Recently, my mother acquired a reprint of an old pre world-war two primary education book as a present for her mother, who learned reading and writing using a similar one. Browsing through the pages printed in 1935, I was not surprised to find nationalism being fed into kids through little stories about heroic soldiers, technologically advanced battle ships, and the like. But there was something that somehow surprised me:

Should you have ever wondered what a pig-drawing looked like in a 1930s Prussian schoolbook, take a look at my careful reproduction.

I am not sure if Miss Piggy in the box is in any way indicative of the mindset of the teachers or the educational system in Germany at the time. It may simply be one abstaction too much. But somehow I can’t help but assume the first alternative is at least partly correct…