Cartoon 16 took place at the Mardi Gras celebration in Stepan Center. Back in those bad 1970s, gambling occurred at Notre Dame but not most Indian reservations. The Mardi Gras raised money for local charities by featuring blackjack and poker booths built by a woman’s and men’s dorm teaming together. By the early 1980s the local bishop stopped the practice.
Cartoon 17 still works for today, but I am looking at the turntable and big stereo speakers. There were many speakers much larger than those on campus. This is pre Sony Walkman and the CD. The big debate: Was digital metal tape better and worth the expense?
Cartoon 18 is one of the few times I took an idea from someone else and turned it into a cartoon. Dr. Paul Weithman, currently in the Notre Dame Philosophy Department, lived on my floor and this was his daydream. In general, I did not do take cartoon ideas. Most suggestions were not that good and it was easier to have a policy not to take them. I felt guilty taking credit for this cartoon and over 30 years later still feel the need to explain it was someone else’s idea.
Cartoon 20 actually features Dr. Paul Weithman and his roommate at the time, Joe Wahlig. They were a living odd-couple who got along much better than this cartoon would indicate. Paul is the neat one. But otherwise the cartoon is not an exaggeration and a rare one that depicts schoolmates literally.