Thursday, July 26, 2012

Object of the Day, Caption Contest: An Odd Double-Sided Chromolithograph

Click image to enlarge.



Hmmmm…this is weird. It’s not a trade card. Its paper is thin and glossy and printed with an illustration on both sides. It’s not a scrap, certainly. It was not cut from a magazine since the odds of the image being centered in the same spot on two sides of a page are quite slim. So, what is it?

This chromolithograph depicts two scenes. One shows a well-dressed, if not wild-eyed, gent holding a package of the unfortunately named Sapolio—a brand of soap which was quite popular between 1883 and 1908. Sapolio is notable for its aggressive advertising campaigns. By 1908, they’d run out of steam with their advertising. When their interesting ads stopped, people stopped buying the product and it died (it was recently resurrected with modest success in Peru and Chile). The man in the scene has swept back a dramatic drapery to remove a life-sized statue. Is he going to clean her with his bar of soap? Has he cleaned her? Is he going to clean himself in front of her? Was she a polychrome sculpture which has been stripped of any and all pigment by being scrubbed with what I can only assume was a fairly harsh cleanser?

Let’s see what’s on the reverse. 

Click image to enlarge.


The other side shows a lad in a kilt with his mum. He’s drinking precariously from a large bottle. He’s upset a bowl and is mother is concerned by it. Or maybe she’s concerned because there’s a fox carved into her over-mantle. Maybe the kid’s a drunk and he’s fallen off the wagon. I trust he’s not drinking Sapolio. In fact, I can’t see any relationship between the two images. Yet, they’re created in the same style by, presumably, the same artist.

Could this be an ad for Sapolio? A portion of an ad? Or is it an image for something else which employed the use of the Sapolio brand since, for awhile, the name was synonymous with soap in general.

So, once again, I turn to you. It’s another caption contest. What do you think this was for? What’s going on in these scenes? Are they at all related? What would the tagline be? I always enjoy seeing your clever answers! Let’s see what you’ve got.  Post your answers in the comments.


19 comments:

Dashwood said...

Side 1 -

Rufus discovers how to finally get the girl. Slip a little Sapolio in her MaiTai and she'll stop dead in her tracks, turn rigid and start blowing smoke and bubbles out her nose. Ah, sweet romance!

Side 2 -

"Get the the bottle, you little troglodyte!" said Mama sweetly. "That will teach you to spill your porridge!"

"By the way, why are you wearing my cheerleader skirt??

Joseph Crisalli said...

Well done! The statue does appear to be smoking. I guess that's the way Mr. Sapolio likes his girls.

Darcy said...

Voila's Ta Da School of Acting

"Home of Le Grand Gesture "

Why act when you can overact? Here at Voila's Ta Da School of acting we'll show you how pointing triumphantly works in every situation.
LOOK- "My baby's an alcoholic!"
LOOK- "I have soap and a statue!"

Pointing brings drama to both these scenes.
We also specialize in "upstaging" and " chewing the scenery." And girls, if you want to be a gameshow model- this is the course for you!

Joseph Crisalli said...

Ha! This is wonderful! "Look! My baby's an alcoholic!" Brilliant!

April said...

Leon's soap sculpture was not destined to survive the monsoon. Meanwhile, his wife had her own problems when Leon, Jr. discovered his mommy's special water.

Joseph Crisalli said...

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Matt said...

"Your father left us for a statue. Jimmy get the bottle!"

Joseph Crisalli said...

Always a reasonable reaction.

Shawn said...

Sapolio can change your life! Send in three Sapolio wrappers and you too can exchange your distraught wife and alcoholic child for this amazing, life-like (and quiet) work of art! No more nagging from the wife to pick up the little one at the local tavern...change your life with Sapolio!!

Carolyn said...

When the Scottish Munchkin escaped Munchkinland, he found that the human world had much to offer.

Joseph Crisalli said...

You're on a roll!

Joseph Crisalli said...

Excellent job, Shawn!

Book Gurl said...

Being the family of a magician can be rough.

Joseph Crisalli said...

I imagine so.

Sam P said...

This one is even too bizarre for me.

Joseph Crisalli said...

Good to know you have limits.

Gene said...

I am laughing so hard with these.

Marsha said...

After being raised on whiskey, Johnny had no choice but to become a statue washer.

Joseph Crisalli said...

The American tragedy...