162. Today in 1920s Turkey: 25 April 1926 (A Drunkard Who Doesn't Need Help)
(Cartoon by Cemal Nadir, Papağan or “Parrot,” 25 April 1926, no. 121, page 4.)
Türkçe
Meyhaneci: Haydi bakalım, çek arabanı!
Sarhoş: İtme yahu, ben kendi kendime düşerim…
English
Bartender: Come on, move it along!
Drunkard: Don’t push, will ya! I will fall on my own…
Comments:
This cartoon features a drunk man getting “kicked out” of a second-floor bar. As the bar owner’s boot hits the former patron’s rump on the right, an ominous staircase beckons his imminent fall. Perhaps less in the imagery and more in the dialogue, the cartoon’s humor lies in the words of the drunk-man. In speaking back to his aggressor, the drunkard seems at first to have had the last word, or at least, verbally asserted his sovereignty over his personal domain. Yet the words that came out of his mouth, true to the unsound logic of the drunk mind, claim no such control and rather, demonstrate just how unfit he is to carry himself.
That said, while the drunk-man may be silly in declaring a premeditated ability to fall he is also highlighting the cruelty of the bar owner. Indeed, the man does seem drunk enough to fall on his own, thus, what is the point of pushing him? There is also an inherent insidiousness in selling a man so many drinks that he cannot stand up straight, and then kicking him out onto the street in that inebriated condition. Perhaps the bar owner or bar tender (meyhaneci) should have cut him off earlier rather than continuing to take his money in exchange for the intoxicating substance.
The cartoon's artist, Cemal Nadir (“Güler”) was a prolific cartoonist of the 1920s and beyond. Today in 1920s Turkey has covered several of his works and these cartoons display the artist’s range in styles and subjects. He is especially skilled in considering issues of urban life, hardships, and deception. For his other cartoons see:
45. Istanbul’s Request for the New Year
52. Alcohol and Astronomy Don’t Mix
113. A Cartoon Both Crazy and a Bit Creepy
(Entire page, Papağan or “Parrot,” 25 April 1926, no. 121, page 4. Hakkı Tarık Us Collection, Beyazıt State Library, Istanbul.)