D'oh and Other Index Worthy Homers

I have been trying to describe the index to a couple of friends and don't really have the language or understanding yet to effectively communicate exactly what it is. It is really something that needs to be experienced. The index is currently in my garage (I will post a picture soon) and today I decided to pull out a single carton to rummage through. First let me explain what a carton is. The index was not really created using index cards, but rather recycled slips of paper, cardboard, and whatever material was available to my grand-mom. She would collect these facts and gather them together in other recycled boxes. These included all kinds of boxes, including milk and orange juice containers, packaging for toys and household products. Here is a picture of the carton I randomly chose today:



As you can see the carton is recycled from a purex laundry detergent box. I haven't yet been able to calculate how many cards are in this box, which will be a task for another day. At least for a time, the index was organized alphabetically. Here is an image of the first card in the purex box:



This is the first "homer" entry. It is interesting to me how she began the card with very general information but at some point updated it to include the connection to "The Simpsons" and Homer's famous catch phrase "D'oh." Also of interest is the fact that this card contains both handwritten notes and cut-outs from a newspaper/magazine. Throughout the index this is very common. There are some cards which are completely handwritten, while others are completely clipped from another source. Others, like the one above contain elements of both.

There are many entries in the index that contain very little information. The second card is a perfect example:



Without any context it is impossible to know exactly to what this card is referring to. Obviously any google search of homer cartoon is going to return us right back to The Simpsons. I will show another card later in this post that contains even less information than this one.

While the examples shown thus far have been pretty simple and straightforward, the next card begins to demonstrate some of the complexity that many of the entries contain. Here is the next entry for Homer:



While the entry contains a very basic overview of Homer and his works, the entry does not end here. The entry is actually on a folded scrap of paper, that when unfolded looks like this:





The paper itself is dated 9/10/92 and appears to be a spreadsheet price guide for White Rose Food. There are a lot of numbers included but I don't really know what they mean. Tucked inside the spreadsheet are the following clippings:




Although according to Homer it is "tedious to tell again tales already plainly told," this collected clippings style is replicated throughout the index, and in fact, the very next Homer entry has numerous clippings tucked inside its fold. The entry is for Homer, Alaska (population in 1990, 3680):




Included are a business card for Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, an organization located in Homer Alaska, and a complete clipping for the article, "Long days in a raw landscape" written by Christopher Reynolds that was published in the Los Angeles Times (though no date is cited or included).










The next card in the index also represents a major trend in the index, the archiving of movies based on their short reviews in magazines and newspapers. This one is for the 1989 Jim Belushi and Whoopi Goldberg vehicle, Homer and Eddie. I have never seen this movie but maybe now I will:





As mentioned earlier, some of the cards hold almost no information at all. Or maybe there really is nothing of interest in Homer, Georgia:




The next two entries include an opera singer named Homer and a Portuguese dramatist nicknamed "The Homer of Portugal."







The next enrty, which is the next to last Homer included in the index, is a surprise return to Homer Simpson, but this time information about his character and his voice actor are included:





Finally, the last Homer entry is actually housed in two separate packets. The entry is for the 19th century American painter, Winslow Homer. Included in these entries are over 20 magazine and newspaper clippings representing his works of art. I have included a couple of them below:













I think this was an interesting first exercise in my attempt to examine the index. It really is amazing how many entries there are and I can't imagine having the time to read, let alone scan, everyone of them. The range of topics covering homer might actually end up being a good representation of the entire index. At the moment it is really to early to start making conclusions about what it all means, but it certainly is providing an interesting window into the history of the world, of America, and of my grand-mom.