Uncle Wiggily
Encyclopedia
Uncle Wiggily Longears is the main character of a series of children's stories by American author Howard R. Garis. He began writing the stories for the Newark News in 1910. Garis penned an Uncle Wiggily story every day (except Sundays) for more than 30 years, and published 79 books within the author's lifetime. The books featured work by several illustrators, notably Lansing Campbell
. Other illustrators of the series included George L. Carlson
, Louis Wisa, Edward Bloomfield and Mary and Wallace Stover.
, is lame from rheumatism
. Wherever he goes, he always relies on a red, white, and blue crutch - described as being "striped like a barber-pole
", or, in later episodes, "his candy-striped walking cane", with spiral red and white striping like a peppermint candy stick.
Uncle Wiggily is only one of many recurring characters in the series. For example, the Pipsisewah is an unsavory bully that appears as a rhinoceros
-like creature. His head has a snout with two small horns and large, snorting nostrils; he wears a black, conical cloth hat and patched scarlet trousers, is somewhat stout, with a giraffe-skin body and bovine tail, and walks upright on two legs. As do the other characters, he has hands, but bears hooves for feet. He is normally accompanied by the crow-like Skeezicks, in his tall red cap and red-and-yellow-striped suit, and the two of them rarely engage in anything other than mischief harmless to the other characters in the storyline. The Bazumpus, the Crozokus, and the Scuttlemagoon appear less frequently, but are just as outlandish as the aforementioned "Pip" and "Skee", and always require appropriate "handling" by Uncle Wiggily - oftimes with the aid of his animal friends.
There are also several other "bad chaps" in the stories: the Woozy Wolf, Bushy Bear, Skillery Skallery Alligator and the fierce Bobcat, to name but a few. They all seem bent on nibbling the "souse" off of Uncle Wiggily's ears, but he always escapes. In shorter, more formulaic stories, his escape is generally enabled by some implement he has just purchased at the store - often while on an errand for his housekeeper, Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady. For example, Uncle Wiggily once used an umbrella to foil the Skillery Skallery Alligator by thrusting it into the creature's mouth and opening it, to prevent his biting the old gentleman rabbit.
Uncle Wiggily also encounters amicable animal characters from his neighborhood, such as Sammie and Susie Littletail (Uncle Wiggily's young nephew and niece), Lulu, Alice, and Jimmie Wibblewobble (duck children), Dr. Possum (local physician), Uncle Butter (goat), Charlie and Arabella Chick, Jackie and Peetie Bow-Wow, Billie and Johnnie Bushytail (squirrel boys), Joie, Tommie, and Kittie Kat, Jennie Chipmunk, Munchie Trot (pony boy), Dottie and Willie Lambkin, Neddie and Beckie Stubtail (friendly bear cubs), as well as many others. In shorter stories, we frequently find Uncle Wiggily helping various of these friends out of some kind of predicament just before one of the bad chaps enters the picture, intent on obtaining "ear-nibbles" from their hapless victims. In longer stories, Uncle Wiggily often is off on a camping trip or other extended journey with one of his friends, fending off repeated incursions or baffling mean-spirited pranks from a lurking villain or two - not uncommonly with the aid of his crutch or a "thing-a-ma-bob" he happens to have brought along in his satchel.
Most of Garis's work is now in the public domain
and a number of the Uncle Wiggily books are available from Project Gutenberg
.
Uncle Wiggly's is also the name of a Baltimore based chain of ice cream shops.
A two-part song regarding Uncle Wiggily is on Tourniquet's albums "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance" and "The Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm."
Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut
a short story by J.D. Salinger
Lansing Campbell
Lansing Campbell was an American illustrator best known for his illustrations in the Uncle Wiggily series of books by Howard R. Garis. He also used the signature Lang Campbell....
. Other illustrators of the series included George L. Carlson
George L. Carlson
George Leonard Carlson was an illustrator and artist with numerous completed works, perhaps the most famous being the dust jacket for Gone with the Wind.-Tribute:...
, Louis Wisa, Edward Bloomfield and Mary and Wallace Stover.
Characters and stories
Uncle Wiggily, an engaging elderly rabbitRabbit
Rabbits are small mammals in the family Leporidae of the order Lagomorpha, found in several parts of the world...
, is lame from rheumatism
Rheumatism
Rheumatism or rheumatic disorder is a non-specific term for medical problems affecting the joints and connective tissue. The study of, and therapeutic interventions in, such disorders is called rheumatology.-Terminology:...
