44. Today in 1920s Turkey: 31 December 1925 (Football Before Females)

(Illustration by İhap Hulusi Görey, Akbaba or “Vulture/White-Bearded Old Man,” 31 December 1925, no. 321, page 2.)

Comments:
As is the case in much of the world, football (or for Americans, “soccer”) is by far the most popular national pastime in Turkey today. What is perhaps less known is just how far back this passion for football can be traced. With Istanbul’s earliest football team having been established in 1899, by the 1920s football was a sport that newspapers regularly reported on and that many men found appealing to watch. Thru the dialogue below it, this composition provides a humorous comparison between two of man’s most primal distractions/pursuits: women and competitive sporting events. When faced with the choice on how to spend his time “tomorrow” the man chooses football over an attractive woman who has already promised herself to him. (Comments continued below)

English:
Man: Oh… When will you be mine?
Woman: Maybe… tomorrow!
Man: Uh… Not tomorrow, there is a football match!

Türkçe:
Erkek: Ah… Ne zaman benim olacaksın?..
Kadın: Belki… yarın!
Erkek: Ah… Yarın olmaz, futbol maçı var!..

(Entire page, Akbaba or “Vulture/White-Bearded Old Man,” 31 December 1925, no. 321, page 2.)

Additional Comments:
This image constitutes and early work by the artist, İhap Hulusi Görey (1898-1986), who became best known for his advertisement designs and posters. The artist’s work is highly recognizable by its effortless and cool graphic style and by his signature which can be found in the lower right corner of the image. His signature changed in 1928 with the advent of alphabet reform but always maintained the triangle at its center. Here, the name “İhap Hulusi” is placed above the triangle and the location “Istanbul” is below it. He began his professional career in Istanbul in the second half of the 1920s submitting works to illustrated journals such as Akbaba and later Cem.

As fate would have it, I visited an exhibition on İhap Hulusi Görey’s work while conducting field research in Istanbul in 2010. The exhibition, which was hosted by Marmara University’s Cumhuriyet (“Republic”) Museum, marked the opening of the institution’s permanent İhap Hulusi Görey Gallery for temporary exhibits. Find below an assortment of images from this museum exhibit which will provide additional examples from his oeuvre.

(Entrance banner to the exhibition including a photograph of İhap Hulusi Görey placed within his “signature” triangle, Marmara University Cumhuriyet Museum, Istanbul, 2010.)

(A banner including İhap Hulusi Görey’s post-alphabet reform signature. Compare to the signature in the original Akbaba image above. Marmara University Cumhuriyet Museum, Istanbul, 2010.)

(As assortment of some of İhap Hulusi Görey’s iconic compositions. Marmara University Cumhuriyet Museum, Istanbul, 2010.)

(An advertisement by İhap Hulusi Görey for fabrics “for all citizens: villagers and city people” for sale at all Sümerbank stores. Marmara University Cumhuriyet Museum, Istanbul, 2010.)

(A copy of the famous 1932 book on the new Turkish alphabet. Its iconic cover was designed by İhap Hulusi Görey at the request of President Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The artist's signature is located in the lower left corner of the cover. Republic’s Education Museum collection, Istanbul, 2010.)