A bazooka is a light-weight portable anti-tank weapon from which armour-piercing missiles are launched at armoured vehicles. It is also a piece of bubblegum.
Which came first and from whence did the first one get its name and why was the second one named after the first one (or was it)?
Joe Bazooka was a comic in the 1920/1930's and bazooka gum used to (for all i know still does) have small comic stripe 'jokes' in the wax paper that wraped the penny gum.(2 for a penny if you're old enough)
at the start of WWII, Joe Bazooka hung up his boxing gloves, and become a fighting hero (well first he went to boot camp, (and was the camp boxing champion, and beloved by all his fellow soldiers).
i think the there is some connections between the comic boxing champ the light weight anti tank gun (the gun connections is well established)
(for years Joe Bazooka had a large prominent place in NYC comics. The Daily News carried the strip) You might be able to find more info about the comic, -several books have included Joe Bazooka in collections or early comics.
The A-H and Topps (makers of Bazooka bubblegum) both point to a musical instrument (a slide kazoo) created in the thirties by Bob Burns (a comedian) called a bazooka as the origin of the name of the bubblegum and the WW2 anti-tank weapon. Furthermore, Topps says that Bazooka Joe, the comic, was first created in 1953. The jeep (general purpose vehicle) on the other hand did get its name from the Popeye comicstrip.
http://www.topps.com/Confectionery/conf_history.htmlhttp://www.bartleby.com/61/53/B0125300.htmlhttp://www.geocities.com/captainkazoo/burns.html
Helen, could you be thinking of Joe Palooka? He was the boxer in the long-ago comic strip, which was a favorite of mine when I was a wee mite. There was also a Bazooka Joe, which I think was a hero figure invented by the bubblegum outfit--sort of an earlier version of Captain Crunch. None of this answers Father Steve's query. The bazooka weapon dates back to the WWII era. I remember, when I was drafted into the US Army in the 50's, having to fire a bazooka during basic training.
yep, it could be joe palooka.. (it was definately pre WWII) and yes, he was a boxer.
(it was one of the comics i didn't read--i didn't always understand the terms uses (sports terms) and wasn't much interested in the adventures of a boxer anyway.. Now ask me about brenda starr (the girl reporter with stars in her eyes!) i am sure i would know/remember more!
According to AHD4, the weapon gets its name from the musical instrument.
http://www.bartleby.com/61/53/B0125300.htmlWhat? Never heard of a musical instrument called a bazooka?
http://www.geocities.com/scottfranklinhall/bazooka.html
So ... musical instrument first, then either weapon or bubble gum second, but which?
both point to a musical instrument (a slide kazoo)Q: What's that you say? X: Felix caught yer finger. Q: Pull? X: Maybe you forgot to take it out of idle or threaded mold. Q: Nah, forgot to quote in context. X: Nah? Q: Ignore the Franklyn Embalmer churlish behind the courting. X: Try again in twelvemonth. Q: Back to tha ba-sheep. X:
There, there, nuncle. It'll be all right in just a little while.
It'll be all right in just a little while.
Parbleu! yer rite. 'Tis a bad nite's sleep that tenderizes the brain.
Wasn't it "Joe Palooka" who was the boxer?
Apparently so. See slithy tove's post above.
I guess I should scan, not skim! Oh, dear, however, flime ties!
Thanks, Father Steve. Have a good week.
Thank you, Jackie.
I will be "off line" for the next week as I go to the beautiful Cascade Mountains to serve as chaplain for the Episcopal summer camp of this diocese. My sweet bride will accompany me. The hope is that, with 125 campers, 25 staff and one wife, I will be sufficiently supervised not to so damage any of my body parts as to be rendered inoperable for the remains of the summer ... but we shall see.