Good to Be a Pack Rat with a Blog

April & I are not much into the Easter thing. However we do like free food so we're heading on over to her grandparent's house for a big tummy full of ham.

Even as a kid I didn't like Easter very much. Sure, I liked the candy but in general the pastel colors, the odd juxtaposition of an egg-bearing bunny & Jesus, and the underlying religious aspects of the day turned me off. Ah well.

What you're looking at here is an ad that ran in the local paper Easter week in Marengo, IL some time between 1985-1988. I've saved this in pristine condition all these years.

Notice I have edited out the business name. Why?

Read on!

This made me BUST OUT IN HYSTERICS as a teenager when I read it because of the business that placed the ad. I honestly thought this was a joke. I was dancing around the house showing everyone this ad and reveling in the fact that someone in my small, sheltered, country town had such a clever & wicked sense of humor. I thought there was hope for these rubes and felt as though I was not the only one who was "too hip for the room".

That week I stopped by the local business to thank them for placing such a funny advertisement. I was sure if I let them know that someone out there in Ma & Pa Kettle Land got the joke we'd have some sort of bonding moment. A kindred spirit would be revealed. They would show me the other half of an amulet that I'd been wearing around my neck for years and we'd embrace. Eventually they'd offer me a job and I would prosper.

What I found when I expressed my euphoria was anger and disdain from the business owners. They were appalled that I would find any humor in an ad commemorating the resurrection of our savior and they asked me to leave. Apparently they did not see any humor in the ad and had no intention of making anyone chortle at the clever wit buried within.

I took another look at the ad. Had I missed something? Sure this advertisement makes complete sense and it is not out of place in a newspaper during Easter week. It is appropriate, especially when you look at the artwork alone. However when you factor in the business, the name, the type of services they offer, and then look back at the image of Jesus emerging so triumphantly and of perfect posture you HAVE to see why I would assume this was all a big joke.