Some of you can remember back in the 1970s when mood rings were a big fad (sort of like the pet rock). They were especially popular with young girls. The theory behind the mood ring was that body heat fluctuates with the emotional state of the wearer . . . and the ring was attuned to the body’s temperature. None of this was ever established scientifically, of course, but, like most fads, it provided some fun for people especially for comedians and cartoonists.

For example, in a 1976 Peanuts comic strip, Peppermint Patty gets so angry at Charlie Brown that her mood ring explodes. Now that’s a bad mood!

My favorite example of mood ring humor, however, concerns a woman who reported that her husband was unhappy with her mood swings. So he bought her a mood ring. He hoped he would be able to …