Kurt Vonnegut "Breakfast of Champions" Question

[Javdogjavdog]

This if for any Vonnegut experts out there. Why does the picture of the bomb in "Breakfast of Champions" say "Goodbye Blue Monday" on it? I know that it is the subtitle of the book, but what does the drawing mean?

http://www.vonnegut.com/images/art/aug06/01adios.jpg

Any info would be groovy.

Thanks.

[IJ Reilly]

Here's what I understand to be the source. The slogan "Goodbye Blue Monday" was coined in the 1930s by a company which was trying to develop an automatic clothes washing machine. The washing machine failed, but the company sold some of the technology they'd developed for the washing machine to the government, which used it for bomb detonation mechanisms. Apparently the company held onto the slogan even as it changed over from making washers to bombs. If it's true (and I suppose it is), this would be perfect example of those dark ironies that Vonnegut loved so well.

Of course, you might as well ask yourself why the novel was titled "Breakfast of Champions." ;)

[Sdashiki]

...and he had a penis 3 inches long and 5 inches in girth....

[Javdogjavdog]

Thank you. I appreciate the response. That story sounds very familiar, actually. I seem to recall now "Blue Monday" was wash day for the American domestic. OK, that makes sense. I was having no luck on Google with this earlier. But since I added "wash day" to the search, I found this:

http://www.5minutesformom.com/1229/org-blue-monday/

The World Wide Web or "Internet" is a great tool.

Cheers.

[IJ Reilly]

Doesn't this reference also appear in the book? I don't remember -- it's probably been 30 years since I read it last. In which case, Vonnegut probably made up the washing-machine-to-bomb company story as a device to illustrate his feelings about the essentially amoral qualities of industry, technology and science.

[foidulus]

the company in question is called "Barrytron Limited" and they are also the ones that end up polluting the river, although they try to be environmentally aware....