THE FUNNY OLD BAG

When big Howie makes fun of old Mr. Gugelhupf and the funny black bag he carries, all the other kids in the housing project laugh, but Joel (the boy in Fat Ernest, KR, 1973) ""could not stop thinking about that old bag."" Then Howie, showing off, falls in the snow and Mr. Gugelhupf fixes his leg with salve and bandages from his bag -- which he got in the habit of carrying when ""I used to be a doctor in my younger days."" After that it's milk and cookies for all at the Gugelhupfs', with Joel proudly carrying the bag -- and telling Valerie on the way home that ""I'm going to be a doctor when I grow up."" Just a bag of old tricks after all.