Dr Nina S. Studer
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drninastuder.bsky.social
Dr Nina S. Studer
@drninastuder.bsky.social
Historian, IEH2, University of Geneva

History of medicine & psychiatry, gender issues & drinking studies in the colonial Maghreb. Current: https://wetdreams.hypotheses.org/ 🗃️🍸

Passionate about literature and theatre.

She/her

https://nina-studer.com
It does look amazing, doesn't it? Cannot wait to see it!
August 13, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Ha. I am so sorry! I thought you had posted it on another post I made today, about an advert for cigarettes. So - absinthe: No, definitely not. 19th-century absinthe was no more (or less!) dangerous than any other similarly alcoholic drink of the time & had no harmful additives in it.
August 11, 2025 at 4:29 PM
might have been Jewish. Not that this (Hugo Zietz being Jewish) would necessarily exclude the possibility of antisemitic tropes being used in adverts for these cigarettes, obviously!
August 11, 2025 at 3:37 PM
How grim if that is what this advert represents! I wrote this in reply to @mirk47.bsky.social, who also mentioned this: I thought of those tropes, but I believe that Hugo Zietz, the founder of the company ("Orientalische Tabak- & Cigarettenfabrik Yenidze") that produced these cigarettes, [...]
August 11, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Not that this (Hugo Zietz being Jewish) would necessarily exclude the possibility of antisemitic tropes being used in adverts for these cigarettes, obviously!
August 11, 2025 at 3:12 PM
That is a great point - I completely agree. I thought of those tropes myself, but I believe that Hugo Zietz, the founder of the company ("Orientalische Tabak- & Cigarettenfabrik Yenidze") that produced these cigarettes, might have been Jewish. Not entirely sure - I really need to find out more!
August 11, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Oh, I like that idea!
August 11, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Hmmm... Good question, but I don't think so. I think they were just made from tobacco!
August 11, 2025 at 2:14 PM
I think the founder named it "Salem Aleikum" - indeed, a version of the Arabic greeting "Peace be upon you" - because the tobacco came from the Ottoman Empire.

There is a tradition of very derogatory depictions of Muslims in the 19th century, but this "demonic" image is different.
August 11, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Yes, it does look demonic, doesn't it? I think it might be the Greek god Pan - but either way: What a strange choice to use in adverts for cigarettes, especially ones called "Salem Aleikum"!
August 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Yes, I think so too! Not sure if I've ever seen a smoking Pan before, though!
August 11, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Very good point about "Genuss"! And I agree - it looks like a pan figure to me too. So bizarre!
August 11, 2025 at 2:02 PM
I don't really know - it looks like more of a Pan figure to me. "Salem Aleikum" used Orientalism to advertise their products - architecture, mostly. And I think that they have not usually depicted Muslims in such a negative way... But I am truly not sure what this image represents!
August 11, 2025 at 2:01 PM
And, speaking of Diana Abbani: She recently wrote an astonishing essay for the @untoldmag.org with the title "A World That Was Never Ours: Three Generations between Jabal Amel and Beirut". 🗃️ A must-read: untoldmag.org/a-world-that...
A World That Was Never Ours: Three Generations between Jabal Amel and Beirut - Untold
As wars erase homes and histories, family memory becomes resistance. From Ottoman Jabal Amel to neoliberal Beirut, this is a story of forgotten villages, exploited labor, silent women, and leftist dre...
untoldmag.org
August 11, 2025 at 11:11 AM