Tag: folklore

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The Best Is Yet To Come

themuglytruth
Today’s episode “The Best Is Yet To Come” is on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Hello all! We’re talking about the best days to do things in January 2020! Before you get all packed up for some tropical cruise ship getaway, or strap on glittery stilettos for some epic concert based on our episode, relax. Calm thyself. We’re talking ’bout such wholesomeness as canning, brewing, breeding, and pruning. That’s right. Toss those stilettos and pull on those work boots! Snap those suspenders, comb that incredibly long yet surprisingly attractive beard and get ol’ Nellie out of the barn for a cruise around the wheat field. We’re going old school with ye Old Farmer’s Almanac (not to be confused with that young whippersnapper Farmer’s Almanac) to titillate you with all the Best Days To Do Stuff First Quarter of 2020. YEEHAW LET’S DO THIS!

PSST! Hey. Listen. The online list only covers the first quarter of the year…we’re pretty sure you have to buy the Almanac for the entire year’s list. Oh, they’re sly ones, they are.

Don’t know the difference between Old Farmer’s Almanac and Farmer’s Almanac? Well, they’re both almanacs, they both have the word Farmer’s in them. But the likeness doesn’t stop there. They’re both filled with all kinds of goodness like gardening tips, astronomy, folkore, predicting trends for the coming year and most importantly: weather forecasts. They are both still in publication to this day. The biggest difference is that the Old Farmer’s Almanac has been in publication since 1792. Farmer’s Almanac since 1818. So settle down junior. Make way for gramps. If only because OFA’s list of Best Days (written by Celeste Longacre) serves this episode. Otherwise we tip our hats to both of you for looking so great for your ages. A little dusty, but aren’t we all after a certain, ah, amount of trips around the sun. We’re sure there’s plenty of distinctive elements between the two publications, but we haven’t got all day folks. We’re a humorous (questionable some might say), lighthearted podcast, not CNN. For the Wikipedia version of events, read about the auld geezer here, and the young upstart here.

As always, before we get into the hot topic of best days to cut your hair to encourage growth, brew beer, or breed that bull in the north forty, otherwise known as the actual topic of our episode, we bandy about the airwaves (not really…it’s digital…it’s…there’s no airwaves…) in our ramblings, bringing up all kinds of questions and the usual misnomers. So let us tary nae longer and get right to the links post-haste:

