More like evidence of ubiquity than social gestalt, if you ask me.
What I meant (and said badly) is that the Lockhorns comic has been around since 1968 and probably established its visual symbology early on. It may show that it is stil being used, but I argue that that doesn’t mean it’s ubiquitous. I think doctors
in more modern media are indicated with scrubs, masks and stethoscopes
My husband went to the dermatologist today and he was wearing it. So as of today, they’re still around!
My HVAC tech showed up today with a gadget on his forehead that mirrored (pun alert) the look of the dermatologist’s device. (it was actually rectangular.) I’ll try to ask him about it before he leaves.
I went (with my three children) to the student health center in the late 80s to get something removed from my eye. The doctor put one on. I laid back and unscrinched my eyes to see four heads looming down to look into my eye. The kids were treating it as a learning experience and the doctor was trying not to laugh. They were careful not to bump his hand and he found the 2 by 4 quickly.
first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Matthew 7:5
Sorry for the hijack. Couldn’t resist.
This ranks up there with the accountant’s green visor.
Missed that. Nice.
It certainly felt like a beam.
Which is one of many pop-culture images that originated in the late 1800s and entered the popular imagination via the new media landscape of the 1920s and 30s. Lucy Sante has a whole list:
the bartender with his handlebar mustache and spit curls; the crook with his striped sweater, cloth cap, and domino mask; the soubrette with her petticoats and rouged cheeks; the bohemian with his beret and flowing necktie; the poker player with his sleeve garters and green eyeshade; the cop with his twirling nightstick and Irish accent.
“The doctor with his head mirror” would fit right in.