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."
"a certain harsh ejaculation" does not sound nice.
Posted by: BatJay, Ang Elvis ng Quiapo on January 17, 2005 10:49 PMhonga, harsh ejaculation. does my name sound like tamod?
Posted by: ibalik on January 18, 2005 10:00 AMHarsh lang pag tinamaan ka sa mata.
Posted by: the wily filipino on January 18, 2005 10:08 AMyeah sunny, that's really charming. btw i've noticed from your now playing thing you've been listening to a lot of vangelis. what gives?
Posted by: barb on January 18, 2005 03:16 PMThat was at the height of my jet lag -- I needed to hear the most soporific music possible...