| Stork | |
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Real Name |
None (Species) |
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First Appearance |
Unknown |
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Created by |
Unknown |
Origin[]
In European folklore, typically told to small children to eleviate the discomfort of discussing sex, the white stork delivers babies to homes though the chimney, would-be parents would inform the storks they desire an infant by placing sweets outside of their window. In some mythologies, storks collect babies from caves with stork stones, while in Slavic mythology they source babies from Vyrai, a version of Heaven strongly affiliated with birds.
Not all aspects the stork mythology are as sweet and innocent as the rest. In Poland, storks' black wings were once considered a element added to them by Satan while the white of their other feathers was added by God. In Germany, handicapped or stillborn children were considered punishment for a wrongdoing at the hands (or wings) of a stork. Especially disturbingly, children of African-American slaves prior to the Civil Rights movement would be told that they were hatched from buzzard eggs rather than delivered by stork.
A group of storks feature as an antagonistic presence in the Oswald The Lucky Rabbit cartoon Poor Papa.
Public Domain Comic Appearances[]
- Bee-29 the Bombardier #1 - Sammy the Stork messes up the delivery of a baby bear leading to his boss firing him. Sammy starts his own delivery business and after successfully delivering a baby skunk, his business starts to become successful. He eventually hires his old boss and gets back at being fired by making the stork deliver an elephant.
- Ha Ha Comics #18, 62 - In issue 18, Si Stork delivers sextuplets to the Woodchuck Family. In issue 62, Mr. Stork tries to delivery a baby hippo to the hospital but acctidenly delivers an elephant baby instead.
- Merry-Go-Round (nn) - Reprint of the story from Ha Ha Comics #62.
- Hello Buddies #55 - In humorous a cartoon, A stork paces the floor outside a hospital maternity ward.
- Funny Picture Stories v2 #5 - The Stork Brings a Baby Hippo
- Red Rabbit #4 - Stevie the Stork was born with one wing shorter than the other so he could not make baby deliveries like other storks. However because he was left behind when the others making baby deliveries, he saves the baby production factory when it caught fire. Later, He is made head of the largest baby production factory with a big desk and fine desk.
- Army & Navy Fun Parade #28 - A stork delivers a baby to an army pigeon coop.