LINES OF THE DAY

". . . But the past does not exist independently from the present. Indeed, the past is only past because there is a present, just as I can point to something over there only because I am here. But nothing is inherently over there or here. In that sense, the past has no content. The past -- or more accurately, pastness -- is a position. Thus, in no way can we identify the past as past." p. 15

". . . But we may want to keep in mind that deeds and words are not as distinguishable as often we presume. History does not belong only to its narrators, professional or amateur. While some of us debate what history is or was, others take it into their own hands." p. 153

Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History (1995) by Michel-Rolph Trouillot

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Rum and Comics

In Cuba around 1863 the Bacardi family began to distill rum. Their logo is a bat, modeled on the families of fruit bats that nested and swooped through the Bacardi cane plantations and distillaries. Among Cubans, fruit bats are considered bringers of good luck. The same bat logo is still employed today by Bacardi.

Bob Kane's Batman arrived in 1939 -- he's nearly 70. One wonders if there was any bit of subliminal influence from Bacardi to Kane's Batman logo? There was an awareness of Cuba and things Cuban, particularly rum and music, back in those days that's difficult for people who came of age in the post-embargo era to realize.















6 comments:

Graeme said...

wow. i didn't know that at all. It is amazing the part rum played in colonial era North and South America.

T. said...

I had the good fortune to ride in one of the Batmobiles a couple of years back, in Seattle. I'll see if I can dredge up some of those photos.....

T. said...

I had the good fortune to ride in one of the Batmobiles a couple of years back, in Seattle. I'll see if I can dredge up some of those photos.....

Phil said...

Hmmm. Who can say? Was he ever interviewed about it?

Foxessa said...

Graeme -- Rum was money, literally. The North American colonies had little or no cash money for the most part (a currency was something that the infant U.S. government had to figure out how to back, and which remained a division and issue of white hot heat through at least Jackson's administration). Rum (like slaves in the south) functioned like money. The rum trade between the Caribbean and the Northern colonies was essential -- though all the empires' mother countries outlawed for their colonies. This was paid no attention to. Havana was NYC's biggest trade partner throughout the 18th century.

Love, C.

Foxessa said...

Phil -- Probably nobody has ever thought to ask him, since most people really never think of Cuba and know nothing about it as a consequence of these long decades of embargo.

Love, C.