To accompany the exhibition of Filipinos at the St. Louis World’s Fair, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch published a series of full-page articles, or rather, lists of non-sequitur factoids about the people on display.

The excerpts below are from an article on the Tagalogs — “They are many-sided orientals, these alert Tagalogs.” — dated July 17, 1904.

While many of the statements have a “scientific” directness to them — “They have a literature of their own,” “Their skin is a coppery brown,” “They are devout Roman Catholics, but hate the monastic orders,” “They are natural musicians.” — others take on a somewhat surreal quality:

- “They plunge into the sea amidst a school of sharks and fight the latter with long knives.”

- “They are fond of gaudy dress and wear uniforms discarded by soldiers.”

- “They bathe several times a day and change their clothing at every bath.”

- “There are more pianos in the island of Luzon, in proportion to the population, than anywhere else in the world.”

- “There is hardly a Tagalog family that does not boast a poet.”

- “They do not kiss. They smell one another instead, placing the nose and lips on the cheek and drawing a long breath.”

- “Up to the year 1844 the Tagalogs had no distinctive family names, being known instead by a certain harsh ejaculation.”

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