From The Evening Argus, Owosso, Michigan, June 19, 1895
Six Sorts of a Hog: Railroad Nuisances Which Seem to Thrive in Warm Weather.
“The car hog is more and more in evidence every day” said a car conductor the other day. “The warm weather develops traits that have been dormant with the weather. I have counted six different varieties of the breed in a week. I used to be a raiser of stock in more prosperous days and I’m a good judge.
“The most common sort is that of the fellow who occupies more room than he needs; never sees that he could make room for anybody, and is evidently the same when he is at home. I’ll bet he’s the man who gets the morning paper first, reads it to himself, gives no one else a chance, and carries it downtown in his pocket.
“Then there’s the fellow who crosses his legs, and when anyone seeks to pass simply turns his foot edgeways so that twice as much dirt is rubbed off on a woman’s dress and he gets half a shine for nothing. If a bigger man stands still and glares at him, he will unfold his legs but only then. This is the same animal who likes to stretch out in cross seats on the ‘L’ and clean his boots on the edge of the seat.
“The third of the species is less bold than his brothers. He is the chap who, when someone gets up, leaving a seat vacant, although there’s a tired woman maybe next to him, plumps into the vacant spot, for she had her back turned, and the opportunity was – and always is, in fact – never neglected by him.
“The fourth sort is the rooster who reads another man’s paper over his shoulder. I saw one the other day who was so interested in the article that he didn’t see the man who held the paper was furtively and amusedly regarding him. The fact was brought to his attention, however, by the paper being pushed in front of his face and then withdrawn, and when he looked up, a dozen smiling faces made him turn fairly sallow.
“The fifth is really only a pig. He’s not grown, but thinks he is. His nose – that’s not the word, but it will do – is retrousse, and the little bristles under it are carefully cared for. He likes to crowd close to a pretty girl and stare at her with such a yearning look. If he sits opposite her, his eyes rarely wander from hers. I saw one young woman stare at the feet of one of that sort for five minutes. He pulled them back and fidgeted them about, finally resting on his toes. She kept right on staring, and he became very uncomfortable. I’m told that’s a sure remedy. He finally got out on the platform.
The last of the railroad hogs I know, although there may be others, is the one who opens his newspaper so as to shut out the view of those on either side of him. If he’d fold it down the center of the page – but pshaw, he won’t.”
COMMENTARY:
Man-spreading and public transport nuisances were clearly as much a source of exasperation in 1895 as they continue to be in the present day. Like the mantra goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Inconsiderate behaviour is timeless.
There are lots of lovely artworks and illustrations out there of passengers (both well and badly behaved) on early public transport – so I thought it would be very appropriate to finish up with one of the most famous of those artworks – that is actually from the same year as the article’s publication, but showing very well behaved and definitely non-piggish passengers. So as a palate cleanser, here is George William Joy’s famous 1895 painting “The Bayswater Omnibus“, now in the Museum of London.
ILLUSTRATION NOTES:
- The first image is a 1892 painting by Adolph von Menzel titled “Auf der Fahrt durch schöne Natur” (Travelling through Beautiful Nature) and shows a “car conductor” looking in through the window as well as some not very well-behaved passengers. While not really showing “pigs” as described in the article it was too irresistible and contemporary to the article not to use!
- Francis Luis Mora‘s painting, Evening News, showing passengers on a New York subway is from 1917. Note the staring woman in the middle (is she trying to discomfit a Number 5 Pig?) and the moustached man with a parcel being crowded out by newspapers, although not as severely as if he were next to Number 6 Pigs…
- Painted in 1874, the young woman in black being hassled by a male passenger is by Berthold Woltze, from a private collection and titled “Der lästige Kavalier” (The Irritating Gentleman)
- George William Joy’s famous 1895 painting “The Bayswater Omnibus“, now in the Museum of London.
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