SUE DE GROOT: On the subject of Barack Obama's Long Johns
'At least Obama wore trousers over his Long Johns, unlike the brazen Sullivan'
EXTRACT
You’d think a phalanx of square-jawed chaps in black suits and sunglasses with spiral wires coming out of their ears furtively pawing through racks of size-skinny flannels in a department store would have been noticed by someone, but perhaps the assistant and all the other shoppers who witnessed this spectacle had to sign non-disclosure agreements. Or maybe their memories were modified with those flashy things from Men in Black.
Anyway. What I did find out is that Long Johns, made in large quantities for chilly American soldiers during World War 2, were most likely named after a 19th-century boxer called John L Sullivan, a trendsetter who instead of the usual shorts wore full-length, skin-tight underpants into the ring.
Did you know that Long Johns, before they became waist-to-ankle underwear, were sweet pastries served in bars? I did not know this until I went online to try and find out where former US president Barack Obama sent the secret service to buy the woolly tights he wore underneath his trousers when he gave that speech at the icy Wanderers stadium on Tuesday. Try as I might, however, I could not find out where the secret service went to buy their boss’s thermal leggings. I suppose that’s why they’re called the secret service.You’d think a phalanx of square-jawed chaps in black suits and sunglasses with spiral wires coming out of their ears furtively pawing through racks of size-skinny flannels in a department store would have been noticed by someone, but perhaps the assistant and all the other shoppers who witnessed this spectacle had to sign non-disclosure agreements. Or maybe their memories were modified with those flashy things from Men in Black. Anyway. What I did find out is that Lo...
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