, 2005
the much-loved vignette of Patrick Pig, who shouts "UP THE IRISH" after kissing the Blarney stone
That is fucking fantastic.
posted by chrismear at 9:14 AM on November 25, 2005
That is fucking fantastic.
posted by chrismear at 9:14 AM on November 25, 2005
Regarding "He comes to breakfast promptly when called."
Perhaps we need more of this - the language serves a subtle reminder that kids need to listen to their parents, without being too overboard about it.
Otherwise we may as well rewrite it to read "I want my mutherfucking chocolate milk!"
posted by aladfar at 9:51 AM on November 25, 2005
Perhaps we need more of this - the language serves a subtle reminder that kids need to listen to their parents, without being too overboard about it.
Otherwise we may as well rewrite it to read "I want my mutherfucking chocolate milk!"
posted by aladfar at 9:51 AM on November 25, 2005
Great post, marlowe. Why am I not surprised that it is by kokogiak? It's always worth poking around on his site.
/ waves to planetkyoto
posted by madamjujujive at 10:10 AM on November 25, 2005
/ waves to planetkyoto
posted by madamjujujive at 10:10 AM on November 25, 2005
adadfar - I'd missed the chocolate milk video - thanks for the link. I see some pretty god-awful spoiled kids, and I believe there is nothing at all wrong with setting up parents as wise authority figures to be obeyed. They have plenty of time to learn the truth about us later.
posted by QuietDesperation at 10:15 AM on November 25, 2005
posted by QuietDesperation at 10:15 AM on November 25, 2005
Rotten Biographies are actually fantastic and overwhelmingly sfw.
They shouldn't have dropped the American Indian kayak mouse. Beautiful Screaming Lady I can sympathise with though.
posted by ab'd al'Hazred at 10:16 AM on November 25, 2005
They shouldn't have dropped the American Indian kayak mouse. Beautiful Screaming Lady I can sympathise with though.
posted by ab'd al'Hazred at 10:16 AM on November 25, 2005
I think some unfortunate mistakes have been made in the changes.
Take "beautiful screaming lady," for instance: the phrase and the scenario just beg for a child-centred bit of co-operative story-telling. A person could spend an easy half-hour on that page alone, identifying pictures and words and talking about the actors and actions.
Rewriting it as "cat in danger" just sucks the lifeblood from it. A terrible mistake, that one.
But, then, what parent reads with their child these days? I distinctly remember bedtime picturebooks and sing-songing and nursery rhymes when I was a wee lad, aged five and under.
I rather strongly suspect that such is a very rare thing these days.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:27 AM on November 25, 2005
Take "beautiful screaming lady," for instance: the phrase and the scenario just beg for a child-centred bit of co-operative story-telling. A person could spend an easy half-hour on that page alone, identifying pictures and words and talking about the actors and actions.
Rewriting it as "cat in danger" just sucks the lifeblood from it. A terrible mistake, that one.
But, then, what parent reads with their child these days? I distinctly remember bedtime picturebooks and sing-songing and nursery rhymes when I was a wee lad, aged five and under.
I rather strongly suspect that such is a very rare thing these days.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:27 AM on November 25, 2005
No one outside of books uses "promptly". Maybe "quickly" or "right away", but "promptly"?
posted by blue_beetle at 10:46 AM on November 25, 2005
posted by blue_beetle at 10:46 AM on November 25, 2005
promptly is archaic (like "archaic"), and it also never was in a beginning reader's vocabulary.
We had these books too--it's terrible how we were so indocrinated on gender roles, looking back now.
posted by amberglow at 11:14 AM on November 25, 2005
We had these books too--it's terrible how we were so indocrinated on gender roles, looking back now.
posted by amberglow at 11:14 AM on November 25, 2005
My mom does, blue_beetle.
posted by thirteenkiller at 11:14 AM on November 25, 2005
posted by thirteenkiller at 11:14 AM on November 25, 2005
We had these books too--it's terrible how we were so indocrinated on gender roles, looking back now.
Did anybody else have Don and Donna Go to Bat? In it, baseball star's twin sister Donna takes over for Don when he's too sick to play in the big game. She hits the game winning homer, and as a reward for her abilities, the team lets her wash uniforms. For some reason, I loved that book. My parents hated it, but continued to read it to me without explaining their objections.
I am all for updating the language in a kid's vocabulary book to better reflect the roles women actually play in today's society. Changing "beautiful screaming lady" out of the book helps dispell the still pervasive idea that ladies are best suited for the role of passive, screaming, helpless victim as they wait for a handsome hero to get them out of whatever jam they're in. "Cat in danger" might not be the best replacement, but I think it's better than the loaded text of the original.
posted by jennyb at 1:03 PM on November 25, 2005
Did anybody else have Don and Donna Go to Bat? In it, baseball star's twin sister Donna takes over for Don when he's too sick to play in the big game. She hits the game winning homer, and as a reward for her abilities, the team lets her wash uniforms. For some reason, I loved that book. My parents hated it, but continued to read it to me without explaining their objections.
