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blue with white polka dots, bugs bunny, cartoons, childhood, depression, divorce, dresses, family affair, grandma, leopold, memories, mrs. beasley, parents, pink with white polka dots, polka dots, saturday morning cartoons, suicide, teenagers, twitter, uncle, wedding
I just made a strange connection concerning my childhood through Twitter. I’ve been following Dave Matthews’ tweets this morning (afternoon now). He made a comment about Saturday morning cartoons and someone asked him which was his favorite. He replied with “bugs bunny . . . .” Bugs Bunny was my favorite cartoon, as well, because Bugs was such a debonair smart ass. Perhaps my favorite episode was the one where he plays the famous conductor Leopold. I can still hear the audience whispering, “Leopold, Leopold,” as Bugs marches to the front of the auditorium, where he then proceeds to torture the operatic singer.
Thinking of Bugs reminded me of one of my favorite childhood dresses. It was blue with tiny, pinhole white polka dots and had a built-in white apron with a picture of Bugs Bunny on the apron. I wore that dress to my father’s brother’s wedding. My uncle and aunt later got divorced, which was so disappointing because I adored them both and thought they were cool. The divorce and the death of my grandmother sunk my uncle into a deep depression and he ended up committing suicide, one of the very saddest moments of my teenage years.
As often happens with memory, one past thought spurs another and the whole Saturday morning cartoons, blue with white polka dots thang, led me to Mrs. Beasley. I had a Mrs. Beasley doll when I was a child. I remember pulling the cord in her back so that she could talk. Quite the thing at the time. Mrs. Beasley was Buffy’s doll on the TV show Family Affair. I see from some online research that the show ran from 1966 to 1971. I was only four when it ended, but, boy, do I have a clear memory of Mrs. Beasley. And, get this, she was dressed in an outfit that was blue with white polka dots – pretty much the same blue as my Bugs Bunny dress. Mrs. Beasley can be be purchased today, a collector’s edition, for $95.99. There’s no way on God’s green earth that my parents paid that much for her back when I got her as a gift. If only we had known it would appreciate in value so much . . . .
Until the Dave Matthews’ tweets, I never made the connection between the blue with white polka dots Bugs Bunny dress and the similar fashion of Mrs. Beasley. I love polka dots to this day, so I’m nothing if not consistent. Oddly enough, I had a dream about my grandma last night in which she had put my other favorite childhood dress into her safe. The dress was pink with white pinhole polka dots.
The Woo Woo Teacup Journal 
OOOOoooo, let me see if this will work. It might not – but here goes…
Here’s the link too – just in cases… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_2MPgLjqUs
Anyway – this is also one more favorite cartoons of all time. I watched hours of Loony Tunes on Saturday mornings. It’s truly a lost art form.
That’s absolutely priceless, Reeva, especially the part where Bugs leaves his glove hanging in mid-air while he goes to get ear phones to block the sound. Thanks for the link and the laugh. 🙂 Hubby said this is one of his favorite cartoons of all time, too.
Thanks Reeva. That IS one of my all time favorites.
Oh man, I just loved Family Affair and Mrs. Beasley. I remember that show very clearly.
I realized, after watching the clip of the Bugs Bunny as Leopold that Reeva supplied, that my memory about the cartoon was slightly faulty. Bugs does not walk through the audience – he walks past the orchestra members, who whisper, “Leopold! Leopold!”
I’m guessing that Bugs’ Leopold character was based on the famous conductor Leopold Stokowski:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_Stokowski
Wonder what the real Leopold thought of this cartoon and whether he knew how popular it was among the kids.
Yay, Joy! Another Mrs. Beasley fan!
Mary – just wanted to add that this cartoon instigated my fascination with conducting that may have drawn me towards classical music. While a lot harder than it looks, conducting really makes one feel powerful. And tall.
However, it also had me convinced – until high school – that Stokowski’s first name was Leopolt, based on how the characters pronounced his name. Granted, a Russian might say it with a very hard D, but I looked like a moron spelling it that way on exams and term papers. Meh, live and learn I guess.
Leopold would have been proud that you were so inspired, Reeva. So would have the creators of Bugs Bunny, come to think. Leopold would have probably forgiven the misspelling.
I saddened about your story of your uncle, and I’m sorry you had to go through that; sounds like you remember it really well. Those sorts of things affect us all, and at length, too.
I do remember it well, LK. My uncle visited us after one suicide attempt and he was so lost. He went for long walks alone and slept a lot. He was being seen by a psychologist or psychiatrist, but it didn’t do any good. He committed suicide within a year of his visit. And I bawled and wrote a poem. I don’t even have to look in my files to remember that it is called “The Tree Stands Alone.” In going through my grandpa’s personal effects, we discovered the letter the psychologist sent to my grandpa informing him of my uncle’s suicide. A letter! What, no phone call? The tone of the letter was so cold that I could see why my uncle remained depressed.