this post was submitted on 17 Aug 2024
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Everett True Comics

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A place to appreciate the twentieth century comic character Everett True of "The Outbursts of Everett True." Feel free to check out the sticky.

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Never trust anything with boneless in the name (June 10, 1906) (midwest.social)
submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by clark@midwest.social to c/truecomics@midwest.social
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TRANSCRIPTION

A waitress is holding a steaming pile of food on a tray, while Everett sits at a dining table, a frown on his face. Waitress: We didn't have any spring chicken, Mr. True, so I brought some boneless canned- Everett punches the tray out of her hands, throwing the contents up onto the ceiling, knocking his chair and table askew in the process. Everett: Take it away!! TAKE IT AWAY!!!! Do you think I'm a scavenger? None of it for me! I read the papers, I do!!!

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[–] I_Has_A_Hat@lemmy.world 37 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

Was there something more wrong with canned chicken back in the day? Besides the obvious poor taste?

[–] prayer@sh.itjust.works 89 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

1906 is the same year The Jungle was published, a story that sparked interest in the quality of the meat industry in America. If your meat was more processed, the worse it would be. Boneless canned chicken is probably just a bunch of meat scraped off the parts nobody wanted to eat, maybe even a few pars from other animals, or humans if there was an accident that day.

[–] Zoomboingding@lemmy.world 11 points 3 weeks ago

Ok his reaction seems justified now

[–] ThePantser@lemmy.world 54 points 3 weeks ago (2 children)

The conflict begins a week earlier when the health department labels 50,000 pounds of canned chicken at the North American company and the A. Booth & Co. as suspicious. The health commissioner does not take long to arrive at a conclusion, noting that when samples were thawed out the smell “was so nauseating it was necessary to drench them with formalin before they could be handled.”

http://www.connectingthewindycity.com/2017/10/october-2-1906-north-american-cold.html?m=1

[–] verity_kindle@sh.itjust.works 22 points 3 weeks ago

Fascinating. The manager thought having a bulldog by his desk made him arrest-proof. He also had the cops trapped in an elevator on the way to his office. Truly, the Moriarty of Meatpacking Malfeasance! I'm going to say that if I paid for fresh "spring" (i.e., young, tender birds less than 8 weeks of age) chicken and got canned mystery meat instead, in Upton Sinclair's world, I would push the food away, too.

[–] verity_kindle@sh.itjust.works 5 points 3 weeks ago

Formalin, by the way, is a chemical preservative similar in effect to formaldehyde. They're both used to preserve and embalm bodies for burial, scientific research, etc.

[–] Stern@lemmy.world 43 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

If I had to guess...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jungle

Published Feb, 1906.

However, the novel's most notable impact at the time was to provoke public outcry over passages exposing health violations and unsanitary practices in the American meat-packing industry during the early 20th century, which led to sanitation reforms including the Meat Inspection Act.

[–] Rolando@lemmy.world 12 points 3 weeks ago

Nobody should be treated that way, especially people with such an awesome pompadour.

[–] other_cat@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

TRANSCRIPTION

A waitress is holding a steaming pile of food on a tray, while Everett sits at a dining table, a frown on his face. Waitress: We didn't have any spring chicken, Mr. True, So I brought some boneless canned- Everett punches the tray out of her hands, throwing the contents up onto the ceiling, knocking his chair and table askew in the process. Everett: Take it away!! TAKE IT AWAY!!!! Do you think I'm a scavenger? None of it for me! I read, the papers, I do!!!

[–] verity_kindle@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 weeks ago

Thank you!

[–] chocosoldier@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 points 3 weeks ago

For context, this book came out the previous year: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/140

[–] riodoro1@lemmy.world -5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

Yeah, it’s her fault. Fuck up her day by making a mess on a ceiling.

All because mr. fatass here didn’t get his chicken.

[–] NateNate60@lemmy.world 14 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

Yes, that's why it's "Outbursts of Everett True", not "reasonable reactions of Everett True". He is an asshole and proud of it.

[–] verity_kindle@sh.itjust.works 4 points 3 weeks ago

May you always get the real chicken you ordered and your steak cooked just right. Tip of the bowler to you.

[–] Lumisal@lemmy.world 10 points 3 weeks ago

Read the other comments. During that time, there was a good chance that canned chicken included human fingers, rat shit, rotten chicken, and/or rats and roaches.

She might not have known about it, but his hyperbolic overreaction isn't towards not getting fresh chicken, it's towards paying for fresh chicken and being served possibly literal shit stew.

Processed meat back then was is a really bad state.

[–] verity_kindle@sh.itjust.works 2 points 3 weeks ago

He's not fat, he's big- boned!!!!!