Content note: Satirical depiction of Jesus Christ as a drunkard and moonshiner among drunken, vomiting men; ridicule of a religious figure. This object is shown as it was published. Why
Bezbozhnik u stanka No. 19, 1929: anti-alcohol issue, 'a modern variation on drunkenness at Cana' (cover)
Magazine cover: a haloed Christ in orange and blue pours from a long tube into a clutter of bottles and plates while bearded, drunken men slump, sprawl and vomit around the table. The printed legend calls him the first and most malicious moonshiner. Pinning a loaded label on a religious figure so that the issue's anti-drink message rides on ridicule is the name-calling tell.
- Date
- 1929
- Period
- Interwar
- Made by
- Bezbozhnik u stanka (The Godless at the Workbench), illustrated magazine of the Soviet militant-atheist movement, Moscow
- Country
- Soviet Union
- Medium
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Soviet Union
- Leader
- Joseph Stalin
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Purpose
- Demonize
- Techniques
- Name-calling
- Leader
- Joseph Stalin
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- Public domain (published 1929, before 1931); also PD on Commons
Bezbozhnik u stanka No. 19, 1929. Scan on Wikimedia Commons, uploaded 2019 from a third-party site. US basis: first published 1929, before 1931.
Text on the object
Пролетарии всех стран, соединяйтесь! АНТИАЛКОГОЛЬНЫЙ БЕЗБОЖНИК У СТАНКА 1929 № 19 СОВРЕМЕННАЯ ВАРИАЦИЯ НА ТЕМУ О ПЬЯНСТВЕ В КАНЕ ГАЛИЛЕЙСКОЙ Рис. [illegible] Цена 35 коп. Седьмой год издания САМЫЙ ПЕРВЫЙ И САМЫЙ ЗЛОСТНЫЙ САМОГОНЩИК ПО ИМЕНИ ИИСУС ХРИСТОС
Proletarians of all countries, unite! ANTI-ALCOHOL [ISSUE] THE GODLESS AT THE WORKBENCH 1929 No. 19 A MODERN VARIATION ON THE THEME OF DRUNKENNESS AT CANA OF GALILEE Drawing by [illegible] Price 35 kop. Seventh year of publication THE VERY FIRST AND MOST MALICIOUS MOONSHINER, NAMED JESUS CHRIST
Literal translation by Claude (machine translation, not fluent-reader verified). A diagonal bar partly covers the masthead. Handwritten English glosses on the scanned copy are a later annotation and are not transcribed.
