Frogs had been scarce during the summer. The Teenie Weenie Cowboy and the Indian had bagged only six, and the little fellows spent most every day hunting. They were all small frogs, too, and it began to look as though the little people would have to go through most of the winter without frog ham, for twelve small hams wouldn't last long under the rose bush. 

"I don't know what's the matter!" cried the Cowboy one evening as he sat on the front porch of the shoe house discussing hunting with several of the Teenie Weenies. "The frogs just ain't, that's all I can make out of it."

"I'll bet you could get plenty of frogs over around that big swamp, where the wild men live," suggested the Old Soldier.

"Well, if there are frogs any place you'll find them over there," answered the Cowboy. "But it is so far away and so hard to reach."

"Men," said the General, who had been listening to the talk, "we have got to have food for the winter, and I believe we could do no better than to go to the wild men's country for it. They always cure plenty of hams and store up a great quantity of wild rice, and we could get enough from them to last us through the winter. We would take over some things which they want, such as pins and maybe a few yards of silk goods and some pans in trade for the food."

They are crazy for thimbles, too," cried the Dunce. "Don't you remember how they tried to get one of the Cook's cooking thimbles after the war was over?"

"Wouldn't it be dangerous to go into the wild men's country?" asked the Turk.

"Well, we'd have to take along our guns and keep a close watch out," answered the General. "The wild men have no guns and about four or five of us could take care of any trouble that might come up."

"You couldn't drive the trucks all the way on account of the swamp," said the Turk.

"Well, we'd go just as far as we could with the trucks and then build a raft and paddle the rest of the way to the island," answered the General.

The Teenie Weenies discussed the matter for several days, and finally it was decided to go into the wild men's country on a trading expedition.

The swamp where the wild men lived lay many miles away and it would take several days to make the journey. Of course all the little men wanted to go, but only a few could be taken along, and they had to be chosen with great care. The Lady of Fashion and Sally Guff begged so hard to go the General finally consented, as the little women promised to help cook and wait on table.

Gogo was to go as cook, the Turk and Paddy Pinn were to drive the trucks, the Indian and the Cowboy were to be used as guides, and Zip, the Teenie Weenie wild man, was to go along as interpreter. All of the little men were good marksmen, and each took along one of the army rifles and plenty of ammunition.

A great quantity of things was taken along to be traded to the wild men for the rice and ham, and several articles were taken as presents for Queen Mooie, queen of the wild men. The Old Soldier made out a list of the things which were to be used in trade, and here it is in the old fellow's own handwriting, just as be handed it to the General:

The little people traveled all day except when they stopped at noon for their lunch. Early in the evening the General ordered the travelers to stop for the night, and the tiny trucks were run under a bush, where camp was made for the night. The girls were to sleep in one of the trucks, while the men put up a tent for their sleeping quarters. Gogo made a thimbleful of delicious soup, while the Indian and the Cowboy brought in a big blackberry, and with several slices of frog ham and plenty of bread the little people enjoyed a hearty meal.

After dinner Sally and the Lady of Fashion washed up the silverware, the cooking dishes, and the cherry seed soup bowls, while the men made the camp ready for the night. The little folks were mighty tired that night, and you can well believe they tumbled into their tiny beds very early, for they had traveled many miles during the day.

In the above example, the printer obviously did a beautiful job. Now here's another strip from February 7th, 1965, followed by an example of a newspaper doing a somewhat less than beautiful job:

Note From Grandma

Grandma Pettigob was working in her kitchen one day when the handle of her favorite paring knife accidentally broke and fell off.

She picked it up, put it on the kitchen table and examined it thoughtfully for a long time. Suddenly, she got an idea and began to smile.

"Maybe the little people can fix it for me," she said to herself, for there was no one there to hear her. Although Grandma had never actually seen any of the Teenie Weenies, she knew that they had been coming to her house.

Once, she had found one of their tiny mittens and another time she discovered a note written in very small hand writing. It had been propped up against a cup that she had left still half full of coffee while she went out on an errand and it said, "Don't drink this coffee. Someone fell into it."

And sure enough, when she emptied the cup she found one of the Dunce's small shoes at the bottom of it.

She also remembered the time the Teenie Weenies had mended her broken glasses and sharpened her dull knife.

Each time, she had made a point of leaving the little people some cookies or candies to let them know she appreciated their work. And because the goodies disappeared from the plate, Grandma knew the Teenie Weenies had been there. So this time Grandma wrote a note that said,

"Dear little people. Could you mend this knife? It is my favorite poring knife." Then she folded the note and put it beside the broken knife. She put on her coat and set off for the grocery store.

When she returned, the knife was gone. Soon after she left the house, the Dunce had found her note and ran to the Teenie Weenie village. There he read it to all the Teenie Weenies who agreed to try to mend the broken knife.

Several of the men set off to fetch the knife. The Turk, who is a fine workman, made some new rivets and with the help of other Teenie Weenies, he soon had the handle securely in place.

That evening, Grandma went out again to visit a nephew.

While she was gone, the Teenie Weenies carried the heavy paring knife into the kitchen and hauled it up onto the table with a rope. Grandma found it there when she came home and she was very happy to have it fixed.