Kym and the Fuggler Lucy doooooon’t likey.
  • Kym’s Fuggler. Yes. Here is the duo who made Lucy the cat barf. It’s a great story, go listen to the episode for the full effect. Just know, these are the culprits, and you can buy your very own Fuggler right here to cause your own personal pet mayhem. Or simply chill with because they’re freaking cute. Also we love our cats beyond the Universe, so don’t come at us man.
  • Cat vs. Coyotes. Max is one scrappy cat! Thankfully Max’s human’s heard the ruckus their fierce warrior boy was putting up against three coyotes. The video is a bit harrowing, as it looks like the end is near for this little tuxedo fighter (SNIFF!!!! Rocky the Podcat is a tuxedo – and was almost killed by coyotes a couple years ago!) but thankfully his humans came out and chased off the predators, bringing their good, brave boy inside safe and sound. WE LOVE MAX.
  • Don’t F*ck With Cats. BEFORE YOU CLICK THAT LINK to the article, just know there is a photo of a monster holding a kitten. It’s not horrific in it’s own right, but knowing what that POS did to that kitten…just be warned. So. This is a difficult one. If you’re a true crime follower you may have heard about this story when it came out a few years ago. This controversial documentary chronicles the social media sleuths who helped pinpoint a murderer down to the apartment in which he lived in Toronto! Unfortunately the police didn’t take them seriously. If they had, maybe the horror would have stopped with the kittens. Maybe this murderer’s human victim, Jun Lin, would be alive today. Be warned: even though the Netflix documentary doesn’t show the actual cruelty to the kittens or Lin, it does show parts of the videos that were aired on YouTube. If you can’t handle violence, implications of violence, or violence against animals (i.e., if you’re a normal, not psychopathic/sociopathic human being with a beating heart and a soul) it’s still – in our minds – too much to bear. Kris fast forwarded past the abridged clips. In her humble opinion showing the clips even to the extent they did had no redeeming effect on the story being told. However, the document IS worth watching if only to meet Baudi Moovan (Deanna Thompson) and John Green. Just keep your remote at the ready and be on deck with the loud LALALALLALLALAAAS until you’re past the “bad parts.” Just one more thing: the jab at the end. Really Netflix? REALLY?
  • Canadian Justice. Speaking of putting monsters away for life…or not, here’s more information on Canada’s stance on violent offenders. While, ah, people, like Karla Homolka and Vince Li/Will Baker are free to roam about the country, it seems perhaps Canadian lawmakers are taking a more conservative stand on the subject these days? Yes? No? We’re not educated enough in the subject to make any unequivocal statements one way or another in this space at this time, so feel free to research for yourself and let us know what you come up with. We believe people can change and we believe people can make one incredibly horrible mistake based on piles and piles of extenuating circumstances. We also know people who are pigeon-holed by society without benefit of society getting to know them personally are basically doomed to a lifetime of trying to prove they’re not the same person they were 5, 10, 20 years ago. We do get it. We’re just not sure we’re comfortable with some people free to attend PTA meetings, soccer games and gnosh poutine at their local Tim Horton’s after beheading and eating a person or drugging and murdering their own sister. You know. That’s…that’s all we’re saying.
  • ANYTHING OTHER THAN CANADIAN MONSTERS. How about that Wolf Moon, eh? If you’re like Kris you missed it both nights even after your podcast cohost told you it was coming. January’s full moon (the first of the decade) is known as “Wolf Moon” in North America, as well as Old Moon and Ice Moon. Well, if you missed it by any of those names, we’ve got you covered. Here you go.
  • Finland For The Win. Unbelievable. Kris got the country correct. We think a celebration is in order. It’s just that Kakslauttanen Resort name she couldn’t quiiiiiiiiite capture. You’ve got to check it out. What a way to see the Aurora Borealis. So cool. Literally. TBH, frigid, more like.
  • What the Heck is Calico? Calico Ghost Town! It’s a favorite haunt (ahaaahahaa see that? We’re smart funny!) way out in Yermo, CA. And after a day of walking ye olde 1800’s western town, checkin’ out the mystery shack or panning for gold, drive into the Mid-20th-Century over at Peggy Sue’s Diner up the road. Order a milk shake, burger and fries and then spend what little money you have left on Americana tchotchkes – there’s enough Coca-Cola, Lucy, Elvis, Marilyn, Dean, and Judy Made-In-China curios to fill a small warehouse. It’s all a fun, if a bit touristy, experience.

Thank you for joining us. Check out The Mugly Truth Podcast’s episode “The Best Is Yet To Come” on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2020 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2020. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com.
Featured Photo of Field by Pixabay on Pexels.com

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Do You Feel Lucky?

themuglytruth
Today’s episode “Do You Feel Lucky?” is on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Well, do you? Insert squinty-eyed cop here. Oh boy! Do you have your seatbelt fastened? Are you ready for the thrills and chills of (drumroll please…..) FRIDAY THE 13th WITH A SIDE OF FULL MOON?? Did you also know that bad luck is (in our opinion) a bunch of claptrap? It’s all in your perspective dear friends, all in your perspective. That said, we’re aware there’s a small group of people worldwide who will never open this article, or hear the episode simply because of Friggatriskaidekaphobia. That makes us sad. Because today’s episode is FUN!

First off, let’s say HELLO AGAIN to “Words With the Mugly Truth” as we stumble over our old friends: Greek Words. So much so, Kris gives up without a fight. Kym, on the other hand, powered through and showed Greek Words who’s boss. Is it any wonder our favorite words to struggle with have to do with phobias? If you don’t know what we’re talking about, you need to download and listen to our episodes Disturbia and Disturbia Short Shot post haste.

