Feb 15th 2010 07:51 am Rubbing the right way

1992-07-02-suntan-oil.giftodays-aj.jpg

Valentine’s Day followed by Presidents’ Day followed by Mardi Gras. It’s just party, party, party this week! I know you people. You’re wondering which is correct: “Presidents’ Day” or “Presidents Day.” After two minutes of exhaustive research on the internet, I’ve concluded that both are widely used, and it comes down to style and practice. Probably, “Presidents’ Day” is more widely regarded as proper. “President’s Day,” by the way, is a distant third.

Posted by jimmyjohnson / Vintage A&J

30 Responses to “Rubbing the right way”

  1. Nonny on 15 Feb 2010 at 8:10 am #

    If we’re voting, my ballot goes to “Presidents’ Day.” Another celebration this week, is the Chinese New Year. Or should I call it the Lunar New Year??

  2. Mary in Ohio on 15 Feb 2010 at 8:13 am #

    Let me guess: Gene’s haircut indicates he has a little pig tail at the back, right?

  3. Mary in Ohio on 15 Feb 2010 at 8:16 am #

    Hey – is anyone else having trouble logging on to comics.com? I had to reenter my user name and password and still get a message that one or both are invalid. (9:16 am EST)

  4. John in Richmond Texas on 15 Feb 2010 at 8:32 am #

    yeah, comics.com isn’t working for me, but my daily email delivery from them is ok

    So my wife gives me my Valentines Day bag of Poppycock and just when did they replace the logo of the rooster and the walking stick with Orville Redenbacher’s face ? At least when Nestle bought DeMets Turtles, they kept the turtle, last I saw.

  5. UNCdave on 15 Feb 2010 at 8:45 am #

    Wikipedia and the Associated Press Stylebook list it as Presidents Day.

  6. Blinky The Wonder Wombat on 15 Feb 2010 at 9:00 am #

    But the proper spelling of today’s federal holiday is “Washington’s Birthday”.

    Interesting article at snopes.com about Presidents Day:

    http://www.snopes.com/holidays/presidents/presidentsday.asp

  7. Matthew on 15 Feb 2010 at 9:02 am #

    Any form of Presidents Day is wrong to me. We have had too many presidents worthy of contempt or indifference but not celebration. I prefer to call today Washington-Lincoln Day, to celebrate the two great presidents born around this date. (I give Washington top billing simply for the chronological reason.)

    I, too, have had a problem today with Comics.com, but I take it as a sign that I should cut my comics reading short & get to work.

  8. Ace on 15 Feb 2010 at 9:27 am #

    comics.com is also down for me, which is distressing to us OCD types who try to begin their morning with the comics.

    guess i’ll just have to barbecue some ribs today to make up for the loss. yes, it’s nearly freezing outside … but the grill, it still calls to me.

  9. Mindy on 15 Feb 2010 at 10:14 am #

    Does Presidents’ Day include Jeff Davis? Just a thought.

  10. Blinky The Wonder Wombat on 15 Feb 2010 at 10:55 am #

    BTW, today’s retro cartoon makes a great bookend with yesterday’s retro ‘toon!

  11. Sili on 15 Feb 2010 at 11:09 am #

    Happy belated Darwin Day as well!

  12. sandcastler on 15 Feb 2010 at 11:23 am #

    Mindy….
    Good question. If we include Jeff then we will need to add in Sam Houston, David Burnet, Edward Burelson and Kenneth Anderson for their service to the Republic of Texas.

    BTW, comic.com is back up and running.

  13. Steve Parkes on 15 Feb 2010 at 12:09 pm #

    The idea of having a Prime Minister’s Day here in the UK boggles the mind somewhat. Personally, I’m quite satisfied with the Queen’s (Official) Birthday. Do you have anything lie Trooping the Colo[u]r over there on PD?

  14. Tom in Glendora, CA on 15 Feb 2010 at 12:35 pm #

    Comics.com is as usual….messed up.

    I did manage to get to My Comic OK by clicking on the “My Comics” link though.

    And to add to the confusion, the LA Times (which does not carr A&J) was sent
    out without the section with the comics in it.

    A bad day for comics lovers in LA.

  15. Boise Ed on 15 Feb 2010 at 12:59 pm #

    Google hits is no measure. If loudness were the criteria, the teabaggers would rule us all. The previous holidays were Lincoln’s Birthday and Washington’s Birthday. The “new” one took away the word “Birthday,” so there’s no more need for the possessive. Now it’s just the day to honor two presidents, so I say it’s Presidents Day.

    Blinky: Thanks for the link.

    Matthew: I agree, but we’re stuck with it.

    Ace: Do you read the “Overboard” strip”? The BBQ plays a starring role there.

    Steve: No celebration at all, except for the stores’ sales events.