. Wherever he goes, he always relies on a red, white, and blue crutch - described as being "striped like a barber-pole
Barber's pole
A barber's pole is a type of sign used by barbers to signify the place or shop where they perform their craft. The trade sign is, by a tradition dating back to the Middle Ages, a staff or pole with a helix of colored stripes...
", or, in later episodes, "his candy-striped walking cane", with spiral red and white striping like a peppermint candy stick.
Uncle Wiggily is only one of many recurring characters in the series. For example, the Pipsisewah is an unsavory bully that appears as a rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros , also known as rhino, is a group of five extant species of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. Two of these species are native to Africa and three to southern Asia....
-like creature. His head has a snout with two small horns and large, snorting nostrils; he wears a black, conical cloth hat and patched scarlet trousers, is somewhat stout, with a giraffe-skin body and bovine tail, and walks upright on two legs. As do the other characters, he has hands, but bears hooves for feet. He is normally accompanied by the crow-like Skeezicks, in his tall red cap and red-and-yellow-striped suit, and the two of them rarely engage in anything other than mischief harmless to the other characters in the storyline. The Bazumpus, the Crozokus, and the Scuttlemagoon appear less frequently, but are just as outlandish as the aforementioned "Pip" and "Skee", and always require appropriate "handling" by Uncle Wiggily - oftimes with the aid of his animal friends.
There are also several other "bad chaps" in the stories: the Woozy Wolf, Bushy Bear, Skillery Skallery Alligator and the fierce Bobcat, to name but a few. They all seem bent on nibbling the "souse" off of Uncle Wiggily's ears, but he always escapes. In shorter, more formulaic stories, his escape is generally enabled by some implement he has just purchased at the store - often while on an errand for his housekeeper, Nurse Jane Fuzzy Wuzzy, the muskrat lady. For example, Uncle Wiggily once used an umbrella to foil the Skillery Skallery Alligator by thrusting it into the creature's mouth and opening it, to prevent his biting the old gentleman rabbit.
Uncle Wiggily also encounters amicable animal characters from his neighborhood, such as Sammie and Susie Littletail (Uncle Wiggily's young nephew and niece), Lulu, Alice, and Jimmie Wibblewobble (duck children), Dr. Possum (local physician), Uncle Butter (goat), Charlie and Arabella Chick, Jackie and Peetie Bow-Wow, Billie and Johnnie Bushytail (squirrel boys), Joie, Tommie, and Kittie Kat, Jennie Chipmunk, Munchie Trot (pony boy), Dottie and Willie Lambkin, Neddie and Beckie Stubtail (friendly bear cubs), as well as many others. In shorter stories, we frequently find Uncle Wiggily helping various of these friends out of some kind of predicament just before one of the bad chaps enters the picture, intent on obtaining "ear-nibbles" from their hapless victims. In longer stories, Uncle Wiggily often is off on a camping trip or other extended journey with one of his friends, fending off repeated incursions or baffling mean-spirited pranks from a lurking villain or two - not uncommonly with the aid of his crutch or a "thing-a-ma-bob" he happens to have brought along in his satchel.
Most of Garis's work is now in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...
and a number of the Uncle Wiggily books are available from Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
.
Selected bibliography
Howard Garis published 79 books of Uncle Wiggily stories. A few of these included:- Uncle Wiggily's Adventures
- Uncle Wiggily's Travels
- Uncle Wiggily's Fortune
- Uncle Wiggily's Automobile
- Uncle Wiggily at the Seashore
- Uncle Wiggily's Airship
- Uncle Wiggily in the Country
In popular culture
Uncle Wiggly (band) was a 1990s era head rock band.Uncle Wiggly's is also the name of a Baltimore based chain of ice cream shops.
A two-part song regarding Uncle Wiggily is on Tourniquet's albums "Pathogenic Ocular Dissonance" and "The Microscopic View of a Telescopic Realm."
See also
Uncle Wiggily (game)Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut
Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut
"Uncle Wiggily in Connecticut" is a short story by J. D. Salinger, which appears in his collection Nine Stories. It was originally published in the March 20, 1948 issue of The New Yorker....
a short story by J.D. Salinger
External links
- As a webcomicWebcomicWebcomics, online comics, or Internet comics are comics published on a website. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers or often in self-published books....
, set in modern times: http://zeekland.zeroplayer.com/Uncle_Wiggilys_Travels/1