“Ouch, mommy! I have a cut!” Mom hears her child’s cry, rushes out of the front door and leaps over a bike to cover his cut with a small bandage. Simple tan colored cloth like objects that are applied to small cut’s or wounds, which usually come in a boring old box with bland colors, for adults that is. Kid bandages on the other hand are decorated with many colors and cartoon characters to make them fun. Nonetheless, they are lifesavers to anyone who prefers not to display their battle wound or needs their small wound protected from outside forces. So, why Edgar Allan Poe? In this paper, I analyze how Archie McPhee, novelty dealer, markets an influential American poet that is still popular today using one of Poe’s most famous poems, The Raven.
The Edgar Allan Poe bandages arrive in a three and three fourths inch tall deep water blue metal tin. The deep water blue evokes a melancholy ambience. On the front of the tin the heading writes, “Edgar Allan Poe Bandages” in a white Times New Roman font. The Times New Roman font provides the viewer with a sense of academia rightfully presenting Poe as an academic. Surprisingly, the font fails to express any form of chilling or uncanny tones. The font barely manages to the font only Above the heading is the name “Archie McPhee,” which is the company that markets this accoutrement. Below the title is depicted a visual of the bandage. The bandage is a gam purple with an Edgar Allan Poe cartoon donning a typical black suit and a purple cravat tie on the front of it. Through old pictures, the artist succeeded in capturing Poe’s outfit well. Despite the cartoon representation, Poe’s outfit suggest he came from wealth. Furthermore, Poe’s tussled spider black hair along with the his hands in his pockets nonchalantly give the impression Poe doesn’t Given that Standing on the head of the cartoon there is a black crow look away from Poe adding a gothic and mysterious vibe. Beside the visual is a larger crow with white font. Under the crow, in miniature letters, with the same font is a small phrase using the The Raven as a pun, “Quoth the Raven, ‘No more sores!’” The back side of the tin is the same color depicting smaller versions of the bandage with “Edgar Allan Poe” as its title (“Edgar Allan…”). Below the bandages is the same quote from earlier with the measurements (three inches by 1 inch) of the bandage printed below. The right side of the tin is another cartoon version of Poe as shown on the bandages. Included on the left side of the tin is the type of bandages provided, a small warning for anyone with a latex allergy and instructions on how to apply the bandage. The bottom of the tin includes all other extra information such as a website and where the product came from along with a bar code. On the lid of the tin, there is another Poe cartoon with the same exhausted, contemplative dark face with the same titles as the front.
The wonderfully decorated deep water blue metal tin suggests the targeted audience are Poe fans. Especially those who enjoy collecting Poe related objects. Poe as well as his literature are associated with the macabre, so it makes sense to utilize Poe as a figure on aids to cover wounds. Although these tiny bandages are meant for small cuts and wounds, this is comedic in that small cuts won’t kill someone. All around the tin The Raven is quoted and used in a pun, “ Quoth the Raven, ‘No more sores” (“Edgar Allan…”) To summarize, The Raven a tale about an unnamed narrator on a “dreary” night who believes his dead wife “materializes” and haunts him through a crow, or so he thinks (Poe, 81). The play on words on the tin reinforce the fact that it’s meant for an older audience. Those who are briefly introduced to Poe are exposed to his macabre tales and short stories. Much of the space on the water blue tin is occupied by the Poe cartoons with his name on it. The “Arche McPhee” company, that is listed throughout the tin, is known for selling trinkets like the Poe bandages with other popular historical figures on them like Shakespeare and Abraham Lincoln. The tins, along with their Band-Aids include quotes from their historical figure like Shakespearean insults, “Thy wit’s as thick as Tewksbury mustard,” or a famous Lincoln quote turned into a pun that writes, “I will heal your wound as I healed a nation!” These bandage tins include popular quotes allowing anyone who studied prominent historical figures to understand the references (“Edgar Allan…”). One of the decorative factors that I find fascinating is the gam purple on the bandages. Unlike the noticeable quote used from The Raven, the creator of the tin also faintly references the text using the gam purple specifically in the quote, “ And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain / Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt / before;” (Poe 82). Although the quote doesn’t explicitly reference any sort of physical wound, it does imply the narrator is hurting emotionally. For context, Lenore, the narrators wife, no longer dwells on this earthly plane. Clearly, he’s excited at the possibilities of what the curtains are concealing. More so, the narrator attempts to keep Lenore alive through his imagination even if it means reliving the pain. Of course, this extreme exaggeration only applies to Poe’s mental state. Nevertheless, the gam purple reference executes the point perfectly to anyone more knowledgeable in Poe. High school teachers continue to introduce Poe through The Raven further popularizing the poem. Hence, why many remember Poe through that one specific poem. Evoking a nostalgia that many are fond of.
In brief, the attraction all these historical figure accoutrements hold are those who collect, find these figures interesting, or in Poe’s case, find them nostalgic of simpler times when life was worry free. Despite the many negative critiques that surround Poe, he has proven himself a true master of words that we still admire today.