Forgotten New York

CONEY ISLAND ANIMAL CANNIBAL

Most Animal Cannibal signs (a designation created by me: the art must feature an animal chowing down or preparing to eat meat from its own species) involve pigs; however, the pigs in Animal Cannibal ads are usually seen holding strings of sausages, perhaps wearing chef hats, without actually preparing to bring teeth down upon the bone and sinew.

Not so with this outstanding example of the genre on Surf Avenue across from Nathan’s, in which a slavering swine is poised to chomp down on some ribs, perhaps eviscerated from a member of its own family, while a crab or lobster friend drapes an conspiratorial claw over its shoulder, or whatever the Sus scrofa equivalent of a shoulder is.

It’s also my overwhelming opinion that if you consulted the artist of an Animal Cannibal piece and questioned the depiction of cannibalism, he or she would stare at you as if you had lost your mind.

 

Exit mobile version