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February 25, 2008

History's Mys-tea-ries

Would you care to join me for some tea?

Oh, I'm sorry—did I forget to mention this is NAZI TEA?

This is, in fact, a real Nazi teacup. It was in some things of my late grandfather that my family recently sorted through.

As you can see, one side of the teacup has the initials F.K. with the date and location: Mons, 1940. My grandfather was in Mons, Belgium on Christmas, 1944 (see the second picture here), and must have gotten it then. The other side has the Nazi eagle and swastika.

But why would being in Mons in 1940 make the German army want to commission a batch of commemorative Nazi teacups?

Because Mons was where the final shot of World War I was fired.

And that's why I can offer you some delicious, virtual Nazi tea almost ninety years later here in February, 2008.

—Jonathan Schwarz

Posted at February 25, 2008 10:23 PM
Comments

Of course you would cherish such a treasure, you're a liberal. Fascists are tea drinkers, that's why the Founders staged the Boston Tea Party.

Posted by: Jonah at February 25, 2008 11:04 PM

Heh heh. He said shot. In Mons. Heh heh.

Posted by: beavis at February 25, 2008 11:54 PM

Is this grandpa Lewis Hanke, or the other one?

Posted by: En Ming Hee at February 26, 2008 12:41 AM

Watched Repo Man, then went online and found this . . . weirdness . . . there is no explanation . . .

Posted by: Monkay at February 26, 2008 01:19 AM

Isn't the cup actually in celebration of the Nazi victory over France, since it is in 1940?

Posted by: MFB at February 26, 2008 01:46 AM

well, this is a new record for inanity....

as for the comment about my going to Grozny being over the top, I am planning a weekend there, the city is these days relatively secure, and I like to check out exotic places. I like contrasts too, the exoticism of a place like Chechnya, or a 19 year old Ukrainian girl, is heightened by comparison to the inanity to be found on websites like this one : )

Posted by: xyz at February 26, 2008 04:52 AM

World War I was ALL RALPH NADER'S FAULT!!!!!!!

Posted by: AlanSmithee at February 26, 2008 07:32 AM

F. K.? Franz Kafka?

Posted by: cavjam at February 26, 2008 09:09 AM

Tastes like . . . Sieg!

Posted by: Hogan at February 26, 2008 10:24 AM

how much are those going for on ebay, i wonder.

Posted by: almostinfamous at February 26, 2008 12:16 PM

Are you trying to pull a fast one, Jon? That looks more like cappuccino...yeah, vanilla cappuccino.

Posted by: at February 26, 2008 02:08 PM

i feel so relieved now that jonah has let me in on the secret -- tea drinkers are fascist, our founding fathers drank tea and, therefore, were fascists, the founding fathers founded america; ipso facto, america has, since founding, been a fascist country!

whee! i don't have to be worried any more!

thank you jonah!

Posted by: karen marie at February 26, 2008 02:29 PM

dont you mean 70 years?

Posted by: someguy at February 26, 2008 03:15 PM

nevermind you were talking about the shot in ww1 sorry!

Posted by: someguy at February 26, 2008 03:16 PM

The most interesting thing about the cup is all of it's jutting angularity, bone whiteness and wide lip to small base ratio seems so ... NAZI!

Posted by: john in california at February 26, 2008 06:27 PM