Originally published 1905-08-05
(I don't 100% get this one tbh)
The owners of the tracks probably sent out these hustlers to talk people into making bad bets.
Everett throwing some shade at the Midwest corn belt
ikr wtf I have some Midwest relatives who are farmers and they're amazing at budgeting money and time and very no-nonsense when it comes to talking business.
Had to look up these ones
come-on /kŭm′ŏn″, -ôn″/ noun
Something offered to allure or attract; an inducement, especially to buy. A sexual or romantic approach or proposal. Something intended to attract, as in an advertisement.
rube /roo͞b/ noun
An unsophisticated country person. A person of rural heritage; a yokel. An uninformed, unsophisticated, or unintelligent person. Are these really antiquated? Cuz I knew them... Am I old?
I know about rube but I haven't really heard people say it
Maybe I'm a rube. Kinda rhymes with noob.
Honestly my favourite aspect of Everett comic is the old timey vocabulary and word choices.
Problem is Everett never figured out he should be angry at the gambling industry, for using probability to fleece the majority - or the horse racing industry for their cruelty, whipping horses, too much tavel time, and killing horses so regularly.
They're contemptible industries - even today.
Yeah this is the third time he's run into gambling issues, you'd think he'd learn by now
What is tavel time? it's really hard to Google it and "tavel" alone seems to be a wine. It's either something specific to horse racing or a typo, but I'm really curious. either way.
TRAVEL
Interesting use of the word 'tout', I see it used as a verb but not how Ev used it
Looks like there's a generic sense of "Someone advertising for customers in an aggressive way.", but even more relevant here it can mean "A person, at a racecourse, who offers supposedly inside information on which horse is likely to win."
Looks like that horse racing use was also interestingly closer to the original use of the word. Fun that it was a thieves' cant as well.
A place to appreciate the twentieth century comic character Everett True of "The Outbursts of Everett True." Feel free to check out the sticky.