189. Today in 1920s Turkey: 22 February 1926 (Galata Bridge’s Infamous Toll Collectors)
Türkçe: Köprü mürüriyesinin kalkmasıyla tarihe karışacak bir manzara.
English: A scene that will become a thing of the past with the removal of the Bridge Toll.
Comments:
In December of 1925 the jobs of toll collectors on the Galata Bridge in Istanbul were under threat of being dissolved along with the toll itself. Discussion of this issue, which was not immediately resolved, continued into early 1926, when this cover picture appeared. Galata Bridge is a central thoroughfare of pedestrian life in Istanbul, connecting the Pera/Galata district with Fatih, or the historical peninsula. While today the bridge can be traversed free of charge, in the 1920s this was not the case. Passage over this bridge, which we may take for granted today, was only possible with a small toll. This fee was diligently collected by toll workers, examples of whom are pictured in this cover photograph.
The cover picture is a mash-up of three scenes relating to the matter, including a bird’s eye view of the bustling bridge and two photographs of a pair of toll collectors. The toll collectors are identifiable by their caps, plain white uniforms and conspicuous money satchels hanging at their waists. The distance at which the pictures were taken echoes the apathetic tone of the caption. With their eyes shaded by their visors and their features unrecognizable, these pictures do not nudge the reader into feeling sympathy for their potential unemployment. The pedestrian public, indeed, largely disliked these toll collectors, especially since they were known to harass people. Unfortunately, the journal’s prediction was a bit premature at this time. Although the subject had been under consideration for the past several months, the Galata Bridge toll would not be abolished until 1930 — four years after the publication of this issue.
Better late than never.
