The Eiffel Tower’s senses-shattering origin – Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact Vol. 24, No. 16

Here’s a bit of trivia: If you go to the real Eiffel Tower, the one in Paris, France, Europe, Earth, Sol System, there’s no giant disembodied head with a neatly trimmed beard floating nearby. Just so you know. And so you won’t ask an insufferable Frenchman in a thick, beefy American accent, “Hey fella, where’s that there floatin’ head at?” Stupeed Ahmehreecan…

Despite the mild inaccuracy, this edition of Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact does indeed have, you guessed it, some facts about the Eiffel Tower within. Not a ton, though, and not a ton of fun either. A snuff box of fun and fact.  

Lest we forget, Treasure Chest was a Catholic Church-backed publication, handed out for free to students in parochial schools, with the occasional moral tale to leaven the comic shenanigans within. The series lasted forever, with a number of continuing features coming and going over the years, in addition to the many, many one-offs. We’ve looked at an issue here before, but not one with the star wattage of the La Tour Eiffel (itself no stranger to the world of comics). This cover story traces the arduous creation of the structure, scheduled for completion in time for the French Revolution’s centennial in 1889. Gustave Eiffel had to confront pecuniary challenges and disbelieving contemporaries to build his eponymous phallic symbol:

Spoiler: It got built:

Not exactly the best read, but hey, what do you want?

There are the usual backups and such, including two one-page collections of random factoids (fittingly enough), both of which look like they could be any random Golden Age Wheaties ad. The first revolves around all-time diminutive ballplayer Eddie Gaedel — and the cartoon does no justice to the actuality:

And then there’s founding father Alexander Hamilton, the relentlessly ambitious womanizer who was the brains behind the American political experiment:

Honestly, I’d rank “the purchase of West Point” fairly low on Mr. Hamilton’s biography. No mention of The Federalist Papers? Constitution? Hello? Bueller?

And that’s that. Wasn’t that fun and fact-filled?