The first robin of the spring (part II, solved?)

Paul Rhymer had fun with the "first robin of spring" idea.  So did Don Quin of Fibber McGee and Molly.

I thought it was all a big gag... but then, I got the idea to look this up in the Daily Pantgraph (now known as The Pantgraph), the Bloomington newspaper.

I'm not into spending wallets of money, so I can't access the articles there (by the way, all newspapers should be ashamed of themselves for charging to search out and retrieve old articles., don't you agree?).  Anyway, after tip-toeing through their system which is designed for me to find what I want but not actually show me anything, I found enough to convince me that spotting the first robin of the spring is indeed a big deal in Bloomington, Illinois.  I did not fidn out what the reward or benefits are/were, however, getting one's name in the paper seems to be fitting (and I did see such evidence).

So, there's that!

I saw the first robin of the spring!

Yesterday, I had a big Vic and Sade moment; I took a walk out to check the mail and up on a tree, not far from me, was a robin.

Now, 3 months ago, I couldn't have told you what a robin looked like.  But since the two episodes in Vic and Sade speak of "the first robin", I had done some research and even had posted a photo of a robin on the website.

So there was the robin.  I stopped, looked long and hard and smiled.  There was no one around to see us but I knew then and there I would be afforded all the luxuries of seeing the first robin of the spring.

No, it's not quite spring but there he was!  Pat me on the back.

The first robin of the spring (an Illinois' thing?)

When I first read the Barbara Schwarz notes on this episode and also this one (each dealing with Hank Gutstop spotting the first robin of the spring and being hailed for it) I found them to be in the 'ridiculous' category.

Now, this very well could be or perhaps it was a tradition in Illinois or the Upper Midwest.  I write this because just this morning, I was checking out a Fibber McGee and Molly episode from 1945 where Fibber can't find his newspaper and he's anxious to find it because there is word in there about him being the one who spotted the first robin of the spring (the episode is from April 10 of 1945.)

Now, you may recall that the McGees live in Wistful Vista, which is very much like Peoria, Illinois.  Peoria and Bloomington (the city the Gooks live in, despite what you may have read) are not that far apart - less than 50 miles.  This might be some sort of tradition in this part of the country - or it could be phony stuff cooked up by writers Paul Rhymer and Don Quinn.  Rhymer and Quinn were buddies (one reason because they grew up in the same neck of the woods, one would think.)

So, without further ado, here's that bit of Fibber McGee and Molly - from the episode titled, No Newspaper:

(((HEAR)))