This blog began in 2007, focusing on anthrax vaccine, and later expanded to other public health and political issues. The blog links to media reports, medical literature, official documents and other materials.
Sunday, July 4, 2021
2 minute cartoon (claims to be from 1930) that lists the steps used to take over the world with bioweapon flu, media barrage, vaccines, closed shops
Could this really be from 1930? I am thinking the music sounds 1940s-ish.
It is fun no matter when it was made. Thanks to CAF for finding it.
I'm thinking it's a fake; it's styled to look like something from the 1930s, but the message is far too sophisticated for that time. And if it were really about the Spanish 'flu, then it would have been made in the late 'teens or early '20s (when Louis Armstrong was barely out of his own 'teens). And Sky News Australia is NOT a reputable source - of anything.
Was that Louis Armstrong? I could only guess. Armstrong was born in 1901 so the song, if he played and sang it, could be from 1930.
I think people got quickly sophisticated when their money disappeared 1929-41. The Geneva Convention banning chemical weapons is from 1925, came about as a result of the gases used during WWI.
That aside, I do think it is a new cartoon but I still like it! We need humor. Parody. We need simple descriptions of what is going on, and we need to make fun of those whose dystopia visions and outsized chutzpah have brought such craziness to the world.
There is a clue in the animated radio. The cartoon image is the same as the Atwater Kent Model 206, which was made in 1934. The only difference is that cartoon has 3 knobs and the original has 4. Here is a link to a photo: http://atwaterkentradio.com/ak206.htm
The animated cartoon (spoof?) is set to the Cab Calloway song "St James Infirmary Blues" with a voiceover the original lyrics. The superimposed lyrics go something like this: remember to put your mask on whenever you leave the house remember to put your mask on it’s what the law allows remember to put your mask on whenever you go outside remember to put your mask on, lord knows we tried
Thank you to the excellent detectives on this story. We all need some fun, don't we?
So the cartoon design begins with an Atwater Kent radio. Small world? Atwater Kent had a mansion just northwest of Bar Harbor, Maine. It was later turned into a nursing home. My mother spent the last 3 years of her life there, in Atwater Kent's former home.
Amazing! Thanks for posting this. Personally, based on the music and the quality and style of the animation, I think it's from the early 1930s.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the update and for your tireless work!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking it's a fake; it's styled to look like something from the 1930s, but the message is far too sophisticated for that time. And if it were really about the Spanish 'flu, then it would have been made in the late 'teens or early '20s (when Louis Armstrong was barely out of his own 'teens). And Sky News Australia is NOT a reputable source - of anything.
ReplyDeleteWas that Louis Armstrong? I could only guess. Armstrong was born in 1901 so the song, if he played and sang it, could be from 1930.
ReplyDeleteI think people got quickly sophisticated when their money disappeared 1929-41. The Geneva Convention banning chemical weapons is from 1925, came about as a result of the gases used during WWI.
That aside, I do think it is a new cartoon but I still like it! We need humor. Parody. We need simple descriptions of what is going on, and we need to make fun of those whose dystopia visions and outsized chutzpah have brought such craziness to the world.
There is a clue in the animated radio. The cartoon image is the same as the Atwater Kent Model 206, which was made in 1934. The only difference is that cartoon has 3 knobs and the original has 4. Here is a link to a photo:
ReplyDeletehttp://atwaterkentradio.com/ak206.htm
The animated cartoon (spoof?) is set to the Cab Calloway song "St James Infirmary Blues" with a voiceover the original lyrics. The superimposed lyrics go something like this:
ReplyDeleteremember to put your mask on whenever you leave the house
remember to put your mask on it’s what the law allows
remember to put your mask on whenever you go outside
remember to put your mask on, lord knows we tried
Thank you to the excellent detectives on this story. We all need some fun, don't we?
ReplyDeleteSo the cartoon design begins with an Atwater Kent radio. Small world? Atwater Kent had a mansion just northwest of Bar Harbor, Maine. It was later turned into a nursing home. My mother spent the last 3 years of her life there, in Atwater Kent's former home.