#122: The Moon Isn't Made of Cheese After All

Three panels each with a view of both the Earth and Moon from space. The first has the caption, "For many, many years we believed the moon was made of cheese." Two stick figures standing on the earth ponder, "It's prolly gorgonzola." and "Nope, definitely swiss." The second, "We finally went...only to find it was not made of cheese." with an astronaut standing on the moon exclaiming, "Y'all it's just dust!?" The final panel concludes, "We've never been back." with the two earth-bound stick figures turning their attention, "Mars looks cool." and "I wonder why it's red."

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The Story Behind The Moon Isn't Made of Cheese After All

I vaguely recall hearing stories about the man in the moon and the moon being made of cheese from my childhood, but the first time I actually came across the metaphor in my adulthood was in John Wilkins' "A Discovery of a New World". Which, by the way, is a fun read if you're crazy enough to attempt it; it dates to the time when the long s "ſ" was used in writing. I've never actually encountered any proof that there was once a true belief that the moon was made of cheese. I'll lump this one in with Schrödinger's cat as a metaphor of absurdity that got a little carried away.

Plain Text Description of The Moon Isn't Made of Cheese After All

Three panels each with a view of both the Earth and Moon from space. The first has the caption, "For many, many years we believed the moon was made of cheese." Two stick figures standing on the earth ponder, "It's prolly gorgonzola." and "Nope, definitely swiss." The second, "We finally went...only to find it was not made of cheese." with an astronaut standing on the moon exclaiming, "Y'all it's just dust!?" The final panel concludes, "We've never been back." with the two earth-bound stick figures turning their attention, "Mars looks cool." and "I wonder why it's red."