The Extraordinary World of MARBL: R. Crumb’s Devil Girl Chocolate Bars

The Manuscript, Archives and Rare Book Library is a place of discovery. All are welcome to visit and explore our unique holdings, whether as a researcher or an observer. The breadth and depth of our collections are vast, and it is nearly impossible to investigate every nook and cranny. We invite you this year, through our blog, to tour some of those places you didn’t know existed, and get acquainted with collections you might not have previously explored. Check back in with us weekly over the course of 2013 as we offer you a delightful look into some of the favorite, but perhaps lesser-known, corners of our collections. These pieces are visually interesting, come attached with fascinating stories, and are often 3D objects you might not have realized are part of what makes up The Extraordinary World of MARBL.

Robert Crumb is an American cartoonist and musician, whose work is often a sharp satire of contemporary American culture.  Crumb’s transgressive and tongue-in-cheek humor comes alive in the box of “Devil Girl Chocolate Bars” preserved in the Manuscript Archives and Rare Book Library at Emory University. The sturdy display box, modeled after cigar boxes of an earlier era, contains fifteen milk chocolate bars and was created in 1994 as a promotional item to accompany the release of Terry Zwigoff’s 1994 Crumb documentary. Inside the box, anti-marketing slogan warns the consumer about the dangers of indulgence in this particular chocolate flavored vice: “It’s BAD for you!”  Fear not the temptation, MARBL researcher. By now, this particular box of chocolates is most likely inedible.

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