Sunday 3 June 2012

Have a fag, isn't it?


This is my mate, Stanley Donwood, standing at the back of our pub, smoking, and sporting a very handsome green bowler indeed.

Some of you may know Stanley as the artist who designed all the album covers for 'Radiohead', but he has other strings to his bow, including printing and publishing.

When I mentioned how much I liked his old hat, he told me that he bought it in an antique shop, and when he got it home, he found bits of an old, American newspaper dating from around 1890, stuffed under the internal band.  So this hat really does come from 'The Gangs of New York', like it looks, unlike that British actor.

Stanley's latest printing project (all done with wooden typeset and ink, old-fashioned style), follows on from my 'gay-bashing' post of two days ago (I wish...), but I promise there was no link between my experience and Stanley's posters, two of which are shown below.

For the benefit of any Californian readers, the word 'fag' in English is slang for a cigarette - nothing more sinister than that, though I cannot imagine anything more sinister to a Californian.



11 comments:

  1. sad to have to go to the back alley. We became very antisocial because of the restrictions.

    I'll never forget the first time I heard someone say "fag" in the UK. I immediately looked to see if I was wearing pink!

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    1. You should have qualified your use of the term, 'back alley' under the circumstances too, Grouch. In fact, many new friendships have been forged amongst smokers of all classes, here in the inclement climate of old GB.

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    2. And should I have explained 'have a puff' too? Nah, I don't think so.

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    3. you forgot to mention botty bandit!

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  2. My mother, born in 1928 and raised in Southern Indianna, USA always called her cigarette "fags". Imagine her confusion when I brought home my good gay friend Jay for her to meet for the first time and he announced "Don't worry, I'm not after Donna, I'm a fag you know" They remained friends for the next 30 years, often smoking together on my back porch.

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    1. Back porch? (sorry, I seem to be on a bit of a roll-up)

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  3. Great posters.
    I think smoking in back alleys can be incredibly social too.

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    1. Yes, those wooden type letters are as old as his hat.

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  4. I always met the best people at work during smoke breaks. God I miss them (the people and the breaks). Hard to smoke in NYC without being treated like a fucking pariah nowadays.

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    1. Only about 2 people in the whole of this pub do not smoke - including the staff.

      I don't want to go on and on about it - I've lost the battle anyway, but I would like to say that all the smokers I know ALSO hated smokey environments and found them just as unpleasant as anyone else. It does not have to be like that, but not for the extreme fanatic anti-smokers.

      In Germany - of all places! - restaurants are allowed to have designated areas for smokers, even in restaurants, and are very proud of the fact. It's only when smokers are stuffed into confined spaces that it all goes wrong - despite the super-sensitive noses of some Californians...

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  5. I should also add that the juxtaposition of 'Have a fag' and 'Isn't it?' is taken straight from the charming use of English by Indian and Pakistani Asians in Britain, who quite often put 'isn't it?' after inappropriate statements, just to solicit agreement or a reaction in general. I wish I could do the same and get away with it, but I am just not Asian enough - shame!

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