We peruse the well written October 2017 article “Friday the 13th” from the fine editors at history.com, and 13 Facts About Friday the 13th at timeanddate.com for some very cool facts about the superstitions surrounding our upcoming fateful Friday of ten+three. From the Last Supper with its 13 guests, to the Code of Hammurabi accidentally omitting numbering its 13th law, coincidences throughout history have spawned all sorts of dodgy mind-games designed make us feel better about life (like going from floor 12 to 14 in a hotel or hospital elevator, or airports not having a 13th gate), and inspired illustrious groups such as the Thirteen Club, books (Thomas William Lawson’s 1907 novel “Friday the Thirteenth) and, yes, allllll those Jason Voorhees movies.

Photo by David Bartus on Pexels.com

Fear not friends. If you want to knock the wind out of ol’ FTT’s sails, just do what the Italians do. Believe 13 is actually a lucky number and then stay in bed on Tuesday the 17th because that’s their bemoaned day of woe. We believe it may be due to a certain lack of tacos on Tuesdays and if they would just give that a shot, things might look up. But that’s our humble opinion and we’re not here to change the world, or global superstitions. So…goodonya Italia (and Greece), you keep doing you.

For other articles cited in the episode:

  • Definitely check out the cool chart at Wikipedia that shows all the Friday the 13ths in the past and future!
  • 13 Superstitions for Friday the 13th with Tad and Polly at Big Frog 104 which list some of the more well-known superstitions that might not have to do with Friday the 13th specifically, but are important to know about, especially if you want to Thirteen Club this thing and put all the bad things in one big art installation and make a statement about the fallacy of human thinking. All you need is a black cat, a ladder, a broken mirror, and a wobbly salt cellar under one big opened umbrella indoors somewhere. Cut your hair for good…bad?…measure and then drop us a line to let us know how your day went. We’re genuinely curious. Also, to undo all that don’t forget to spin around 7 times but you might want to clarify counterclockwise or clockwise…we don’t know the answer to that part. Sorry.
What do YOU see? Something beautiful or a bad omen? Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

As for other points of interest that piqued our curiosity:

For more information about the Code of Hammurabi and the stele that appears in the Louvre, check out this article from (again!) history.com;

Yeah, we asked, who was Kitty Genovese?!? And man, do we need to turn in our true-crime-fan cards and hang our heads in utter shame. We know this incredibly sad story, as many great podcasts that we listen to have covered it. The grisly and brutal murder of Catherine “Kitty” Genovese in New York City in 1964 led to what’s now known as The Bystander Effect, and the implementation of the emergency phone call system of 911 in the United States. There is lots of information out there about this murder (including history.com and biography.com), but this is a pretty good article about this “milestone” murder;

And, finally, oh you, 666. You silly, pesky, not-evil number you. Interested in what all the numbers hubbub is? Do you see 11:11 or other repeating numbers or a certain combination of numbers often? Oh, there’s LOTS of scientific reasons about why we focus on specific numbers that seemingly cross our paths more often than others, but if you think there might be a deeper meaning for you and you’re curious about the spiritual background of what those repeating numbers might mean to you personally, check this article out as a starting point. Beware the rabbit hole though. You’ve been warned and have fun.

And while we might deeply inwardly shudder at the number 666, or jump over cracks in the sidewalk, or believe in ghosts, we also want to be big girls and encourage everyone – along with us – to get over this friggin’ friggatriskaidekaphobia and show Friday, September 13th, 2019 WHO (clap) IS (clap) IN (clap) CHARGE (CLAP)! Let’s combat fear with courage! Fight negative thinking with positive affirmations! Whenever we think something bad is gonna happen because “it’s a bad luck day”, we’re gonna put all our energy into thinking the OPPOSITE and focus on the good things that are happening. Do a little extra…you know, that whole Random Acts of Kindness thing, and put out into the world what we would like to have in return! If we want lots of good luck, good feelz, and good times, let’s put that stuff out there in droves. And, IF something does happen that’s not great, we’re not going to give “bad luck” the power of our thoughts and energy. Instead, we’ll chalk it up to “shite just sometimes happens because LIFE” and move forward. That’s OUR prescription for Friday the 13th. We need to remember that reality is really just our perspective of what’s going on around us. And perspective is a mighty powerful tool for change.

