Today in 1920s Turkey: 2 August 1928 (Angelic Angler: Catching Fish or Selling Newspapers?)

(Cartoon by Ramiz, Akbaba or “Vulture/White-Bearded Old Man,” 2 August 1928, no. 589, page 1.)

Türkçe
(Üstte)
Küçük hanım av peşinde…
(Altta)
— Beş dakika oldu hala bir tane avlayamadım. Meğer, balık avlamak, alık avlamaktan daha güçmüş!

English
(Above)
The little lady is after some prey…
(Below)
— It’s been five minutes and I still haven’t caught a single one. It turns out that baiting fish is harder than baiting fools!

Comments:
Unlike most images from the popular press, the present illustration was printed in color. Because printing in color costs more than the common black ink, more frequently-issued journals such as Akbaba used color sparingly, only employing it during holidays or in response to a compelling current event. Yet, August 2, the day of this publication was not a holiday and the fact that the front-page illustration is an innocuous fisher-woman suggests that no specific event is being underscored with the employment of eye-catching colors.

It is likely that bright colors grace the front page of today’s magazine precisely because there is no news and perhaps, during the lazy summer months, journal sales have decreased due to favorable weather, and this is a subtle marketing ploy. What kind of imagery might an editor call upon to sell magazines during a slow season? As it turns out, humanity was already well aware of the fact that sex sells back in the 1920s… It is no accident that the pretty woman who occupies almost the entire front page is also wearing a bright red bathing suit and skull cap. Red is the most noticeable color on the spectrum and when encountered on the shelves of the newspaper stand or dangling off the arms of a newspaper boy the image of the young belle precariously perched on the edge of a boat would have attracted the attention of many passers-by.

Perhaps the artist, Ramiz, sensed the hidden function of his cover illustration and intended for the cartoon’s accompanying text to hold significance on two levels. The first and obvious “clever” attribute of the woman’s words is her declaration that hunting fish is harder than hunting for foolish men. This playfully pseudo-scientific observation is enhanced with the added rhyming between the original Turkish words “balık/fish” and “alık/fool.” The claim suggests that fools are less intelligent than fish and constitute easy prey to menacing women. Indeed, while fish may not bite for up to five minutes, men, according to the flagrant claims of this woman, would have never made her wait so long. Besides this straightforward interpretation it may be possible to apply the same logic to the readership whom the artist knows might be more inclined to purchase this issue of the magazine if the cover included a pretty woman in a bathing suit on it. The way the woman looks out at the reader and while smirking could be the artist’s way of signaling his awareness of the situation. Indeed, even her line trails off to the left of frame, what or who is hooked on it is up to the imagination of the beholder.

This article has been updated and modified from its first iteration published right here on Steemit on 3 August 2017. For the original version see:
100. Today in 1920s Turkey: 2 August 1928 (Angelic Angler: Catching Fish or Selling Newspapers?)

(Entire page, Akbaba or “Vulture/White-Bearded Old Man,” 2 August 1928, no. 589, page 1.)