Famous Funnies #64

By J. Carroll Mansfield, this historical piece captures a pivotal moment when the people of Spain's South American colonies grew restless under colonial oppression, especially as Spain itself became entangled in a struggle with Napoleon in the early 19th century. For liberty-minded South Americans, the upheaval in Europe presented a rare opening—a chance to challenge Spanish rule and chart their own course. This story sets the stage for the great independence movements that would reshape a continent.

In "Water Bucket and Campfire," Uncle Elby’s quiet evening is anything but peaceful—first, Napoleon the dog drains his bucket of water in one gulp, then Uncle Elby’s attempts to light a campfire go hilariously awry, sparking a blaze he never meant to start.

Talbot Mundy has lived a life that reads like one of his own adventure yarns—roaming the globe since age seventeen, surviving poisonings, brushes with gangsters, and countless other brushes with danger across Africa, Mexico, Brazil, and the Far East. This profile celebrates how a writer's real-world travels and close calls have fueled the authenticity and action that ignite his fiction.

Mescal Ike's got his hands full keeping track of the family in "Where, Oh Where!"—between Pa Piffle's troubles with a persistent chicken thief, Young'un's antics at school, and Miss Sally needing a trip to the barber, there's no shortage of frontier chaos to manage. It's a lighthearted romp through one eventful day in the life of a frontier family, packed with the kind of slapstick surprises you'd expect from this western-humor gang.