In light of an earlier diary on the reactionary aspect of the South, the following story - on an abuse of power by the reactionary elements of the Alabama liquor control board - caught my attention. Alabama keeps shooting itself in the foot, it seems.
Wine ban in Alabama: label with a nude nymph offends the state's liquor control board.
The Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board recently told stores and restaurants to stop serving Cycles Gladiator wine because of the label, which features a naked nymph, The Associated Press reported late Thursday.
ABC board attorney Bob Martin said the stylized, art-nouveau rendition of a nude female with a flying bicycle violated Alabama rules against displaying "a person posed in an immoral or sensuous manner," The AP reported, but Leigon said the label is a copy of an 1895 French advertising poster for Cycles Gladiator bicycles, which shows a side view of a full-bodied nymph flying alongside a winged bicycle.
Here is the offending image.
The notes to this label suggest
Cycles Gladiator symbolizes a celebration of the freedom and happiness that pervaded Europe in the late 19th century – during an era known as the Belle Epoque. This era marked many notable inventions and improvements to daily life, not the least of which was the modern bicycle, or "Le Bicycle Velocipede."
Started in Paris in 1891 by Alexandre Darracq (an eccentric who would later become famous for manufacturing automobiles), Gladiator was one of the dozens of bicycle companies that made their way into the market when the cycling craze boomed. The golden age of cycling reached its pinnacle in 1895 – and that same year printer G. Massias unveiled one of the great Parisian art posters showcasing the stylish Gladiator bicycle. Only four of these original posters are said to be in existence today.
Personally, I am not the least bit offended by this label, that is, a small piece of art-nouveau symbolism. I am hard pressed to see anything particularly "immoral" in it. Actually, I question the sanity and/or basic intelligence of those who would see it that way. But beyond that, I think that this anecdote may further suggest just how out of step the reddest of the red states are from the rest of the country, which is, of course, more of a problem for the Republican Party than it is for the rest of us.
And, lest I be accused of Southern bashing, let me just say, I am bashing stupidity and not the South, per se. I like a lot of things about the South; I just don't like the relatively high concentrations of religious fundamentalist right wing stupidity that has been allowed to fester there, as the cultural cancer that it is, for too long now. If satirical ridicule is what is needed to counter this, than I am all for such riducule.