>>77067146Interesting.
Wikipedia says that scientists were already researching asbestos toxicity before the '30s. A paper about it was presented to the UK Parliament in 1930. Governments were just slow to react to this I guess. I'm not sure if that's related to the cartoons. I still don't get the joke.
This political cartoon from 1904 is about the sale of asbestos screens after the Iroquois Theatre fire. The deadliest single-building fire in US history, killing over 600 people.
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_Theatre_fireI've never heard of it before, but I imagine that it would be big news and be on everyone's minds when they went to the theater.
The wiki article says:
>A second result of the fire was the requirement that a fireproof asbestos curtain (or sheet metal screen) be raised before each performance and lowered afterward to separate the audience from the stage.Perhaps the screens said "asbestos" IRL to make the audience feel safe.
