Somebody asked whether Economy Candy sold Bazooka bubble gum. Well, yes it does, but I can go it one better. Courtesy of an Israeli friend, I have this:
And, just for this post, I opened it up to reveal the funny:
Perhaps a Hebrew-speaking reader can give us a translation.
Ha! I instantly recognized the packaging but did a double-take on the text. Cool.
Translation:
Comics first pane: aaa-ahh-ahhh
Comics second pane: where would you like your dinner, sir?
Comics third pane: over the railing!
Did you know: during the war of liberation (ed: the 1948 war of independence of Israel) Nehariya (ed: a northern Israeli town) was temporarily cut off from the rest of Israel, and it issued local postage stamps that are currently considered very rare and expensive!
The comic part is pretty simple: the guy’s napping on the cruise ship (panel one) and along comes a waiter: “Where do you want your dinner, Mister?” to which the startled old man testily replies “Throw it overboard!”
There’s also an explanation, but it’s hard to read because of the flash:
“Did you know? During the war of independance, Nahariyah was separated from the rest of Israel. The take off local stamps were considered [illegible–something to do with sailing] very scarce and expensive”
Knowing what I know about the location of Nahariyah, it seems like they’re saying a cruise with local passport stamps (since many Arab nations still do this today with real stamps) was super rare, and fancy. AKA not a Bazooka Joe v’chevruto [and his friends] type activity.
The “illegible” is not to do with sailing, it says the following:
והנפיקה בולים מקומיים הנחשבים כיום נדירים ויקרים ביותר!
click the picture (twice) for a zoom up!
Your “startled old man” is the young Bazooka Joe – I guess he hasn’t “aged” well.
If you go to the Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bazooka_Joe), you’ll see another Hebrew gum wrapper. After reading the “Did You Know”, I have to wonder how many kids went to a loud nightclub just to be disqualified from military service (though the civilian service alternative would probably be harder to dodge).
WOW! I went to translate it and got beaten to the punch. The top pic is, of course, upside down.
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A man who knew Hebrew gave the following description:
“Well first you see the hero of these cartoons lying and resting on a yacht. The waiter asks “Where would you like your dinner sir?” The one-eyed hero who always looks the same and wears the same clothes is awakened from his nap and says, “Over the banister!” In the bottom left corner you always see some bit of trivia info about Israel, always starting with “Did you know?” This one states that in the 1948 war Nahariya was temporarily detached from the rest of the country and manufactured local stamps which are nowadays considered extremely rare and expensive.
Er, there, three translations ought to suffice.
Is this a global blog or what!
Yay! I hoped we’d have some Hebrew speakers. We have at least THREE!
Count me in as well!
This is very cool to me as well, as I can spot fellow Israelis from this post!
…and a half. I made it through “Where do you want your dinner..?” then got a bit lost. The bagel and lox post almost made me weep with nostaligia for NYC.
He’s napping?
I assumed he was seasick in order to explain his reäction to the suggestion of dinner.
Or do I just not understand Israëli humour?
No, you are not misunderstanding anything. It is completely standard practice that Bazooka Joe comics (at least Hebrew ones) are just not funny at all…
The English ones are never funny either.
Looks like you’ve got a bad case of diaeresis. Maybe you should eat more fiber?
Semitic languages represent the only battle ever won by left-handers.
Yes. It took me a few seconds to realize that the first pane is the one in upper right hand corner.
Is the Pareve sticker on the back?
Bazooka–yay! No, the cartoons never were particularly funny. It was just that there was one, as opposed to other lame gums with no cartoon.
I had no idea Bazooka had gone global–I wonder if I can find it here in Japan? Other than at Costco or Sony Plaza where it would just be an imported English version… will be looking at Daiei…
(OT, but if you like spiders, I got lots of mosquito bites on my legs to post Jorougumo–nephila clavata. Happy Halloween!
I’m not a Hebrew speaker, but it looks like you have that covered. In case you’re interested, your series reminded me to return to a post I had started months ago about a panel discussion on “reimagining the Jewish deli”:
http://saltycurrent.blogspot.com/2010/10/reimagining-jewish-deli.html
Count me with your Hebrew-speaking followers…
Also, Bazuka is a horrible, horrible chewing gum.