Full disclosure: we DO believe the full moon causes all kinds of weirdness, so…you know…maybe we’ll tuck in early that night??? Does that completely negate our feel good power of positive thinking perspective speech? DANG IT.

So go on and check out our “Do You Feel Lucky?” episode on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2019 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2019. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com.
Featured Dice Photo by fotografierende on Pexels.com.
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Summertime Clues

themuglytruth
Today’s episode “Summertime Clues” is on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts.

Why did we call today’s episode “Summertime Clues”? Because if you listen you’ll discover we have no clue about anything in today’s show! We start of with such a great topic: The End of Summer. And we quickly derail just by talking about watermelon. Watermelon derailed us. Listen. You’ll get it. How could anyone not be confused by watermelon? We’re still baffled. And slightly unnerved. Even Google left us with more questions than answers. For shame Google. So, yeah, we talk about some interesting summer and August facts but for every new thing we tried to learn it seemed like we left with more stuff we needed to find out. We left the episode clueless. Ergo the title of the show. But redemption is here!! Thank goodness for this blog. Because the summertime clues blues have been cured! We have answers! We love the interwebs.

Does Hobby Lobby Sell Halloween Decorations?

Why yes, HL does sell Halloween decorations! HL definitely does not turn it’s back on guaranteed profit so gladly gives the public plenty of cute Halloween decor to choose from. Who knew? (DUH. Not us. Obviously.) For more details, check out Hobby Lobby’s website. But if you are into the horror, gory, gross stuff, sorry, you won’t find it. But because we are so excited about shopping for Halloween (and it is our pleasure to help you find that perfect witch, skeleton or spooky ghoul over the next month – yes, people, you only have one more month until OCTOBER) here are a bunch more opportunities to find what you want:
Target
Walmart
Michael’s
Home Depot
Lowes
Amazon
Spirithalloween.com

Tenant vs. Tenet vs. Tennant

Kris knows these words are not only pronounced differently, they mean different things, and also she knows what they each mean. But occasionally Kris’ mouth and brain do not sync up, therefore when she thought “tenet,” she said “tenant.” It happens to the best of people. But mostly a lot to Kris. Just in case you were wondering:
Ten·et  /ˈtenət/ (noun) : a principle or belief, especially one of the main principles of a religion or philosophy.
Ten.ant /ˈtenənt/ (noun) : a person who occupies land or property rented from a landlord.
Speaking of lords…
Ten.nant /ˈtenənnt/ (noun) : an actor, especially known for portraying the Doctor in Doctor Who, Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Demon Crowley in Good Omens, also referred to as David Tennant.

We’ll Take What is an Inflatable Snowman for $200

Kris was talking about putting a snowman decoration on her balcony for Christmas, but worried the neighbor would be pissed off. Just in case you were wondering – because, again, the thoughts in the head don’t seem to want to come to the mouth part of communication – that whole part of what kind of snowman would piss off the neighbor sort of disappeared into the ether. That would be an INFLATABLE snowman. Inflatable lawn decorations = motors = annoying noise = angry neighbor = no inflatable decorations on Kris’ balcony ever. Please note that very important keyword “lawn”…this is a big clue as to who should actually invest in those things.

Are We Heading for a Warm Winter?

We ponder if having a mild summer means we’ll have a hotter autumn and winter or will it be colder? According to this website, it’s pretty much impossible to tell, so, yeah, if you’re hoping for your autumn/winter seasons to be predicted by the kind of summer we’ve had, you’re going to have to wait til it gets here like the rest of us. Seriously read the article. The folklore behind some of the methods of predicting weather are hilarious and the author has fun describing them.

What Are the Days Between End of Summer and Beginning of Fall Called?

