Strips 58-62 of the popular comic strip Molarity, which previewed in The Observer in 1977.
58 The supermarket cartoons have not appeared anywhere since they were first published in The Observer in 1978. Maybe you can tell why. The headline on The Observer announced “Carter Arrives for Mideast Summit.” The Camp David Accord was being negotiated between Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Menachem Begin of Israel.
59 So I thought putting the characters in a supermarket might be fun. You decide. Meanwhile, along articles on the Mideast Summit, The Observer featured articles on the enforcement of the University’s alcohol policy. The policy would “crack down” on consumption in dorm rooms and at tailgaters by anyone under 21 years of age. This year they also outlawed kegs and said that no party could serve alcohol. A party would be any group of people in a room where at least one member does not live there.
60 The Observer featured a front page photo of Saint Mary’s students responding to the traditional pre-first-home-game panty raid by male Domers. As an explanation for you young people, it was considered risqué to let people see your underwear back then. There were no bra straps showing or baggy jeans exposing boxers. No such raids were conducted on women’s dorms on the Notre Dame campus.
61 The defending National Championship Notre Dame football team lost the home opener. The sports headline: Missouri stifles shocked Irish 3-0.
62 The headline on today’s Observer reinforced the new alcohol policy. Emergency meetings of Hall Presidents were held. Remember, even drinking inside the dorm rooms was being enforced for anyone under 21 years of age and any group that might constitute a party. This cartoon, done the night before it was published, was a huge hit. It was the great advantage of doing cartoons for Notre Dame in this way. I could respond immediately and directly to current events.
See the first five classic strips. Check back monthly for more classic Molarity strips. Molarity Redux, the updated, continuing adventures of Jim Mole and friends, also is posted monthly. For those new strips, check out the cartoon archives.