Posted 10 years ago
SpiritBear
(813 items)
I've not researched it, but an early 1900s paperback is always fun. It's a children's book.
Airship theme makes it better, but a lion hooked on an anchor as he gets shot at is a bit highly abusive. Illustration one is also quite racist-looking as I think it's supposed to be a native of Africa.
I think this might be before your time; but once upon a time in America, there was a restaurant chain called Sambo's where the walls of the restaurants were decorated with pictures of "Little Black Sambo and the Tiger". I remember going to the restaurant for the very first time with my family when I was in elementary school and finding the decorations fun and amusing. By the time I was in high school, though, the same decorations were no longer fun and amusing but instead had become rather distasteful and uncomfortable. By the time I was in college, Sambo's no longer existed. [;>)
Were they abusive?
No. Just racially insensitive. You can find Sambo's memorabilia on ebay. The chain was named after the Character Sambo in a book called Little Black Sambo. (Which was actually an Indian Boy and set in India.)
The Story of Little Black Sambo is a children's book written and illustrated by Helen Bannerman, and first published by Grant Richards in October 1899 as one in a series of small-format books called The Dumpy Books for Children.
Here's the history of the racial connotations:
https://www.saada.org/tides/article/20120404-703
Interesting. Thank you!