One Minute Later Gallery :: Panel Pages & Interiors - GOLDEN AGE

Picture News #2 at 20-21 (Lafayette Street Feb. 1946) - Snake Worship in the USA.

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Artwork Details

Title:	Picture News #2 at 20-21 (Lafayette Street Feb. 1946) - Snake Worship in the USA.
Artist:	None Specified
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Interior Page
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	93
Likes on CAF:	3 4
Comments:	3
Added to Site:	2/20/2025
Comic Art Archive:

Description

Tom Christopher blogged about this:

The editor of this book, Emile Gauvreau, 1891 � 1956, was an American journalist, newspaper editor and book-writer, associated with early tabloids and yellow journalism. The art director, John Lehti was a talented cartoonist with a long association with pulps and comics. The general tone of this magazine is infotainment, not unlike the light general interest TV shows you can still see today. It�s a comic and it has to have something a little scandalous to compete on the newsstands of 1946 America but what they�re saying about Appalachian snake handlers isn�t true. No Christians worship snakes. No matter what you think of the practice, nobody is worshiping snakes. Handling the snakes is a demonstration that you are in a temporary state of grace as you would be if you were speaking in tongues, but the snakes themselves are not sacred, nor do they heal anything. I�ve done some quick searches for snake handlers in Holiness Churches 1930s � 1940s and can�t find an easy match for this story. I think it�s possible that it was based on a small, local incident and reported on by people who really didn�t know understand what was going on and never really investigated because of classist assumptions about hillbillies, who have often been objectified as childish, superstitious and more out of touch with the modern world than the average citizen.

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Joined:	December 2005
Last Login:	September 2025
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Comments on this Artwork

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Miki Annamanthadoo
Member Since 2003

Posted on 2/20/2025

Interesting slice of history, even if the facts are distorted by prejudice.

Marcus Wai
Member Since 2005

Posted on 2/21/2025

The original tabloid news! However, they are right to demonstrate that the stupid will fall for false idols and con men / snake oil salesmen. Besides, them unedumacated wouldn't know how to read these stories to be able to complain.

George Hagenauer
Member Since 2005

Posted on 2/21/2025

I have seen pieces on snake handling and my guess the info i nthis comes from either a sleazy tablod magazine or an early expose mag like True before it got cleaned up ,True mystic or True strange - nne of that level of american news has even been indexed so it is easily accessible!

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