May 14, 2011- afternoon
All this talk about The Flintstones reminded me of something.
Back in the 1970’s may family and I were going to Sheepshead Bay. We parked the car across the street and were walking over to the boats when a man came over to us. He looked normal and carried a handful of pamphlets so we knew right away he was a kook. He asked us “are you Jewish?”
There was nothing about us to suggest that we were Jewish, or any other religion for that matter. I doubt we could have passed as Sikhs but that’s about it, and my red hair and fair complexion usually gets me pegged as Irish. (I myself have claimed in a few old blogs to be descended from an old ancestor, “that sailing Scottish Jew” but there is not a trace of Scots in me. And as far as being born to the sea with saltwater in my veins, a few transfusions took care of that.)
So he asked the question and a look passed between Mom and Dad. It wasn’t a look of caution or wariness, it was a look of “what the hell?” Being Jewish we told him that yes, we were Jewish. Knowing Dad he would have answered yes anyway had we been devout Mormons just to see what this guy wanted.
He wanted to give us a pamphlet about Passover. In fact he gave us two, one for me and one for my brother. I was thrilled. Seriously, I mean that, I was thrilled. Why? Because it was a Flintstones comic!
Yes, a Flintstones comic. It looked professional despite being printed only in black and orange. In it, Fred and Wilma got ready for a Seder and explained the history of Passover and matzo. The Rubbles came over and they all shared a traditional Jewish Passover. As I said, it looked thoroughly professional and could have been an actual official Hanna Barbera product if you overlooked the yarmulkes Fred and Barney wore and the shawls on Wilma and Betty.
Of course I didn’t keep it and of course I can’t find a trace of it on the internet.
I swear I am not making this up.
Mr. Blog's Tepid Ride 
That is strange. I’m curious about what the connection was supposed to be between the Flintstones and Passover. Was it just to pique the interest of kids? How about the Jetsons celebrating Purim…or, for Christian kids, Josie and the Pussycats explaining the Immaculate Conception?
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In retrospect, one of the weird things about it is that it wasn’t intended to convert or bring anyone to Judaism. It was clearly intended for Jewish children, like maybe a teaching aid, to explain Passover. It could have been any family celebrating Passover but the hook was that they happened to be the Flintstones.
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We live in a strange, strange world, don’t we?
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Oh, that is so true. But you see more of it first hand than I do, I think.
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