National Gorilla Suit Day

For our second annual National Gorilla Suit Day story, we have chosen "Mr. Columbus Coriander's Gorilla' written by Noah Brooks and published in 1869 in "The Overland Monthly." It was reprinted in an 1891 book without an author credit, and the story that followed was properly credited to Max Adeler. After that, the story appeared in a number of anthologies wrongly attributed to Adeler.

In any event, this story really does tickle my funny bone. I can imagine that post-Civil War readers (who certainly needed a good laugh) really enjoyed this tale, and over the following decades, it was a popular contribution to many humor anthologies.

Noah Brooks was not well known as a humorist. He was a newspaper columnist and journalist, and a close friend of Abraham Lincoln, who often wrote insider stories about the President during the Civil War.

"National Gorilla Suit Day" was created by Mad Magazine cartoonist Don Martin back in 1963, and has become an American tradition. We are, of course, looking for more old Gorilla Suit stories for the upcoming years...

One Thousand Episodes Approaching (part one)

Well, here we are, just about one month away from being the first Podcast on iTunes to hit the 1,000 episode mark! It has been an enormous amount of fun, and the experience of discovering so many classic American Humorists has really been enriching for me, to say the least.

How about you? 

Have you been listening to a lot of these stories? Any favorites? Any suggestions? I would like to make this Blog a place where we can discuss anything and everything that goes on in the Basement, and your comments are most welcome. Keep coming back here for fresh commentary, and an occasional contest with nifty prizes.

Meanwhile, do keep your eyes peeled for Episode #1000, which will be an in-depth look at the life, career, and writing of Stanley Huntley! We have been featuring Huntley's stories every Sunday for over a year now, and have managed to dig up more Spoopendyke stories than we thought existed when we began.

How do you feel about Stanley Huntley's work? Is the humor too cynical? Too mean-spirited? Do you spit out your beverage while listening from unexpectedly laughing?

Please post your comments below.

-=-Ron-=-