Another joke I didn't "get".

[Tim L]

Some 40 years ago, Jerry G Bishop developed the Svengoolie character, and "Berwyn" became a similar reference in the
Chicago area. It is still used in the modern Svengoolie show, and often, here the region, when someone mentions Berwyn in conversation, another person will chime in with the comedic, extended " Berrr--wyyn!?"

Which was literally "borrowed" from Cleveland's "Ghoulardi"..Jerry G. was at KYW Radio 1100 and TV-3 in Cleveland during Ghoulardi's heyday..Ernie Anderson (Ghoulardi) lived in the Cleveland suburb of Parma early in his Cleveland radio career..Director-Engineer Chuck Schodowski bought a house in Parma...Anderson could'nt resist cracking jokes about Paaar--ma?..An extension of this would be jokes about Parmaites wearing white socks and having pink flamingos on their lawns..So, in general, "Svengoolie" began as a takeoff on "Ghoulardi"

 

[Tom Wells]

I'm not at all shocked as I have spent a good deal of time in Parma while working in Berea in the 1990s.
A friend of mine spent a good deal of his youth there, so I looked it over real well many times while there.
I recall a really big, fine old Dairy Queen, and that Parma looked a lot like parts of NW Indiana where I grew up.
Flamingos and white socks were issued to all residents, no doubt.

When my friend hears that "Ber-wyn" is derived from "Par-ma!", he'll probably bust a gut laughing.


I asked my wife at dinner last night about having mention of Berwyn produce the "response", and she said
among Chicagoans above age 35 or so it's more likely than not someone in a small group will always take the cheap
shot at Berwyn, even today.


Do any recordings exist of the "Paarr--maa!?!" gag exist?

 

[Tim L]

There are some Ghoulardi Clips on YouTube..A Parma reference Is in them I am sure somewhere..The ultimate Parma joke came about in the 1965-66 season when WJW-TV on the Ghoulardi show ran a skit series called "Parma Place" a comic takeoff on then popular "Peyton Place" Here's the last episode aired..At the time, Parma did not like being made fun of and supposedy forced Channel 8 to take off Parma Place..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BE97qK8ef3A

An earlier Parma Place Skit is among the Ghoulardi Clips on YouTube..

 

[Markxxx]

Albuquerque, though large by NM standards was a small town back then

1930 census 26,570
1940 census 35,449
2010 census 545,852

When Ethel Mertz mentions growing up in Albuquerque, and as a small town in 1910 it had only 11,020.

 

[bpatrick]

The whole joke about Alba-quirky was simply its pronunciation and perhaps that it is in the middle of nowhere (and even moreso when those old cartoons were made). It didn't really have anything to do with Route 66.

I think that line was used only in the Chuck Jones-directed Bugs cartoons; the name "Albuquerque" must have tickled his and Mike Maltese's fancies.

 

[desertv]

I've always wondered if Albuquerque had some incredibly difficult, confusing roads due to geography or something that
make navigation mistakes likely.

The orginal routing of 66 through NM took the highway northwesterly to Santa Fe, then south to Albuquerque. This was before better road-building methods in the mid-30s

 

[firepoint525]

The whole joke about Alba-quirky was simply its pronunciation and perhaps that it is in the middle of nowhere (and even moreso when those old cartoons were made). It didn't really have anything to do with Route 66.

Bugs Bunny (Mel Blanc) pronounced it "alba-koiky." ;D

 

[jfrancispastirchak]

Albuquerque, though large by NM standards was a small town back then

1930 census 26,570
1940 census 35,449
2010 census 545,852

That half-million census milestone pushes The Duke City ever closer to Denver's corporate population of around 650-thousand. Funny though, I've never heard Bug's Bunny mention taking a wrong turn in Denver!

 

[KeithE4]

Funny though, I've never heard Bug's Bunny mention taking a wrong turn in Denver!

Albakoiky is funny, especially in Bugs' Brooklyn-ese. IIRC, Jack Benny used Albuqerque as a joke early-on in his radio show. In fact, if I remember right, a train going through there was where he first met Rochester, then a Pullman porter (Eddie Anderson's first appearance on the show).

 

[MDCSWildcats86]

I have LT collections on DVD, and have watched several episodes in French.

In the French dub, the missed left turn is in either Chicago or Dallas (probably for dubbing reasons).