(Roughly) Daily

Dear Abby: What would you do with a man who refuses to use a deodorant, seldom bathes, and doesn’t even own a toothbrush?  — Stinky’s Wife

Dear Wife: Absolutely nothing!

From New York Magazine‘s The Cut, an appreciation of the lately-departed Pauline Phillips— better known to millions of readers as Abigail Van Buren, the “Abby” in  “Dear Abby.”

Dear Abby: Are birth control pills deductible? — Bertie

Dear Bertie: Only if they don’t work.

More witty wisdom at “‘Cut Off His Hominy Grits’: Vintage Advice From Dear Abby.”

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As we take our advice where we can find it, we might recall that it was on this date in 1957 that America met (then 25-year-old) Patsy Cline, the extraordinary vocalist whose songs were full of advice… or object lessons, anyway.  On January 21, 1957 she appeared as a contestant on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts (a wildly-popular Fifties forerunner of American Idol that broke stars including Tony Bennett, Lenny Bruce, Marilyn Horne, and Pat Boone); Patsy sang “Walkin’ After Midnight.”  She won; shortly after which a recording of the song was released and rose to #2 on the Country charts.  A string of hits followed– “I Fall to Pieces”, “She’s Got You”, “Crazy,” and “Sweet Dreams”– until she was killed in a private plane crash at the age of 30.  Her records have sold millions of copies since, and (ten years after her death) she became the first female performer inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

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