Somewhere Ann Richards is rolling in her grave...

Every once in awhile the museum staff is sent books to review. Most of the time, they are just new books on old subjects. Nothing terribly exciting. Depending on the topic or historic relevance of the book to our museum, someone on our staff may be asked to take a book home with them, read it and write a short review for the author or publisher. Generally speaking, the majority of these review requests are handled by the museum’s Executive Director, and I only hear about them later on (if at all).

So, imagine my surprise when my boss came into my office last week giggling uncontrollably and telling me about something, “I had to see to believe.” Having no idea what he was talking about, I got up from my desk and followed him down the hall into his office. Once there, he handed me two children’s paperback volumes. Both were brightly illustrated paper doll books. The first one contained famous Texas men and the other famous Texas women.

Not understanding why my boss found the two books so (obviously) amusing, I slowly started to thumb through the pages of the book about famous Texas women.

My Boss: “Check out the one about Ann Richards.”

Me: “Uhmmmm, okay.”

And that’s when I saw the following:



*Gasp!* Poor Ann Richards being depicted in granny panties, old lady bra and thigh highs! Dear God! Was that really the best way to portray a former governor of Texas? Whatever happened to paper dolls wearing conservative one-piece bathing suits? Or full coverage slips? Is it really necessary to show them in their underwear?

And the book about famous Texas men was not a whole lot better:



I don’t know what I thought was underneath Willie Nelson’s denim jeans, but black tightie-whities definitely wasn’t it.

The book also pairs Audie Murphy (spelled M-U-R-P-H-I-E in the book), with the likes of Larry Hagman under the subheading “Movie Stars”. While it is true that Audie Murphy WAS in over 45 films, I believe his rightful place should have been under “Military Heroes” with individuals like Juan Seguin and Davy Crockett (who, might I add, was NOT a Texan. Crockett was from Tennessee, and spent less than three months in Texas before dying at the Alamo). After all, the fact that Audie Murphy was the most decorated combat soldier at the time of his death is NOT something that should be overshadowed by his later escapades in Hollywood. But I guess that is just my opinion, so whatever.

(The history dork inside me growls in frustration...)

At least my boss is planning on writing a somewhat stern review. I believe the word he used was, “inappropriate.” I couldn’t agree more.