Ellis Parker Butler was an American author in the first half of the 20th century. He was the author of more than 30 books and more than 2,000 stories and essays, and is most famous for his short story Pigs is Pigs. His writing spanned more than forty years and his stories, poems and articles were published in more than 225 magazines. More of this popular authors fun, a bundle of absurd complications and ridiculous situations arising from a young married couples scheme to provide funds for their year-old sons education. They decide to finance their babys college education by collecting a toll on any goods brought into their home by friends or family members. The Cheerful Smugglers is a veritable Stocktonian story, as delightfully absurd in theme as it is realistic in characterization.