The Day the Hammock Betrayed George
A classic tale of a lover's spat and a very literal bit of karmic justice.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
'No, George,' she murmured, 'I know you are strong and will protect me, yet even now as I recline in this swinging hammock, I am surrounded by fear.' 'Fear, my darling!' said George De Romely, 'what fear can possibly touch you?' 'Atmosphere,' she chuckled, and the hammock broke down to punish her.
“Atmosphere, she chuckled, and the hammock broke down to punish her.”
While written as a 'filler' joke common in 1889 newspapers, the physical comedy of the 'swinging hammock' feels like a precursor to the slapstick tropes that would soon define early film comedy in the Pacific Northwest. It reflects the era's preoccupation with 'nervous' Victorian-era courtship and the rigid social scripts men and women were expected to perform.
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