We still don’t know! But the British tabloid The Sun just might shed some…ah…sunlight on the whole reason why it seems there are a couple days between the end of summer and beginning of fall. See what we did there? We couldn’t help it. It was right there. WAITING to be said. The British like a good pun. Hey if you’re British and you liked that pun leave us a comment. Oh, here’s the article.

Is Watermelon a Fruit or a Vegetable?

Yep. Here we go. Well, it’s both, but if you’re from Oklahoma, you know watermelon is the OFFICIAL VEGETABLE of OKLAHOMA (if we could also underline that bold italic we would). Oklahoma. Ok.LA.Ho.MA! We don’t understand. Well, we do, it’s just…why? Couldn’t you have picked something less enigmatic? Why not something like…(thinking)…you know what, we don’t even know what’s real anymore, so fine. FINE. Watermelon’s a vegetable. Pluto isn’t a planet. Have your vegetable fruit melon. Have it. The upside to all of this malarkey is that if mom says “EAT YOUR VEGETABLES!” you can go slice a hunk of watermelon, eat it, and throw some gnarly trivia back at her that you DID eat your vegetable and you LIKED it even. Wipe your dripping mouth covered in watermelon lies on your shirtsleeve and then spit those seeds that aren’t fruit on the ground for emphasis. Watermelon is a vegetable. We just…we can’t…we…completely…no words…. But here’s a link to find out wayyyy more than you ever thought was possible to know about watermelon.

First Women’s Bathing Suits Were Made From…

…Wool or flannel. Because nothing says refreshing seaside shenanigans like 20 pounds of wet, stinky wool clinging to your body. We’re wondering how many women drowned from being dragged beneath the waves in such heavy neck-to-knee (or in the 1800’s, neck-to-ankle) swimwear. Thank goodness for the Olympics in the early 1900s, which made intercollegiate swimming an official sport and shone a spotlight on the unwieldy dysfunction of the woolen suits (for men and women). For more information on women’s bathing suit history, this is a nifty article.

Can Metal Fillings in Your Mouth Attract Lightning?

Well, if you’re old enough to have amalgam fillings still, your bigger concern should be the amount of mercury toxins that have been leaking into your body all these years. Seriousy, get those removed and replaced, stat. But as for lightning striking you because of those nasty metal fillings? It’s pretty much a no-go. We’re 99.9% sure of that because we couldn’t find an answer on the first page of the Google search, but we did find this entertaining thread in response to a question asking if lightning striking you would weld your teeth together because of those fillings. Again, we’re thinking if you’re hit by lightning, there are so many other things you’ll be worrying about. Like, breathing, living, etc. Oh, here’s the CNN video of the guy almost getting hit by lightning, and a link about the guy who got hit twice (spoiler alert: fake video. Sorry Kym).

What’s a Cross-Quarter Day?

There is SO much to answer this seemingly simple question. In a nutshell, cross-quarter days have pagan origins, are associated with fire, and are usually celebrated with festivals. Imbolc, Beltane, Lammas, and Samhain (halloooo Halloween!) are cross-quarter days. For details, read this great article on Cross-Quarter Days (and Quarter-days too. Don’t ask. We are linked-out).

What is an Indian Summer?

Is Kris right or is Kym right? Drumroll please: Well, we were both on the right track. An Indian Summer is a period of unusually dry, warm weather occurring in late autumn. It also means a period of happiness or success occurring late in life. We like that version and are rooting for our own personal Indian Summers happening sooner than later.

What Does .ws Mean in a URL?

It is the internet country code for Samoa. Sleep well dear friends.

Crepuscular (and Kris May be Psychic)

This is weird. In the episode as Kris tries desperately to pronounce the word crepuscular, she states (we are paraphrasing), “this is blog entry number 12” and IT IS! Go ahead. You know you’re going to count them. We’ll wait.

See? Anyway, welcome back. Kris is PSYCHIC! Or, maybe her brain does math subconsciously and she really is a numbers genius but doesn’t know it. Either way, CREPUSCULAR is pronounced kreh-pUSk-yooler and it means “of, resembling, or relating to twilight”. Please, use in a sentence. Ok. “Team Edward and Team Jacob fans are crepuscular” No? Drat.

