Because “Indians” used to bury people this way as a form of torture, or test of bravery–only they probably didn’t really, at least not as much as movies might have suggested. Here’s a clip from the movie “Jeremiah Johnson” (1972), which was very well known at the time and probably inspired this strip: https://youtu.be/pYhlVR9GzjA?si=klSXoYG0m3ynJzE4

I believe it’s referring to a barn dance They were popular at the time of the strip, except in this case, the band booked a barn dance with actual barn animals. I think the drawing style looks different because this is an early one, 1981.

In 1982, it would have been unheard of for a pet store to be selling snakes in a window like this. Puppies, bunnies, guinea pigs, sure, but not snakes. Maybe they would have one or two in the back of the store, but it wasn’t common. That makes this scenario unlikely and somewhat absurd. Plus, Larson loves snakes and probably this would have been a wish fulfillment for him.

It’s a very old nursery rhyme dating from 1744. There are variations, but it’s basically this:

Ladybug! Ladybug! Fly away home. Your house is on fire. And your children all gone.

All except one, And that’s little Ann, For she crept under The frying pan.

For more context, see the show’s opening credits:

https://youtu.be/p9lf76xOA5k?si=9wVkhjeVnN78K_Li

Very popular show, even into the 70s.

Yeah, I think that’s a problem with quite a few of Larson’s comics. A lot of it was based on tropes and stereotypes that were more accepted at the time. I’m gen x, so I get the humor, and found it funny back then, but with hindsight some of them were questionable if not outright offensive. In this case, however, he is ridiculing the cavalry for their hubris, when they should have had a better plan against the combined native forces. Custer screwed up and died as a result. If anything, it’s saying the natives were much smarter.

They won the Battle of Little Bighorn, also known as Custer’s Last Stand, yes.

They’re saying “Neener Neener, you can’t catch me,” and from what we know about history, the Natives accepted the challenge and won. I’m not sure how else to explain it. You might not find it funny, and that’s okay, but it’s clearly a reference to that battle.

Look up Custer’s Last Stand. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Little_Bighorn

Larson did a few referencing this. Basically, Custer and his cavalry were soundly defeated by the combined native tribes.

No gnus is good gnus.

Cows are often described as content, with phases like “chewing contentedly on its cud.”

Families would take a car trip. Once upon a time, there were no electronics available to keep kids occupied. We literally had nothing to do in the car except sit still for hours. Kids being kids would get antsy, and frequently would start teasing, fighting, roughhousing, pinching, poking, etc. The driver, usually Dad, would yell at the kids to stop. “Don’t make me stop this car,” and other similar warnings. This panel uses that common (at the time) setting but with the absurd twist of an actual torture device.

Larson’s drawing skills are not the greatest, and this forced perspective is difficult to achieve in the single panel, I think. The kids are in the back, either on the back seat or maybe in the cargo area with the seats down. Yeah, the proportions are off. It’s about the absurd situation more than the artwork.

I don’t recall anything like that, but possibly. I think the comic is just playing around with the phrase itself, but using frogs to make it absurd.

Fwiw, here’s the definition for anyone unfamiliar:

vive la difference exclamation /ˌviːv lɑː ˌdɪfəˈrɑːns/ (from French, humorous)

​used to show that you think it is good that there is a difference between two people or things, especially a difference between men and women

I’d say many were referencing something that would have been familiar to most readers in the 80s, but perhaps not now, unless you are either old enough to remember, or know a lot of trivia. For example, My Dinner With Andre came out in 1981, and this comic in 1982, so most readers then probably had at least heard of the movie and could get the joke.

The Sword in the Stone, perhaps.

Hi, I’ve been going to my local small town food bank for almost a year. I’ll try to give you some thoughtful responses.

Are you able to get enough food, toiletries, items from your local food bank? 

I’m not sure how to answer this. Do I get enough that I won’t need to purchase additional food, etc. that month? No, I still need to shop for more. However, I get a really good amount most months and am able to eat a lot better. My local pantry gets a lot of donations from the nearby supermarket chain, and they are pretty good about supplying meat especially. I normally buy very little meat to save money, so getting it from the pantry means I get a lot more protein in my diet. I guess technically there is enough that I could eat only food from the pantry each month, but I’d be eating a lot of canned peas, corn, tuna fish, peanut butter–you get the idea. It wouldn’t be a greatly varied diet by the end of the month.

Do you have any allergies or illness that makes it harder to use a food bank? ie. they never have any gluten free bread, or everything contains too much sugar

Surprisingly, this has been pretty good. I’m on a low fat diet, and my husband is allergic to wheat, with a few other things that he doesn’t tolerate well but are okay in small amounts. I regularly find things like gluten free boxed mixes, sometimes bread or wraps, etc. Not huge amounts, but more than I expected.

Do you care about branded foods versus non branded?

No–however, sometimes the quality of generic is pretty bad, and I’d rather skip it. Think things like the generic version of Lipton dry soup packets. The name brand is pretty terrible already, the generic is just awful.

Are there items you can never find or are in very short supply at your local food bank?

Milk, fresh or powdered. Nonfat powdered milk is great for me, stores well and takes up little space. Cheese, especially nicer stuff like cheddar that works well in a lot of meals and sandwiches. Butter and/or margarine. Fruit juice. Cooking oil. Basic cooking ingredients like sugar, salt, spices. Eggs are hit or miss, sometimes there’s plenty, sometimes none. Oh! I always get a jar or two of peanut butter, but rarely jelly to go with. I always get pasta, but only regular “thick” spaghetti. That’s fine, but it would be so nice to have some thinner types. I usually get maybe one can or jar of pasta sauce, but almost never Parmesan to go with it. ETA: I forgot–frozen vegetables! Sometimes they have fresh, I always get canned, but rarely frozen and it tastes so much better than canned.

It’s a good question, and it’s sort of hard to answer, because I really never know what I’m going to get each month. The past two months have been very light, and I got only a small amount of meat and almost no dairy. I did get a 5 pound block of mozzarella, which is great, but not super versatile!

How were you referred to the food bank?

I did a web search for food banks in my area.

If you’d like, please feel free to ask me any more questions!

Larson addresses this specific comic in The Prehistory of the Far Side. He says, “Another example of when a cartoon’s intent is lost on a lot of people. Very simply, I just meant that we all look a little longer and harder at things that fall upon our particular interests.”

You can’t see the whole theater in the one panel, it’s a vignette.

Close, they’re just not considerate or self aware enough to choose a seat in the back. Happens a lot irl, this is just a slightly absurd take. Eta, weird how many don’t get the joke.