'Rich Whitey,' Er, Rich Whitney, for Illinois Governor

'Rich Whitey,' Er, Rich Whitney, for Illinois Governor
A Dropped-Letter Typo Can Lead to Unfortunate Consequences
Publish Date: 10/14/2010
Rich Whitney, candidate for Illinois governor, is none too happy with the Chicago Board of Elections. Proofreaders failed to notice that on the ballot, he letter "n" was omitted his last name. With the Nov. 2 election less than three weeks hence and early voting already underway, it's too late for reprints.

Ironically, the candidate no doubt is anything but a Rich Whitey. He hails from the humble and socialistic Green Party, and so he favors "sharing the wealth," as candidate Barack Obama once told Joe the Plumber.

"We don't have any idea what affect that has had on voters," said Green Party Chairman Phil Huckelberry, who hounded election commissioners without success to resolve the unfortunate typo.

This causes me to look back on some dropped-letter typos that I've observed through the years.

Way back in the 1970s, football placekicker Jim Turner of the Denver Broncos was lining up for a field goal attempt. The graphics editor for the NBC television screen intended to superimpose, "Jim Turner, the first non-Mormon to attend Utah State." Sadly for Jim, the second "m" in Mormon was dropped.

There was an ad for Arrow T-Shirts in my hometown Saginaw News. Somehow, the "r" in shirts came up missing. Perhaps some tomfoolery was involved, in that the linotype pressmen were unhappy with their union contract.

Sometimes, a misspelling can provoke howls. From 1965: "Pee Soup Fog Gathers in Saginaw Valley." The editors chased down the distribution trucks when they noticed the faux pas and called them back to the loading docks. Thousands of corrected reprints were demanded.

Then there are times when all the words are spelled properly. But still ......

"Police Find Crack in Drug Suspect's Underwear."

SOURCE

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/14/AR2010101406411.html