Down at the Skonk Works

[Shelley Hanson/KlezmerAllThatJazz]

Barks may have had Donald work at the Skunk Oil Factory, but another
possible explanation may involve another famous American cartoon which had a
couple of grungy characters who worked "down at the skonk works" -- see Al
Capp's strip "Li'l Abner." In fact, the workers at one American secret
research facility during World War II called their project "the skunk works"
as a humorous code phrase.

Don Markstein, help! Can you refer to your vast knowledge and files to shed
a little more light on this? Which came first, Al Capp's Skonk Works or
Donald's job?

BTW, non-native English speakers: "skonk works" is an intentionally wrong
spelling Al Capp used to indicate a regional pronunciation from the South --
specifically, the Ozarks, of which Arkansas is a part (where former Pres.
Bill Clinton was Governor before his election as President). The characters
are supposed to be uneducated low-class fellows.