Twitter User Unearths Ancient Meme from 1921
Scrolling through the droll funnies of a satirical magazine from the turn of the twentieth century, one Twitter user has found a 97-year-old instance of the "What You Think You Look Like vs. What You Actually Look Like" joke, an evergreen meme used to illustrate the humor in grandiose self-perception and continues to see use to this very day.
Over the weekend, Twitter user @YoRHaw tweeted her discovery of a comic strip concocted by the whimsical lads at the Wisconsin Octopus and featured in a 1921 issue of the early 20th century weekly satirical magazine Judge.
In both substance and form, the comic is hardly distinguishable from satirical tweets of the 2010s about selfie obsession and self-image issues; one can almost see this poor chap imagining himself as a debonair Gatsby-type while he poses for a picture, only to be struck with the disappointing reality in the limelight, quite literally.
Naturally, other Twitter users were delighted to see that their great grandparents appreciated shitposts just as much as they do.
Twitter user @svederik made a particularly salient observation about what comic says about the unknown timeline of meme culture.
To echo Ida's point, this isn't the first time someone has dug up an uncanny prototype of present-day memes from long before the times of the Internet, especially when it comes to exploring the psychology of self-perception in everyday situations. Some of the most notable examples include (shown below, left to right):
- An "Expectations vs. Reality" comic published by The Sunday Record-Herald in 1903
- A "What People Think I Do vs. What I Really Do" comic published by the Wellesly Legenda in 1909
- A "World According to New York" cover illustration published by The New Yorker in 1976
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ObadiahtheSlim
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago; it was here before our time.
-Ecclesiasties 1:9-10
Tysonist
This is a good occasion for celebrating the world's oldest Lolcat from 1905, down to the all-caps question caption addressing its struggle for nourishment – just like its modern equivalent, the "I can has Cheezburger?" specimen.
Xyz_39808
Reviewbrah on the right
Aramaki_1917
100 years from now:
Princeso Bubblegum
Ancient Ben Garrison
Knightshade
This is simply a comic. Memes are nothing new; they have existed throughout history, according to Richard Dawkins's work.
Mr. Candles
And a hundred years from now, someone will come to unearth a four-panel exploitable and the comments beneath.
"You're telling me people were tired of these less than a year in?"
"Lucky fucks, try decades…"
I keep my ideals
What if the four-panel exploitable was loss?
nabusco
I always knew shitposting wasnt something new.
Hootanic
Nihil sub sole novum; there is nothing new under the sun. People are as base, virtuous, lulzy and trolly in the past as they are today. If you think something is unique, the Simpsons or someone else did it first in all likelihood.