Cautionary tales/tails for your Tuesday.

Oh Prohibition, it was sooooo hilarious.

Not if your mother told you cautionary tales about orphans who froze because their fathers were drunks! “Lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine,” she might declare.

So it was for my good friend Theodore French, World War II and Temperance Movement veteran. I couldn’t track down any of the verses he recited from memory, however I found a great book taken from the work of Hilaire Belloc, rediscovered and illustrated by Edward Gorey. Here is an example of what it contains:

And if you want to read one of the poems in full, click.

In related artistic news, I traipsed around Pioneer Square for First Thursdays on March 6 and found this brilliant and belligerent exhibition by Howard Barlow entiteld Safe and Sound (thanks, PUNCH). The best piece was “Cautionary Tails” made with bullets and a hacksaw (my photo):

Find Barlow’s website here.