My grandfather, A.W. Goerdel, was a printer and at one time published a newspaper in Pflugerville, Texas.  

My strongest recollections of Grandpa and Grandma Goerdel are probably from when I was around five years old in the early 1950’s.  They were typical grandparents of that age with a German heritage so that we understood that children should be seen and not heard.  I even remember when they finally got electricity and plumbing in their home, and in those days, Grandma never bought things like bread from the store - everything was always homemade.   

I remember going to his workshop at the age of  6 or 7. At that time he had already retired the newspaper but he still had his printing business.  My dad also followed him into the printing business, as he started working for Grandpa in the 3rd grade setting type and delivering newspapers, followed by a career in typesetting.  My folks talked about the newspaper and his column, Uncle Joe’s Short Snorts.  It was a reflection of the time and how people felt in that day.  They told us how much fun it was and that the town loved reading the column.  It seemed to be more of a gossip column, although no names were ever mentioned, and touched on topics relevant to the community.    Eventually my dad got some of the materials from the newspaper including a ledger that had all of the Uncle Joe’s Short Snorts clippings. As an adult I had a chance to read them and developed a real appreciation for my Grandpa’s work.  It gave me a chance to see a whole different side of my grandpa – especially his sense of humor -  that I didn’t see as a young child.  

I’ve been asked how I came about illustrating quips from this column.  I thought some of the quotes were very interesting or funny.  I’ve always been interested in that time period and have always loved the art of the 20s, 30s, and 40s, the styles of clothing, automobile designs, even the architecture.  So as an artist my initial reaction was that I would love to illustrate some of those quips.  I have done that over the years, and will continue to do so as time permits. I’ll never run out of material!

I have fond memories of Grandpa Goerdel smoking his pipe and cane pole fishing.  He would sit for hours with his legs crossed, fishing and talking.  I was listening but I was young and didn’t catch it all!  Still, I have incorporated those memories in some of my paintings depicting my Grandpa.