Richer than Bim Gump

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hello, my name is Jessie Tutte, and I’m calling from Terrell, Texas.

Well, hello, Jessie. Welcome to the program.

Thank you. It’s fun to be on.

What can we do for you?

Well, there’s an expression that my family used that I have actually never heard outside of my family, and it’s richer than Ben Gump.

Richer than Ben Gump?

Right, or more money than Ben Gump.

-huh.

Now, how are you spelling the person with all the money?

Well, you know, your guess is as good as mine. I would say G-U-M-P for Paul, but I don’t know. I’ve never seen it written.

It was if somebody bought a new car or went shopping or something like that, the expression was, well, you must have more money than Ben Gump or they must be richer than Ben Gump.

And where did you hear this growing up?

I grew up in Western Canada.

Okay.

And we mostly lived in Alberta, but, you know, I think we were mostly around my mother’s family, but I remember it was a well-used expression.

Jessie, there’s a great story behind this expression.

Oh, it’s great.

Yes, yes, yes.

Now, the expression is actually richer than Bim Gump.

Bim?

B-I-M.

B-I-M, okay.

And the story behind this expression is that it comes from an old newspaper comic strip that began running in newspapers in this country around, I think it was 1917, and it ran for more than 40 years.

And it was a comic strip called The Gumps, and it was about the Gump family.

Now, Gump is an old slang term for a foolish person.

Oh, is it really?

Yes, yes.

How do you spell that?

G-U-M-P, just like Forrest.

I was right.

Oh, fun.

Yeah, you were right about that.

And a family of Gumps, Andy Gump, who was known as the inventor of the flower pot, so you know that it’s a goofy family. That was Andy’s claim to fame.

There was his wife and a wisecracking maid and their kid and their cat.

But they also had a very rich uncle named Uncle Bim.

B-I-M.

And Uncle Bim was this gullible millionaire who was always getting taken and falling for these really stupid schemes.

But the really interesting thing about this comic strip is that it was wildly popular during the Great Depression.

Everybody was reading this comic strip.

And part of the appeal was that they were doing things in this comic strip that people hadn’t seen in cartoons before.

It was a very realistic comic strip, even though they were goofy people.

Because, for example, Andy Gump invested a whole bunch of money in the stock market and lost it.

There were characters who got sick.

One of them actually died, and that was the first time that a character in a newspaper comic strip had died.

And people were just distraught.

Oh, for heaven’s sake.

All over the country.

You know, it was kind of like the sitcom of the Great Depression and afterward.

It became super popular.

There were all these marketing tie-ins.

Go ahead, Grant.

There was a radio show, too.

Yes, it became a radio show.

And there were actually little toys and collectibles associated with the Gump family.

So with your family growing up, I’m sure your parents and the rest of your extended family were well aware of Bim Gump, the rich billionaire.

I guess that’s probably true.

Is it possible, like online or in any other format, to actually see the cartoons?

You betcha.

We will post links on our website.

Because the characters are kind of funny to look at.

None of them have chins.

It’s really weird.

When they’re talking, they just look like they have this big hole in their neck.

I’m glad I have the chance to talk about this.

It’s a really interesting story.

It sounds like it.

I’m looking forward to reading some of them.

Okay, great.

Well, thank you so much for answering the question.

Sure thing.

Okay, you have a great day.

Okay.

Bye-bye.

Thank you.

Bye now.

Well, what did your grandparents used to say that you don’t really know where it came from?

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