Aside: the girl who says the word in the Google Dictionary sounds kind of creepy. Sorry crepuscular girl. We know you’re just trying to earn a living. But your voice is actually perfect for the word, so, clap clap clap clap clap.

Abolition of Slavery

Yes, Kris, “abolition” is the word you were looking for. And let’s all just take a moment to say HELL YEAH 13th AMENDMENT!

Ah Ah Ah Ah Stayin’ Alive Goat Swagger

For the record, we’re sorry if you Googled Goats Stayin’ Alive and found this video. Although we’re not really that sorry because screaming goats are hilarious.

Chewbacca Mom

And our last but totally favorite shoutout goes to Candace Payne, aka Chewbacca Mom! Here’s her website if you’re as much a fan of her pure joy and love of Chewie as we are.
Added bonus! Here’s the video that started it all:

Here’s another video of an interview a year later in which she discusses making the viral video and how it changed her life for the better.

Finally…here’s some photos of the decorations Kris bought for bringing on the Autumnness:

  • Changed up the regular fake greenery for some more colorful fake flora. Hey. Kris can’t kill fake flowers.
  • Adorable retro camper ushering in Fall!
  • It’s never too early to be thankful.
  • Yes it’s too early for Autumn decorations. Why do you ask?

Here’s Mooch the Pooch’s tush which shows either a Batman or a Motorola insignia. You be the judge. Let us know in the comments below.

Duh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh nuh BATASS! Mooch is either a spokesdog for Batman or Motorola…you decide.

And the candid moment Kris caught Rocky the Podcat contemplating life whilst sitting on a scale staring at the wall. Raise your hand if you relate. Also, we wish more than anything in the world she captured Rocky actually staring AT the wall. Hey, does anyone notice a pattern with Kris and Kym’s animals looking at walls? Just wondering if you’re seeing it too.

Sorry Rocky. I posted this on Instagram. No way I’m not posting this here too. Love you!

Check out our “Summertime Clues” episode on  iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Libsyn, Pocket Cast, Stitcher or anywhere you listen to podcasts. Then all you need to do is 1) subscribe 2) download and 3) listen! AND!!! 4) If you enjoy what you hear, please leave a rating and a review (pretty please?). The more subscribers and reviews we get, the more opportunities we get to grow this podcast and bring you richer content.

And don’t forget to follow us here at themuglytruth.com (click that blue WordPress Follow button on the right side of your screen) so you get notifications every time we post an episode blog! You can also follow The Mugly Truth on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

© The Mugly Truth 2019 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2019. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com.
Feature Sunflower photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
Mooch the Pooch photo by Kym Wagner, © Kym Wagner 2019. All rights reserved.
Rocky the Podcat photo by Kris Core, © Kris Core 2019. All rights reserved.
Episodes

Please Don’t Eat the Children

themuglytruth

TMT_Ep36_IGPhoto

Happy Tuesday and Happy National Tell a Fairytale Day!! That’s right, February 26 is all about celebrating fairytales. Naturally Kym and Kris have chosen to take what’s lovely and beautiful and seemingly happy-ever-after and turn it on it’s morbid little head. Because if you really believe all those Disney happy endings, honey sit down, because the truth is downright scary. AND mugly.

First of all, the fairytales we all know and love have been around for centuries (the oldest known tale called “The Smith and The Devil” is believed to be 7,000 years old!). Among the most well known set of stories published in the early 19th century were by librarian brothers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm as a way to prevent the stories of their Germanic heritage being lost forever. Prior to that, most tales were passed down in oral tradition as moral teachings and guidance. Apparently, telling children not to wander into the forest for fear of being baked by a witch was a great way to keep them playing in the front yard.

But beyond just moralizing opportunities, the tales were a snapshot of the social norms of the day. The value (or lack thereof, let’s face it) of women and children, the struggles of day to day existence, famine, disease…many of the stories we fawn over today as lovely and feel-good really were quite gruesome. So much so that over time some storylines actually became omitted. (Do you know what the ugly step sisters actually did to get that damned slipper to fit?? DO YOU??)  We’ll warn you now…many include the deaths of women and children and there seemed to be just a smidge of cannibalism going on. Remember, famine.

