Thursday, October 21, 2010

Finger Fun for Children: Teaching Scripture Truths One Inappropriate Gesture at a Time.

Way back, when this blog was just a twinkle in my eye, Joe, one of the co-creators-in-crime and myself took to the road for our first ever Thrift Trip together. And you better believe that after rummaging through nine different thrift stores over a span of six different townships, we hauled in some quality finds.

At first I had my doubts over how productive our trip would be. After all, I had lost twenty minutes to the start of our day stuck in Pennsylvania Turnpike traffic. The weather was a scorching 100 degrees and we were cruising around in a car without air conditioning. But when we made our first stop of the day at a Salvation Army on Bethlehem Pike, all concerns were replaced with unadulterated hilarity.

There was nothing out of the usual at first. A fair assortment of knick-knacks, a 50% reduction on blue colored tags and a few older shoppers milling about the aisles. After perusing the considerable collection of vintage-inspired dishware, I had decided to hit the books.

At first glance it was typical thrift store fare. Encyclopedias, microwave cookbooks and previous bestsellers.

But then I spotted it. The talisman that would charm our entire thrifting adventure.



Finger Fun Cover Resized
A rare 40 cent find that surely reserves a whole new level of Hell just for me.



























I first spotted this gem because of the image on the cover. Now, I apologize in advance if this sounds lewd, crude or completely sacrilegious given the content…but what exactly is that picture!?  That poor child’s face has the expression of some sort of guilt-ridden blowup doll! And the finger gesturing. What is that?

I soon got my answer when my eyes found the title at the top of the cover. 202 Things To Do… okay, nothing wrong there.  At Home, Church, School. No, that makes sense.
Activities and Finger Fun for Children. Um. What…?


What in the name of Moses is “Finger Fun?” And why are we encouraging children to participate?
Well...remember that old “Here’s the Church. Here’s the steeple” bit?
Apparently that is just one of the 202 Finger Fun activities for idle-handed children.

Cute idea. Poor execution. Again, I’m sorry to offend. But this is en epic fail in terms of the title.

Finger Fun, really?

The description of the contents on the book’s back cover doesn’t lend any help either.


Finger Fun Back Cover Resized
Wrong. So very, very wrong.






















I’m not even going to comment on the vulgarity in this. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I swear I don’t have a sick mind 99% of the time. If they didn’t call the damn book “Finger Fun,” I wouldn’t think this was anything else than a book with a strange cover.

But you know what they say when you judge a book by its cover, right? So, let’s take a peek at a few of those fun finger gestures, shall we?

Finger Fun Page Resized
These pinching and jerking motions sure are fun!































And to think, this was just the beginning of our Thrift Trip adventure. But still I wonder. With "over 100,000 in print" as the cover clearly states, are the other 99,999 owners of 202 Things to Do at Home, Church, School: Activities and Finger Fun for Children as amazed as I am that such a thing even exists?

Doubtful. 

4 comments:

Vanessa said...

That book is...amazing. This kid looks like a newborn version of the child actor from "The Omen". Terrifying, down to the core.

As a HORROR fan I would not have resisted this find.

Thank you for the kind words on my blog, I LOVE this blog's mission and the informative, attractive collage logo. I'm your newest follower :)

Jackie Jardine said...

Thank you, Van! I was drawn to this book for several reasons. One of them of course, is being a horror fan as well. Don't you love this time of year? Horror movies on the TV all day long...crisp air and of course candy, ha ha.

I have a new post coming soon about another book I found. No words could describe it, really.
Maybe...creepy? Yeah, it's a creepy book. And it hopefully will make for a hilarious entry here on 'Let's Go Thrifting!'

Eli said...

these pinching and jerking motions are fun!

this is too funny!

Jackie Jardine said...

Eli, I'm glad you think so! I was hesitant to share my sense of humor with the blog world at first. I don't want my readers thinking I'm a total creepshow, ha!