Yes, three million people have seen it, but have you?
Months late, made it through the Journeys issue and the elevator story. I'd put off watching the video until I'd read the story, barring any unexpected work or social demands. As it turned out, the story was fine. Interesting, especially if you have some Richard Scarry-induced mechanical love, but not mind-blowing. Then I saw the video.
You're probably also thinking about Richard Scarry
If you're familiar with Scarry through Nickelodeon, who are you and how are you old enough to read? We're talking true old school here. We're talking oversized books.
The above link goes to a random page of What Do People Do All Day. Amazon's Scarry search results let you do the same in other works.
Related: Lowly Worm's car as interpreted at Burning Man, visual edits between the '63 and '91 editions of Best Word Book Ever ("pretty stewardess" becomes "flight attendant"), Lowly's MySpace page, Busytown's Wikipedia page, Bananas Gorilla (no link, just had to say it), and a detailed bio of zero attribution that manages to illustrate this passage with Scarry's children's book drawings.
The young master Dick received D's and F's on homework assignments with such regularity that his poor performance nearly caused him to drop out of junior high. When he finally reached the upper grades, he often skipped school to attend burlesque shows in downtown Boston's Scollay Square.
Scarry discovered the mysteries of sex at a very early age. Perhaps too early. To him, any girl who took off her clothes while slinking about the stage was worthy of intense scrutiny. More so than Algebra, anyway, which he was forced to repeat twice before passing. During these mind-numbing extended math sessions, he practiced copying his mother's handwriting in order to forge notes from home. Dear Miss O'Conner, one note read. Richard couldn't attend school yesterday. He had a bad cough. Signed, Mrs. Scarry. After his frequent absences were finally tallied up, it took him five years to complete high school.
He drew countless pictures of one girl in particular (during his "alone time") and inevitably these crude, charcoal nudie pics were discovered by his parents. His father, a serious and conservative businessman, was convinced his son's obsession with women, artwork, and ditching school would lead to a sad, pathetic life in a attic, with nothing but canned spaghetti for breakfast. One evening he seized one of Richard's early illustrations — a half-naked girl swinging tassels from her nipples — and confronted the boy directly: "What's going to become of you, Richard?"
"If I'm going to be an artist, sir, I have to learn how to draw the human form," supposedly replies Scarry, who would grow up to never draw human forms and become famous for doing so. I want so much for there to be attribution here. But no.
And a postcard propped in the mailroom this week
Because the mail, in a way, is like an elevator. "Hello from Norway. Been looking for Vikings and trolls but found this postcard instead."
