Uncle Vernon Tiptoe Through the Tulips (was: Mrs. Figg's 'Cat among the Pixi

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 93689

Neri wrote:
Since we seem to be on a roll of "I didn't get it" posts, can 
somebody explain to me what was the point in:
<snip> 
"Uncle Vernon stayed at home again. After burning all the 
letters, he  got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks 
around the  front and back doors so no one could go out. He 
hummed "Tiptoe through  the  Tulips" as he worked, and 
jumped at small noises."
<snip> But what was the joke? Or at least, what does it say about Vernon?
 
Potioncat:
<snip> In the late '60's or early '70's there was a comedian in 
the  U.S. who played a ukulele and sang "Tiptoe Through the 
Tulips" in a  very high voice.  His name was Tiny Tim  <snip> 

Pippin:
Tim's schtick was being a harmless weirdo: flowerchild looks, 
without the sex drugs and rock'n'roll. <snip> The joke is that 
Vernon, in his attempts to defend his household from weirdness, is
getting pretty weird himself.
 
Pippin
dating herself

Carol responds to everybody:
Weird yet still respectable, maybe? I think the joke works even
without bringing Tiny Tim into it. Can't you just imagine Uncle Vernon
singing, "Knee deep in flowers we'll stray/We'll keep the showers
away"? (It's the kind of thing my ex and I used to sing at Shakey's
Pizza Parlor when we were just old enough to legally drink beer. Of
course, we needed a stein or two first to lose our inhibitions, but it
was still good clean fun.)

Anyway the idea, IMO, is that Uncle Vernon is so absurdly happy that
he's singing a ridiculous, outdated Muggle song (which I believe is
actually from the 1940s, when he was either very young or not yet
born), but also that he seems to be losing his grip on sanity, as
indicated by nailing up the windows and doors. Which raises the
question of how they got out to get to the island a day or so later.
("Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?")

Carol, also dating herself and imagining Uncle Vernon following the
bouncing ball on the movie screen as he chugs his beer and smiles happily