FA+
Shop
415
Views
Views
11
Favorites
Favorites
Category
Artwork (Traditional) / Comics
Species Raccoon
Size 500 x 577
File Size 122.9 kB
Report this content
More from RobCat
Eighteen years after Jeff MacNelly published my first 'pluggerism' for his syndicated comic strip "Pluggers" - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/8926847/ - I'd decided to render an apropos sequel to that gag. But first, let me explain how I came up with the original 'pluggerism'...
In 1993 (the year when the "Pluggers" strip debuted), I was living in Reading, Pennsylvania, and I used to go to the main post office in town, simply to buy stamps. When the lines were too long, I would just go over to a special vending machine that would dispense postage stamps, once you put in the coins. At the time, however, the cost of a First Class stamp was 32 cents, and sometimes the machine doesn't give you the exact change. So, if you'd fed the machine 35 cents for one stamp, instead of getting back three pennies, the machine would dispense three one-cent stamps - which almost nobody took. As a result, lots of one-cent stamps would be sticking out of the machine. So, I would take them, and save them for the day when the postal rate went up to 33 cents.
Later on, in 1994, when I'd moved down to Margate, Florida, I'd continue this practice of using the vending machines at local post offices, and buy more First Class stamps, getting one-cent stamps as change, in preparation for the next 'postal rate hike'. This, of course, inspired me to create that 'pluggerism' I'd sent to Mr. MacNelly. (BTW, when I'd 'snail-mailed' him the original drawing of a customer buying $10 worth of one-cent stamps, my character was a hippo; he substituted his raccoon character 'Merv Cooney' in the finalized strip.)
Well, as the phrase goes, "that was then... this is now".
Since the 1990s, the USPS had made a number of radical changes. First and foremost, the vending machines were removed from the lobbies of the post office - thus, I was forced to stand on those long lines I was trying to avoid in the first place. Then, during the 2000s, came the advent of the 'Forever stamp' - a special one-of-a-kind stamp that can be purchased and used for First Class postage at any time - no matter how long you keep it, and no matter how high the postage rate increases. The final change came in 2011, when the USPS declared that all First Class postage stamps would be declared 'Forever stamps' - which now means that all those spare one-cent stamps that I possess would be useless to attach next to a 'Forever stamp' on an envelope (unless the contents of said envelope weigh more than 16 ounces).
So, to make a long story even longer, I'd decided to create and send my sequel 'pluggerism' to the comic's current artist Gary Brookins - with the above explanation - nearly eighteen years since his predecessor published my first 'pluggerism'. There's no guarantee that his rendering of my idea will appear in the 'funny pages' (or on the Internet), so I thought I'd simply present (here in "FA") the drawing I'd E-mailed Mr. Brookins - with a female bear buying plenty of 'Forever stamps', and a now-dejected 'Merv Rooney' having reservations about his past purchases at the P.O., leaving him feeling... P.O.ed!
And if any of you have an idea for a 'pluggerism', E-mail it to Mr. Brookins at pluggermail[at]aol.com
"Pluggers" © Tribune Media Services, Inc.
In 1993 (the year when the "Pluggers" strip debuted), I was living in Reading, Pennsylvania, and I used to go to the main post office in town, simply to buy stamps. When the lines were too long, I would just go over to a special vending machine that would dispense postage stamps, once you put in the coins. At the time, however, the cost of a First Class stamp was 32 cents, and sometimes the machine doesn't give you the exact change. So, if you'd fed the machine 35 cents for one stamp, instead of getting back three pennies, the machine would dispense three one-cent stamps - which almost nobody took. As a result, lots of one-cent stamps would be sticking out of the machine. So, I would take them, and save them for the day when the postal rate went up to 33 cents.
Later on, in 1994, when I'd moved down to Margate, Florida, I'd continue this practice of using the vending machines at local post offices, and buy more First Class stamps, getting one-cent stamps as change, in preparation for the next 'postal rate hike'. This, of course, inspired me to create that 'pluggerism' I'd sent to Mr. MacNelly. (BTW, when I'd 'snail-mailed' him the original drawing of a customer buying $10 worth of one-cent stamps, my character was a hippo; he substituted his raccoon character 'Merv Cooney' in the finalized strip.)
Well, as the phrase goes, "that was then... this is now".
Since the 1990s, the USPS had made a number of radical changes. First and foremost, the vending machines were removed from the lobbies of the post office - thus, I was forced to stand on those long lines I was trying to avoid in the first place. Then, during the 2000s, came the advent of the 'Forever stamp' - a special one-of-a-kind stamp that can be purchased and used for First Class postage at any time - no matter how long you keep it, and no matter how high the postage rate increases. The final change came in 2011, when the USPS declared that all First Class postage stamps would be declared 'Forever stamps' - which now means that all those spare one-cent stamps that I possess would be useless to attach next to a 'Forever stamp' on an envelope (unless the contents of said envelope weigh more than 16 ounces).
So, to make a long story even longer, I'd decided to create and send my sequel 'pluggerism' to the comic's current artist Gary Brookins - with the above explanation - nearly eighteen years since his predecessor published my first 'pluggerism'. There's no guarantee that his rendering of my idea will appear in the 'funny pages' (or on the Internet), so I thought I'd simply present (here in "FA") the drawing I'd E-mailed Mr. Brookins - with a female bear buying plenty of 'Forever stamps', and a now-dejected 'Merv Rooney' having reservations about his past purchases at the P.O., leaving him feeling... P.O.ed!
And if any of you have an idea for a 'pluggerism', E-mail it to Mr. Brookins at pluggermail[at]aol.com
"Pluggers" © Tribune Media Services, Inc.
Category Artwork (Traditional) / Comics
Species Raccoon
Size 500 x 577px
File Size 122.9 kB
The machine I used to have at my post office (in Coral Springs) used to dispense 39-cent First Class postage stamps, one-cent stamps, and even 22-cent postcards - before it was eventually taken away. (And for further convenience, 'Forever stamps' are now being sold at participating supermarkets and stores like WalMart.)
Technically at any time all First Class postage stamps might already be 'Forever stamps' even before they exist.
As stamps are (in most country) coded with phosphorescent ink to be reading by the automated routing machine even before when people used stamp without complement thinking it will work as the price is still over "second class" the machine saw them as first class and act in consequence.
As stamps are (in most country) coded with phosphorescent ink to be reading by the automated routing machine even before when people used stamp without complement thinking it will work as the price is still over "second class" the machine saw them as first class and act in consequence.
Comments