SOR PAMPURIO

Sor Pampurio is one of the historical characters of Italian comics, published weekly in the pages of the Corriere dei Piccoli from 1929 to 1941 by the illustrator Carlo Bisi.
As for other characters, the stories of Sor Pampurio also lack the classic balloons and the writings are inserted in the boxes under the illustration, in perfect rhyme kissed with stanzas of two lines.
The nursery rhyme always begins with the customary phrase "Sor Pampurio is very happy with his new apartment ..." and in fact the characteristic of this bizarre character is that of constantly changing his home, because he is always dissatisfied. After a series of unbearable vicissitudes that involve his wife Pampuria, his son, the cat, the canary and the maid in turn, at the end of each story the Sor Pampurio is always forced to move, with the hope of finding that domestic peace that is not never arrives. The story then ends with the classic phrase "... and he decides to change his apartment."

Sor Pampurio is an unmistakably characterized character with a goatee on his chin and a top hat, hiding his bald head, framed by two round skeins of hair. She also wears a huge red bow tie, a blue overcoat and a pair of shoes with the toes curved upwards. Sor Pampurio represents the petty bourgeois of the twenties, when small manias and neuroses dictated by consumerism began to appear in our society. In reality, the profession that Sor Pampurio practiced is not known, but it is clear that he was a rather demanding type, who could hardly tolerate any slightest problem concerning his housing sphere.
The causes could be the most varied such as the noises of the neighbors, the smog of cars, the arrival of the mother-in-law or some condominium problem, the fact is that from the enthusiasm for his new home he passed to furious anger, in men that is not said.

In the table published on November 22, 1931, we find Sor Pampurio arcicontento for his new home, which promises not to have to move anymore. Not far from his home there is a cinema that advertises the films of the actors of the moment: Greta Garbo, Charlie Chaplin, John Gilbert and many others. This distracts the maid, who passes nearby every morning to do the shopping. His constant delays, send Mrs. Pampuria into a rage, who then forces her husband to move house, possibly not near a cinema.
He faces the same problem related to the cinema when he goes with his son to see a Tarzan film. When he returns home, the wild child wants to relive the exploits of his favorite hero and so, he turns the house upside down by climbing all over the place. Once again in Sor Pampurio all that remains is to look for a new apartment.

In another story we find Sor Pampurio and his family, happy to have moved to an apartment building with a lift. This news reaches the ears of his uncle Calcagna, who comes from the countryside and wants to experience these city novelties. Unfortunately, as they go up, the lift stops and after being freed by the technicians, they are forced to walk up 106 steps.
Uncle Calcagna never misses an opportunity to make fun of city houses and for this reason, Sor Pampurio decides to change his apartment, to have one possibly without a lift.

After conferring his diploma at the Academy of Fine Arts in Parma, Carlo Bisi joined the artistic movement of Futurism. Also distinguished as an excellent caricaturist, his design refers to the deco style typical of the XNUMXs. As an illustrator he has worked for the most important publishing houses such as Utet, Garzanti and Sonzogno, venturing into the classics of children's literature such as David Copperfield and Pinocchio.

Sor Pampurio and all names, images and registered trademarks are Copyright © Corriere dei Piccoli and Carlo Bisi and are used here for cognitive and informative purposes.