    Mac users: I wrote an AppleScript that I have set to open my favorite comics each morning shortly before I get up. If you’re interested, I’d be happy to send it to you and you can alter it to run *your* favorites.

  16. Steve from Royal Oak, MI on 15 Feb 2010 at 1:01 pm #

    I like the idea of Washington/Lincoln Birthday, but I have never been a fan of making it a federal holiday.

    Mark me as one who does not care for St. Patrick’s Day. It is one of the most dangerous nights of the year to drive, so I always stay home. I am also not pleased with the bickering in Northern Ireland, so I usually wear black. But St Patrick was a good man and if you are of Irish decent, go ahead and wear green and celebrate his goodness. Just don’t get upset with those who do not wear green.

  17. debbie on 15 Feb 2010 at 1:55 pm #

    always enjoy the strip…but sad/bad news, I just learned that one of my favorite authors, Dick Francis has passed away…I really enjoyed his books.

  18. Husker Belle on 15 Feb 2010 at 2:34 pm #

    Too funny, Boise Ed! My dh did the same thing on our Macs! So very convenient for me after all the work by him…

  19. Ace on 15 Feb 2010 at 3:20 pm #

    debbie, i was reading about Dick Francis. he had a heck of an interesting life. i’ve never read him, but perhaps i’ll pick a book of his up. any recommendations?

  20. Mary in Ohio on 15 Feb 2010 at 3:49 pm #

    Or, as my Dad used to refer to it (to my great amusement as an elementary schooler) : George Birthington’s Washday.

  21. Rumpelstiltskin on 15 Feb 2010 at 4:14 pm #

    Ace

    Decider and Hot Money are two of the best IMO, but you really can’t go wrong. Earlier ones have more horse racing; later ones have more complex characters.

  22. debbie on 15 Feb 2010 at 5:20 pm #

    ace: Thanks for asking: To The Hilt; Decider; Straight, but the truth is I like everything he has written. I think these 3 were among my favorites of all his novels. I always planned to meet that man. Yeah, I think he must have had an interesting life also.

  23. Woodrowfan on 15 Feb 2010 at 6:54 pm #

    According to the Snopes article it’s still officially “Washington’s Birthday” and not “Presidents Day.”

  24. Woodrowfan on 15 Feb 2010 at 6:57 pm #

    FYI, the National Archives site confirms the Snopes article.

    http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/washington/

  25. Anonymous on 15 Feb 2010 at 11:10 pm #

    Boise Ed: For those of us with older Macs, which versions of OS X does that script run with?

  26. TruckerRon on 16 Feb 2010 at 12:19 am #

    Boise Ed: Does that script run with older Macs? I’m using an iBook G4 with OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger, I think).

  27. Jean from Dahlonega GA aka Trapper Jean on 16 Feb 2010 at 5:10 am #

    Steve from Royal Oak, MI-When I was a little girl an uncle told me that I had to wear green on St Pat’s day or get pinched, so I wore green. Later, however, I began to wear green quite a bit simply because I like green and it looks good with the hair colour. (Note: if we have the A&J con this summer, I will have a yellow sundress.) What you choose to wear on March 17th is your own business. The only problem I have with Ireland is that Bono still thinks he has carte blanch to tell people in the US how they should run their lives and their country, and the Irish still can’t figure out how to worship in peace. If he’s so good at fixing countries he should fix his own country first. Here Endeth The Rant.

    I remember many years ago when we celebrated Washington’s and Lincoln’s birthdays separately. Then somebody got the bright idea to combine them into “Presidents Day” so as not to have two days in which banks and post offices were closed.

    I wonder if Gene would feel the same way if it were he rubbing suntan lotion onto Mary Lou’s back?

  28. Charlie Cahill on 16 Feb 2010 at 7:20 am #

    The observance commemorates the “Father of the Country” George Washington, who was born on 22 February 1732. While Washington’s birthday has been marked as a national holiday since at least 1796 — the final year of his presidency — subsequent years saw Abraham Lincoln’s 12 February birthday added to the calendar as a separate civil observance. In the late 1960s, the Lincoln holiday was suppressed, but Washington’s anniversary widely became dubbed “President’s Day” in the years since.
    As a retired history teacher (and from C anada to boot) I must caution that though President’s Day is how the media refers to it…that has no offical designation..it really is George Washington’s Birthday
    Charlie…Canada
    ..

  29. Boise Ed on 16 Feb 2010 at 12:26 pm #

    Anonymous and TruckerRon: Any versions. It might even run on OS 9, as far as I know. I have no way to test it there. If you want to try it … hmmm, I’m not too keen on posting my email here, but I’ll do it indirectly. You can reach me via http://edrene.us/ .

  30. Mark in Boston on 16 Feb 2010 at 5:27 pm #

    Just don’t order Old Bushmill’s at an Irish bar on St. Patrick’s Day. They don’t serve that Protestant swill.