FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

C is in Greenville, NC attending a conference with two of her students. She wrote me last night highlighting the place where the attendees went after that day's session ended: Stumpy's Hatchet House. That's right, nothing says team building and family fun like flinging sharpened pieces of metal! And, this is not a one-off-it's a franchise! My immediate thought, after years in the insurance biz, was "what an effin' liability nightmare, with drunks and pot heads being stupid." I doubt that they serve booze or allow BYO but that doesn't stop folks from kicking back shots in the parking lot. C came up with a little ditty for their company song:

"Our man Stumpy -- he's a real pro!

He's lost three fingers and his left big toe!"

https://www.stumpyshh.com/greenvillenc/

This brought to mind one of the most famous events on Johnny Carson where Ed Ames, who was playing an Indigenous man, Mingo, side kick of Daniel Boone on their TV show, demonstrates the art of hatchet throwing. From 1965.

 

A bit of historical explanation of the times. Hollywood was pretty much closed to hiring Indigenous folk to play Indigenous folk so they chose people who looked swarthy to do the job. Italians and East Europeans fitted the bill. In the case of Mr. Ames, he was a Ukrainian Jew! Mel Brooks in his film "Blazing Saddles" pokes fun at this, casting himself as a warrior chief who, upon meeting African-American settlers for the first time, shakes his head in astonishment  that they are "darker than us." Such a different time.