Life, 1891-02-26 · page 7 of 14
Life — February 26, 1891 — page 7: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Mythology for Moderns: Bacchus" This satirical article reframes Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, as a modern industrialist. The top frieze shows classical figures; the lower illustration depicts a "Bacchic Dance" of revelry. The satire contrasts ancient mythology with contemporary American commerce. It celebrates Bacchus as the "inventor of the jag"—using slang for drunkenness—and credits him with establishing a profitable jug-manufacturing industry in Kentucky and New Jersey. The piece humorously suggests Bacchus pioneered consumer capitalism through alcohol production and marketing. This appears to be gentle satire about American industrialization and drinking culture, likely from the early 20th century. The tone treats profit-driven alcohol manufacturing as a quasi-religious enterprise worthy of mythological status.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
MYTHOLOGY FOR MODERNS. BACCHUS, ACCHUS was the inventor of the jag. We all know what a hard time inventors usually have in convincing the world of the practicability of their ideas, and Bacchus was no exception to the rule. Previous to his discovery, all the world belonged to the Prohibition party, a fact hard to be believed by us who know the political weight of the Prohibitionists in our own time, But Bacchus was persistent, as many people with jags are, and finally succeeded in making his invention popular. If any one doubted the genuineness of the invention, Bacchus would immediately present the doubter with a jag, especially made to fit that particular case, and next morning the doubter was apt to regret that he had not taken Bacchus's word for it. But the invention was a perfect one in its way, and the person who had once had one was very likely to forget his next morning's remorse and seek to secure another, One time Bacchus spent the day on the island of Dia experimenting with a little private jag of his own, It was very hard work to make it fit properly, and in the afternoon he fell asleep overcome by his exer- tions. While unconscious he was captured by a party of sailors, com- manded by a skipper named Alcestes. These sailors thought it would be an excellent idea to carry Bacchus off to Egypt and sell him into slavery. They did not go very far, though, before Bacchus presented each of them with a nice hand-painted jag, which induced the sailors to abandon their dire purpose. While they were amusing themselves with their respective jags, they all became possessed with the idea that they were dolphins, and jumped into the sea. This is not remarkable, be- cause there was no other place for them to jump to. Bacchus and Alcestes being left in charge of the ship, sailed to the island of Naxos. Here Bacchus had a large plant for the manufacture of jags, and was extensively patronized by the nobility and gentry of the neighborhood. Bacchus’s patent expired a good many years ago, and the infant industry which he established now furnishes employment to a great many people. Although Kentucky is a grazing State, it is said to man- ufacture jags of a very superior quality, and New Jersey's jags, construct- ed largely of apple-jack, are said to outwear any others in the market. Among sea-faring men, jags have always been popular. When Noah, the most ancient mariner known to history, finished his famous one-hundred-and-fifty-day cruise, he immediately came ashore and se- cured for himself as fine a jag as was to be had in those primitive times, a precedent which has been followed by sailors ever since. In Maine and Iowa the manufacture of jags has been prohibited by law, but the natives of those provinces have on several occasions, in mysterious ways, managed to evade these laws, and under no circum- stances is the appeal to Bacchus made in vain ; which leads the modern observer to believe that although the other gods of mythology may be dead, Bacchus still lives, and is the object of constant worship, Metcalfe, TBACCHIc DANeE. comicbooks.com