Today in 1920s Turkey: 1 February 1926 (Beware of the Trolley Gang!)

(Cartoon by Ramiz, Akbaba or “Vulture/White-Bearded Old Man,” 1 February 1926, no. 330, page 2.)

English
Tourist: What a great country... And yet, they told us that every day many people get cut on the streets of Istanbul!
Translator/guide: They probably told you about the trolley gang!

Türkçe
Seyyah: Ne güzel memleket... Halbuki, bize, İstanbul’un sokaklarında her gün birçok adamlar kesilir demişlerdi!
Tercüman: İhtimal size tramvay kumpanyasını anlatmışlardır!

Comments:
This cartoon satirizes recurring news concerning trolley accidents and congestion in Istanbul during a time when the tourism industry is also gathering speed. Sadly, increased urbanization and the availability of (relatively) high-speed, modern transportation options often resulted in fatal clashes between pedestrians and machines. Such was the danger of walking the streets of Turkey’s most populous city that word spread to an international audience of would-be tourists. Here, we see the news that “many people get cut in the streets of Istanbul” has traveled far and wide. While “cutting” is a practice often attributed to gangs, the stout translator/guide reveals to the elderly tourists that the “cutting” is carried out by a gang of mass transportation vehicles rather than human thugs. Indeed, the word used to describe the trolley “antagonists” is kumpanya which means both “gang” and “company.” Thus, the tour guide’s claim works both figuratively and literally as such unfortunate events could be attributed to the transportation company’s lax or irresponsible safety practices. When it comes to dangerous or deadly machines like trolleys, the consequences of carelessness are not the different from premeditated, deliberate acts of violence.

Traffic in 1920s was as fast-evolving as it was fast-moving in the streets of urban Istanbul. As such, transportation-related news was a common occurrence in the press of those days. Examples of stories dealing with issues of traffic, pedestrian safety, and new/old modes of transport can be found in the following posts from the past:

Trafik Canavarı or The Beast of Bad Driving

PSA: Pedestrians, Use the Sidewalks!

Flying to the Moon in a Zeppelin

Oxcarts Are Banned from Istanbul's Streets

(Entire page, Akbaba or “Vulture/White-Bearded Old Man,” 1 February 1926, no. 330, page 2.)

This article has been updated and modified from its first iteration published right here on Steemit on 1 February 2017. For the original version see:
55. Today in 1920s Turkey: 1 February 1926 (Beware of the Trolley Gang!)