What Are Words Worth, Longfellow?

When, I wonder, did the custom of putting writing all over the place begin? We've turned the entire world into personal billboards, with clothing labels turning brand names into fashion statements, bumper stickers telling everyone our child is student of the month at Mrs. Dunkles Day Care, luggage with the maker's logo writ large, and so on. By the way, have I mentioned lately that my cartoons are available on t-shirts, mugs, mouse pads, hoodies, and aprons? I have it on good authority that some people are having them tatooed on their bodies. There's even a nonegenarian in Topeka, Kansas who has one covering her back. It tickles the heck out of her nurses in the senior citizens' home when they give her sponge baths.