Interesting side-note: according to this article History of Fairytales, by Susie McGee, the oral origins of the stories made famous by male authors like the Grimms, Hans Christian Andersen, and Charles Perrault, “[go] back much further than the 17th century, and many of these stories are actually just retellings of age-old tales, many created by women and retold throughout history” and “women typically created fairy tales with a distinct purpose in mind-to protest the societal constraints that were placed upon them and to emphasis their own rights as women in a man’s world.”

 Hmmm. 

Mostly the takeaway is we’re REALLY glad we’re 21st century women and that our kids have no idea how great their lives are.

Speaking of grim, those brothers are the ones mainly responsible for the rest of the world learning about Little Snow White, The Golden Goose, Hansel and Gretel, Rapunzel, Cinderella, The Brave Little Tailor, The Pied Piper, and Rumplestiltskin.

Wilhelm_Grimm _and_Jacob_Grimm_1855_painting_by_Elisabeth_Jerichau-Baumann
Wilhelm Grimm (left) and Jacob Grim, 1855, painting by Elisabeth Jerichau-Baumann. Photo from Wikipedia. This photo is in public domain.

Frontispiece and title-page
Frontispiece and title-page, illustrated by Ludwig Emil Grimm of the 1819 edition of Kinder- und Hausmärchen). Source: Toronto Public Library and Wikipedia. This photo is in public domain.

Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Deutsche Sagen (German Legends) included stories such as “Pied Piper of Hamelin”, shown here in an illustration by Kate Greenaway. Artist: Kate Greenaway (1846–1901) Engraver: Edmund Evans  (1826–1905) Photo from Wikipedia. This photo is in public domain.

But they’re not the only ones who you know about even if you don’t know you know them. Mm-hmm.

In France, Charles Perrault created the classic Tales of Mother Goose including a version of Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, as well as Puss In Boots, The Sleeping Beauty in the Wood, and Bluebeard. In Denmark Hans Christian Andersen gained fame with The Little Mermaid, The Ugly Duckling, Thumbelina, The Snow Queen, and many others.

Clearly, ticking off popular Disney movie title after movie title after movie title, one doesn’t have to look very far in today’s entertainment industry to understand how far-reaching the legacies of these stories have been.

Don’t even get us started on how all the happy-ending purty la la renditions have caused a whole generation of people to expect unrealistic life arcs. Which makes them easily offended. Which makes life annoying a lot of times. There’s no scientific data to back that statement, we just feel VURRRY strongly that that is accurate. Just an observation.

We ARE glad certain huge movie makers are creating better female characters who are heroic, brave, and can save their own hide and a couple other people’s as well. And they don’t necessarily have to marry anyone in the end either. You go Elsa and Anna!

Anyway. Hey. Look. Looklookie here. Listen. Don’t mind us. Have we mentioned we’re getting older and hormonal? OF COURSE we’re going to find the bitching in the pudding (by the way, the story behind Jack Horner is kind of cool)…but don’t let us ruin a perfectly amazing opportunity to crack open your favorite Beauty and the Beast illustrated book and read it to a loved one (including yourself) if you’re so inclined. Because truth…mugly truth that is…be told, we’re suckers for happily ever after, so bring on the sanitized versions dear friends. Let’s all d’awwww together.

For more information on the articles cited in this episode and blog post please visit the following:

How the Grimm Brothers Saved the Fairy Tale by Jack Zipes

History of Fairy Tales by Susie McGee

The True Stories Behind Classic Fairy Tales by Valerie Ogden

And, if you’re motivated, unlike Kris, to write your very own fairytale, feel free to check this article out: Exploring genre | How to write a fairy tale

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© The Mugly Truth 2019 and © The Mugly Truth Podcast 2019. All rights reserved.
Intro and outro music, “Clever as a Fox”  by Espresso Music through premiumbeats.com
Photos courtesy Wikipedia commons and public domain.