The spoiler

 


The spoiler


     This is a combination of an earthy but delightful real life story told to us by the master and a some cocktail napkin art we loved. The story was told by the old fabulist John F. Sheehy who was at Gilmore field for a boxing match back in the late 1930"s. After a beverage or two John headed up to the rest room and a welcome row of urinals that were crowded but one spot remained. Our hero stepped up ready to relieve himself when he noticed movie star Victor Mature right next to him. Mature was mid-stream and with all his own functions relaxed, released a loud fart that echoed around the tile facility. In men's room etiquette this is just not done because it puts everyone else on edge and interrupts the crucial concentration to get a fully emptied bladder for the rest of the men. When John told the story he referred to Vic as a "son of a bitch" who earned the unfavorable title of a "spoiler!" A spoiler is a louse who ruins everyone else's piss by passing gas audibly in this pubic place. Whenever we saw Victor Mature on TV we identified the actor as a spoiler and heaped disdain on the man who would release a resounding poot in a public toilet. Later, we were able to look at just one of many low-brow barroom humor items that passed through our father's hands including the Over Sexteen book series and cocktail napkins with sophmoric but hilarious cartoons. These napkins identified the types of men's room pissers and one of them was "the Spoiler." along with "the sportsman," "the artist," "the childish type," "the cockproud type" etc. 



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