Eurovision 1979: A postcard problem solved

Thanks a bucketload or five to Boom Bang a Blog reader Darrell Frye, who has answered my question about what the miggins was going on in the postcard film that preceded the German entry at Eurovision 1979. To refresh your memory, it showed two rascals on the roof of a cottage, dangling a fishing rod down a chimney. You can see it for yourself at the beginning of this clip here.

It turns out it's a reference to the hugely popular German children's book, Max and Moritz, which tells of seven pranks performed by a pair of very naughty young pups.

Therefore, the Israeli mime artistes were performing the second of the seven tricks described in the book, which dates back to 1865.

Second Trick: The Widow II As the widow cooks her chickens, the boys sneak onto her roof. When she leaves her kitchen momentarily, the boys steal the chickens using a fishing pole down the chimney. The widow hears her dog barking and hurries upstairs, finds the hearth empty and beats the dog.

Y'see, Eurovision's not all daft pop, there's some European children's literature to learn about too. You can find out more about Max and Moritz's behaviour, which would no doubt earn them as ASBO today, right here.