I am all for updating the language in a kid's vocabulary book to better reflect the roles women actually play in today's society. Changing "beautiful screaming lady" out of the book helps dispell the still pervasive idea that ladies are best suited for the role of passive, screaming, helpless victim as they wait for a handsome hero to get them out of whatever jam they're in. "Cat in danger" might not be the best replacement, but I think it's better than the loaded text of the original.
posted by jennyb at 1:03 PM on November 25, 2005
"beautiful screaming kitten" would be gender-neutral and would still allow for imagination.
posted by five fresh fish at 1:45 PM on November 25, 2005
posted by five fresh fish at 1:45 PM on November 25, 2005
Yo momma's so archaic, she thought Pheidippides was prompt.
posted by ryanrs at 2:55 PM on November 25, 2005
posted by ryanrs at 2:55 PM on November 25, 2005
That's awesome. My favorite was always Cars and Trucks and Things That Go. Oh, the hours I spent looking for Goldbug. Good times.
posted by Sibrax at 7:02 PM on November 25, 2005
posted by Sibrax at 7:02 PM on November 25, 2005
Good stuff Kokogiak and thanks marlowe for pointing it out.
posted by chime at 8:06 PM on November 25, 2005
posted by chime at 8:06 PM on November 25, 2005
But, then, what parent reads with their child these days? I distinctly remember bedtime picturebooks and sing-songing and nursery rhymes when I was a wee lad, aged five and under.
We do, and I don't think it's so uncommon. My wife joined a community mom-and-baby group (although these days it's called a parent-tot group) after our son was born, and they did a lot of rhymes and songs.
Our favourite Richard Scarry book is probably What Do People Do All Day? Economics for three-year-olds. Busy Busy World is great, too. (I doubt it'll ever come back into print; we bought a used copy through Amazon.)
the much-loved vignette of Patrick Pig, who shouts "UP THE IRISH" after kissing the Blarney stone
Patrick continues:
"UP THE IRISH!!!" shouted Patrick. "Mother Machree, Erin Go Bragh, Macnamarra's band, Lucille Ogle, Kathleen Norah Daly, Sean O'Casey, and Albert Leventhal!"
posted by russilwvong at 9:35 PM on November 25, 2005
We do, and I don't think it's so uncommon. My wife joined a community mom-and-baby group (although these days it's called a parent-tot group) after our son was born, and they did a lot of rhymes and songs.
Our favourite Richard Scarry book is probably What Do People Do All Day? Economics for three-year-olds. Busy Busy World is great, too. (I doubt it'll ever come back into print; we bought a used copy through Amazon.)
the much-loved vignette of Patrick Pig, who shouts "UP THE IRISH" after kissing the Blarney stone
Patrick continues:
"UP THE IRISH!!!" shouted Patrick. "Mother Machree, Erin Go Bragh, Macnamarra's band, Lucille Ogle, Kathleen Norah Daly, Sean O'Casey, and Albert Leventhal!"
posted by russilwvong at 9:35 PM on November 25, 2005
Interesting that "he comes to breakfast promptly when called" is considered ... what?
I think the revision has more to do with the penchant of junior high schools to find smutty humor in any usage of the verb "to come."
posted by jonp72 at 10:06 PM on November 25, 2005
I think the revision has more to do with the penchant of junior high schools to find smutty humor in any usage of the verb "to come."
posted by jonp72 at 10:06 PM on November 25, 2005
They changed the wood stove on the cover to a modern electric range? Outrageous!
posted by mediareport at 11:20 PM on November 25, 2005
posted by mediareport at 11:20 PM on November 25, 2005
What's interesting is that, in the original version, the cover shows a wood stove but inside it's an electric range. Maybe our electric range overlords are sneaking their propaganda in one page at a time.
posted by brundlefly at 2:24 AM on November 26, 2005
posted by brundlefly at 2:24 AM on November 26, 2005
I'm kind of glad they inserted dad into more of the household scenes, and that they improved the balance of gender with regards to the various occupations.
However, the world is a much less wonderful place without 'brave heroes', and 'beautiful screaming ladies' for them to rescue.
(Couldn't they have just addded a brave heroine, and a well-dressed, panicked, gentleman in some other situation?)
posted by bashos_frog at 7:04 AM on November 26, 2005
However, the world is a much less wonderful place without 'brave heroes', and 'beautiful screaming ladies' for them to rescue.
(Couldn't they have just addded a brave heroine, and a well-dressed, panicked, gentleman in some other situation?)
posted by bashos_frog at 7:04 AM on November 26, 2005
Great link. Love these books. I think they helped put the Paris in Paramus (because they, in retrospect, seem so European).
posted by ParisParamus at 7:43 AM on November 26, 2005
posted by ParisParamus at 7:43 AM on November 26, 2005
I'm so glad that I held on to my copies of "Busy Busy World" and "What Do People Do All Day?" -- we have a daughter arriving in less than a month, and I'll definitely read to her from those.
posted by AJaffe at 10:23 AM on November 27, 2005
posted by AJaffe at 10:23 AM on November 27, 2005
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And they changed from "handsome pilot" to "pilot"? Awww.
posted by jamesonandwater at 5:54 AM on November 25, 2005