The Whole Fun Catalog of 1929 Summary

Continuing through the Lincoln Tunnel, the narrator remembers Mr. Whipple from the Charmin commercials. The front end of the car behind him suddenly collapses, and the looks on the occupants' faces remind the narrator of the Johnson Smith catalog. In "The Whole Fun Catalog of 1929," the narrator recalls the Johnson Smith catalog. Boys order books recounting stories of white slavery. The catalog offers exploding cigars, false teeth, and stink bombs, and it's purely American. The catalog is highly expressive of life in the 1920s, advertising revolvers for cyclists and ladies. Revolvers make users prepared for war or shooting their own food.

The gag items are unkind, including squirt rings and itching powder. A bootlegger cigar is telling about Prohibition. The "cigar" is a masked flask. The catalog also sells badges for lodges and professions, as...