Pandemic Panacea: Laughing through Quarantine

Pandemic Panacea is a collection of cartoons juxtaposing old magazine photos with crisp new captions. These absurdist cartoons are reminiscent of Gary Larson. Each cartoon first appeared as a postcard sent to a friend to share a laugh. On March 12, 2020, I began self-isolation, sheltering from the Covid 19 pandemic. I set about on a bit of house cleaning, ran across a box of Popular Mechanics magazines from the 1940s and '50s. They were full of racy race cars, speed thrills, and most of all rampant hilarity. Not intentionally humorous but rendered absurd with the passing of decades. So, I started to cut out vintage photographs and images to Scotch tape to an index card. At first, the cards were oddities—the sweeping fins on the cars or the peculiar fashions. Then I started adding captions. I laughed more—an anti-pandemic laugh. Laughter is communal. So I decided to make other people laugh—write a caption, imagine a friend laughing, put a stamp on it, and send it off. The first few mont