Cabinet Magazine Journal Post 1

Cabinet magazine or as I viewed it on the web at cabinetmagazine.org, is one of the more interesting periodicals that I’ve come across in my lifetime. It seems as if each issue of the company puts out revolves around some sort of theme that is always titled using no more than two words, but usually one. For example some of the most recent issues titles include Sloth, Bones, and Magic. In these, the articles really do represent that of the given title. The magazine centers itself under a historical context, yet the history it provides is quite unusual. For the most part the history provided is centered on interesting information that has the feel of Ripley’s Believe it or Not. I will discuss two of these articles I read from Cabinet Magazine.

In “Visectomania and Other Cures for Sloth” Christopher Turner discusses the history of trying to cure laziness in people throughout the world in time. The article begins by discussing a proposal that a chemist named Wilhelm Weichardt made in 1904. In his announcement Weichardt made the claim that he had made a drug that would cure fatigue by cleansing the blood called antikenotoxin. This he suggested would be enough for all men to never become tireless and live prosperous lives as machine-like creatures. As I read on I learned of many other trials throughout time to beat the ugly and what some claim “immoral” act of sloth according to the article. Turner speaks of how Weichardt’s antikenotoxin went on to be tested on Children in classrooms who’s; “speed of calculation increased by fifty percent, and their answers showed improved accuracy” after being secretly induced. Even stranger, in the article we read of productivity increasing in males after the injection of dog testicles into their system and in Paris in the 1920’s the corruption of the city due to what I’ll call testicle thieves. Yes, I said testicle thieves. According to Turner there was a point in Paris’ history where corruption in the city was so high due to the demand of testicular transplants to cure sloth, that a scientist began “slicing and grafting on the testicles of monkeys to those who sought his treatment.” This article by Turner although somewhat repulsive and scary was completely intriguing and made me grateful for a historical magazine that offers a little more “zest” I’ll call it, than what I first expected.

Another particular article on Cabinet magazine’s website that intrigued me greatly was titled “Bone Play” by Michael Sappol and Eva Ahren. In this article a brief history of anatomy was given describing the early interaction with medical students and that of the corpses they studied. Pictures and descriptions of the medical students breaking the so-called rules depict the pupils jokingly putting cigarettes and taking photographs with the skeletons. The article goes on to explain how the early mechanics of anatomy students paved the way for our skeleton accepting and loving culture i.e.; their representations in horror films , rock bands, and tattoos have taken a once immoral and disrespectful standpoint on bones to a now almost masking of the true reality within them. All I know is when the going gets rough for me, the Foo Fighter’s song, “Skin and Bones” always cheers me up reminding the listener that, “we’re just skin and bones.” This article was quite interesting in following a similar motif on bones to the song and giving a historical background behind the movement to the present. Cabinet magazine is highly entertaining, enlightening and unique and I look forward to reading more and more as time continues from the website and might pick up one at a newsstand sometime in the near future.