The Violent Noah’s Ark Boys
Allan Holtz calls himself "the stripper". (He's a comic-strip historian.) On his blog, he recently directed his readers' attention to the Noah's Ark Boys — an odd series drawn by Ben McCutcheon that briefly ran in the Chicago Sunday Tribune back in 1911.
Holtz explains that the Noah's Ark Boys strip was inspired by the Noah's Ark figurines that were (and still are) the toys of choice in many religious homes. Children were supposed to learn wholesome Biblical values by playing with these toys. But McCutcheon evidently learned a slightly darker lesson, because every week his strip concluded with the Boys on the receiving end of some kind of horrific violence: burnt, blown apart, frozen, crushed, etc. Although the Bible is pretty violent, when it comes down to it. So maybe he did get the right message.
Click the images to enlarge.
Holtz explains that the Noah's Ark Boys strip was inspired by the Noah's Ark figurines that were (and still are) the toys of choice in many religious homes. Children were supposed to learn wholesome Biblical values by playing with these toys. But McCutcheon evidently learned a slightly darker lesson, because every week his strip concluded with the Boys on the receiving end of some kind of horrific violence: burnt, blown apart, frozen, crushed, etc. Although the Bible is pretty violent, when it comes down to it. So maybe he did get the right message.
Click the images to enlarge.
Comments
Strang stuff but I guess Grandpa would have gotten a kick out of it. Hed've been about 9 at the time.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 09/17/12 at 08:53 AM
STRANG: A word, recently coined and yet to be widely accepted by linguistic authorities, supposedly meaning "strange" or "weird". Origin, unknown.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 09/17/12 at 08:55 AM
It is a strang little cartoon. My grandma was a year old in 1911.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 09/17/12 at 10:25 AM
I see inspiration for the Roadrunner / Coyote cartoons.
Posted by KDP on 09/17/12 at 12:50 PM
Mr. Bill was a descendant of this.
Posted by tadchem on 09/17/12 at 03:01 PM
OH NO MR. BILL!! :lol:
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 09/17/12 at 08:09 PM
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Category: Religion | Violence | Comics