Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson for August 09, 2022

Probably a chiropractor.

Who cares as long as it’s beef.

Call up the guy that keeps winning the hot dog eating contest…..

well, Calvin, care to tell the difference between a brat and a misbehaved child?

Wait until you try talking to Siri or Alexa.

The information line seems pretty useless.

She told Calvin that she doesn’t know. That’s information.

Spot on Hobbes.

It depends where you live. Wien ist die Bundeshauptstadt der Republik Österreich. That is, Vienna is the capital city of Austria. “Frankfurters” were brought to Vienna by Johann Georg Lahner in 1805 from his home in Frankfurt and became popular there under the name Frankfurter. In Germany they were made from only pork but in Austria they make Frankfurters from mixed pork and beef. So in Germany they call those “Wiener Würstchen” Today, in Germany there are more Wiener Würstchen sold than Frankfurter Würstchen. Those names must have wandered to America like a lot of other things.

A hot-dog is any similar sausage put into a hot-dog bun.

If Cal is frustrated now, just wait until he needs something repaired.

Better yet, find out why we park in a driveway and drive of a parkway. Or the difference between “Ketchup” and “Catsup”

I avoid them all, along with nitrites and nitrates.

A wiener is an Austrian sausage, a frankfurter is a German sausage, and a hot dog is an American attempt at a sausage.

If that call can be traced back to Calvin’s home, he’ll be in BIG trouble with Mom and Dad!!

Calvin has a point.

A frank can be nice, say with beans. But it needs a bun to become a hotdog.

Ah, the times before looking things up online to find out your answers…

Calvin’s gonna love Google.

Times were hard before Google.

You used to be able to call the information desk at a public library and ask them to research that sort of thing for you, but I don’t think that service is available, at least not since the internet.

Hello information? Wow is that an old panel.

Hey! I’m not stupid just because you’re ignorant. Buy a dictionary.

So, I went looking for information about whether or not 411 still exists and what it does and so forth, and I happen across this great story totally by accident. Love web surfing!

Strowger switch— “the first example of an electromechanical stepping switch telephone exchange system.” It’s the device that automated switchboards and eliminated the need for operators to connect calls.It was invented by Almon Strowger in 1891. Interestingly, Strowger was not an electrical engineer. He was, of all things, an… undertaker? What’s up with that? Well, as the story goes…Strowger was one of two undertakers who worked in Kansas City in the 1800s. When a dear friend died, he thought it was pretty strange he hadn’t been called by the family to take care of the funeral arrangements. It just so happened that the only telephone operator in Kansas City, who received and directed all the city’s phone calls… was the other undertaker’s wife.Hmmm.Strowger didn’t get mad, he got even. He invented the world’s first automatic telephone exchange system (and the first dial phone), making it possible for people to dial numbers directly and not have to use operators.Take that

Hello, Information? Is this a 1970s reprint?

The great questions of life.

I connected the Conductor of the CBSO to the mains – he does!

A Hot dog is from America. A Frankfurter is from Germany. Everwhere else are wieners!

When I was his age I called information and asked what was playing at the local theater. The operator said, “Uh, well I can give you the number and you can call them to ask.”

Calvin, try asking that in school. Even better try paying attention in school.

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” – Nelson Mandela

This is a rare example of Calvin and Hobbes being dated. The internet can now answer this question in a heartbeat.

The surgeons can be found in Washington, extracting money from our wallets

Customer Service job is NOT in Calvin’s future.

https://www.delightedcooking.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-hot-dog-weiner-frank-and-sausage.htm#:~:text=Thus%20franks%20or%20frankfurters%20are,Raw%20sausages.

In the days before the Internet, it was always difficult for librarians to distinguish between real information seekers and prank callers. Also, tobacconists:

“Do you have Prince Albert in a can?”

“Then you better let him out!” ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha …

Do they still have information operators?

see here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQd_BVrMXV0&t=741s

Large libraries used to have people who would answer questions over the phone

Google it is my answer.

I got into a big argument with my then girlfriend when I said my parents eat ham but not pork. Finally asked a butcher what the difference was. Really didn’t know myself except they looked different.

Answer: The spelling.

I had a similar reaction on learning that Information doesn’t really give you information.

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

Next time, call the public library, Calvin. They actually enjoy questions like that, as a respite from “Do you have (the latest badly-written mass-market potboiler)?”, “What happened to that red book that used to be there with the title I don’t remember?”. and “Where’s the bathroom?”

Just one phone call can take you from Mayberry to Doonesbury.

Chicken fried steak ?

I found “First Calvin and Hobbes Comic”

https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1985/11/18

Words mean things. Or so they say.

Thsse days google would give better leads.

“Information” will have to be explained to the younger generation. (Hint: look up 411)