Britannia and the British Empire what Marianne is to France or perhaps what Columbia is to the United States. Britannia became a very potent and more common figure in times of war, and represented British liberties and democracy. During the 1990s the term "Cool Britannia" (drawn from a humorous version by the Bonzo Dog Band of the song "Rule Britannia", with words by James Thomson [1700–1748], which is often used as an unofficial national anthem), was used to describe the contemporary United Kingdom. The phrase referred to the fashionable scenes of the era, with a new generation of pop groups and
Our Own Oddities Our Own Oddities Our Own Oddities is an illustrated panel that ran in the Sunday comics section of the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" from 1940 to 1990. The feature displayed curiosities submitted by local readers and is often remembered for its drawings of freakish produce, such as a potato that resembled Richard Nixon. The style of the panel was very similar to "Ripley's Believe it or Not!". When it began September 1, 1940, it was titled St. Louis Oddities. Graczak retired from the newspaper in 1980, but he continued to produce the panel for ten more years in addition to doing