The episode was written by Tony Benedict, who I don’t ever think has commented on where he got the name. But cartoon watchers have heard it before. In fact, Benedict likely heard it only a few months earlier.
Fish and Slips was released by Warner Bros. on March 10, 1962, which opens Sylvester and son watching TV and Mel Blanc intoning “A record-breaking, sharp-nose tralfaz was caught by Mr. Treg Brown.” It was written by Dave Detiege. But before that, Sylvester and “Tralfaz” tangled again in the form of a sign outside a run-down mansion in The Slop-Happy Mouse, written by Tedd Pierce and released on September 1, 1956.
But before that...
This incarnation of the show, on September 9, 1940, opens with the following dialogue with announcer Bud Hiestand (who, incidentally, was later the announcer on the Mel Blanc Show):
George: Am I happy tonight.
Bud: Well, you should be, George, winning that $200,000 breach of contract suit against Elsie Tralafaz.
And later:
George (to Gracie): Well, I’m going down to write out that check for $25 for court expenses which will clear up that Elsie Tralafaz case once and for all.
So what was all this about?
There were several consecutive episodes of the show beginning on August 19th where George meets a bimbo named Elsie Tralafaz at the beach and, fed up with Gracie, offers to make her his new radio partner. The following week (August 26), Elsie decides to sue George for reneging on the offer, then the following week (September 2), a judge dismisses the case. That brings us to the September 9 broadcast, after which the character disappeared for good. You can hear the broadcast here and have to cue in to about the four-minute mark for the first bit of dialogue.
I realise there’s an extra ‘a’ in the character’s name, but if you say the word fast enough, it sounds like “Tralfaz;” it did when I first heard the show and that prompted this post. It could very well be Tedd Pierce (who was writing for Jones when he was making the Snafu shorts) heard the shows and remembered (or misremembered) the funny name and pulled it out when he needed one.
Then, again, it could all be coincidence. But if someone has the definitive explanation, they can let me know.
There’s another little connection between “Tralfaz” and Hanna-Barbera, if you want to stretch things a bit. The Burns and Allen Show at the time all this happened was sponsored by Hormel. And Geordie Hormel (heir to the Spam fortune) wrote some of the background music picked up by the Capitol Hi-Q library which was used in the Hanna-Barbera cartoons.
Dodsworth,
ReplyDeleteThe term "Tralfaz" (sounds more British, I theen) also was seen on a Snooper & Blabber episode, titled De-Duck-Tives, which's of the second season (1960-61) from The Quick Draw McGraw Show (Hanna-Barbera/Columbia Pictures, 1959-62), where the cat-and-mouse detective duo was on search of a rare specimen of the tralfazian duck.
Another "Tralfaz" sighting: At the end of "Hoppy Daze" (1961; McKimson, director & Pierce, writer), there's a sign that reads "Tralfaz Incinerator Co." Considering the late date of this cartoon, it doesn't help clear up the origin, but it's another connection to Tedd Pierce, at least.
ReplyDeleteHoly cow -- named my dog Tralfaz after the "Jetsons" ep; no idea what a fine pedigreed name it was!
ReplyDeleteOne background in the 1958 McKimson Warner cartoon "Don't Axe Me" has an advertising poster for "Tralfaz Farm Supply."
ReplyDeleteCool, Paul. Thanks! I missed that one.
DeleteI only checked out this page because a neighbor got TRALFAZ on the vanity plate for his new Jeep. I wonder if this qualifies as a sighting LOL.
ReplyDeleteIts six-letter common beginning with "Tralfamadore" seems interesting to me, especially given the Jetsons' comic sci-fi roots. Writers around that time frame may simply have been enamored, in their various communities, with the outlandish-sounding "Tralfa-" beginning. Vonnegut, a student and admirer of anthropologist Robert Redfield, was all about Folk Societies, and may have found in the speculative writing genre something of his own Folk Society.
ReplyDelete