Smokey Stover

From Freepedia

Smokey Stover was a comic strip written and drawn by Bill Holman from March 10, 1935 until he retired in 1973. It was distributed through the Chicago Tribune.

The strip featured Smokey the firefighter, in his two-wheel firetruck called "The Foomobile", and his wife Cookie, with her questionmark pompadour. Odd bits of philosophy, and recurrent signs carrying bizarre phrases such as "Notary Sojac" and "1506 Nix Nix" were featured in the strip. (Holman described the phrase "Notary Sojac" as Gaelic for "horsecrap" and as Gaelic for "Merry Christmas".[1])

"Foo" was one of these recurring nonsense words and was taken up by World War II's "Foo Fighters". Smokey Stover wore a completely non-functional hat with a hole in the bill--probably a punning reference to Bill Holman.

Smokey's truck is similar to the recent Segway scooters, but predates them by some decades.

External links

• Toonopedia: Smokey Stover
• A brief homage to Smokey Stover.
• The Straight Dope: "What's the origin of 'notary sojac'?
• The Official Smokey Stover homepage.