Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for January 03, 2022

If you feel the need to say:

“Calvin this better had not be you”

Then it’s definitely Calvin.

No Dad, it is very clearly a tiny bug that was able to call your phone!

I remember this strip, and it’s still LOL funny.

Who else would go “Bzzzzz” on the phone for no reason?

As of 2022, know of anyone who uses a rotary-dial telephone?

That phone takes me back so many years!

Remember dial phones? Remember Bakelite Dial phones? The ones with handsets heavy enough to use as a meat tenderizer?

“What’s the bzzz?

Tell me what’s a-happening…"

I remember my brothers had a phone with a picture of Roger Bacon in the dial hub!

Maybe he’s already on medication that we’re not aware of!!! Got to keep those fantasies in check!!

Dad, think of how boring your days are when Calvin doesn’t call.

A new interview with Bill Watterson:

www.getpocket.com/explore/item/7-things-you-might-not-know-about-calvin-and-hobbes

Before caller ID…

Cartoon Physics, again… How would an insect sized Calvin push the buttons on a touch tone phone?

“Calvin mysteriously has shrunk…”

how did he get the phone off the hook

I have one of these in my attic.

I remember the days when you had to buy your phone from THE phone company and it came in any color you wanted as long as it was black. There were two versions: desk and wall.

I’ll bet Dad wishes he had a realllly long fly swatter about now.

One of the reasons CALLER ID was invented.

I see Dad’s a southpaw.

Every time I see a depiction of a rotary-dial phone, I’m reminded of how area codes were initially doled out by THE Phone Company. At the time, the most populous cities in the USA were #1 New York, #2 Chicago, and #3 Los Angeles. Since those were where many people lived and businesses operated, they were the most frequently desired long-distance calls. And to make it easy to dial there, they got the numbers with the shortest travel distance (to the finger stop and back) on the rotary dial: 212, 312, and 213. (Of course, the real shortest distance would’ve started with a 1, but that meant you were trying to get to long distance, and presumably you’d already dialed that before you ever got to the area code.)

I had some sense of the place in the Universe of Eau Claire, Wisconsin, where I grew up, and Madison, Wisconsin, where I live now from their area codes of 715 and 608, respectively.

Of course, this was all before the age of cell phones made the “area” in “area code” just a term of fond nostalgia instead of accurate location. And now it’s just as easy to “dial” (a word that has outlived its original definition) 608 as 212. Yay, we’ve arrived!

Lucky for insect Calvin, DDT was banned by then.

Houses where I grew up had hallways leading to the bedrooms. The hallways had nooks with little platforms to hold phones. Since there are no phones now, people try to repurpose the nooks into something else, like plant stands

A rotary phone! LOL!

“Stop bugging me!”

Dad’s sense of humor has mysteriously shrunk to the size of an insect.

Reminds me of Don Marquis’ Archy and Mehitable. Now there is something for the kids to look up.

Heck anyone under 30 probably doesn’t know what Calvin’s standing on, much less how to use one.

Another rotary phone! Lol!

My brother still has the 1st dial phone our family got when we were kids (avocado green) — I tried using it one time and was amazed how hard it was to dial.

Wow, is this cartoon ever dated!

Dad-you know better than to ask that question! Give Hobbes smooches!

Come on, Dad. You know perfectly well who it is. How many times has Calvin called you at work with outlandish story??

The Incredible Shrinking Patience…

If only Calvin knew how to tap-dance in Morse Code. If only his Dad knew Morse Code.

I didn’t notice before: Calvin’s father is left handed.

Richard Matheson’s childhood was quite stressful for his parents.

I have an iPhone but keep my landline, which is hardly as old-fashioned as something I remember from 1949: a party line. And no, we weren’t rural; my city’s population was 80,000.

Am thinking the film Honey, I shrunk the Kids movie must have been out right about this time and Calvin saw it.

Dad’s in his usual “cheerful” mood!!

i new want i should do

Let’s see. Rural area. Party Line. Rotary dial phone.

You can buy them in antique shops