Believe it or not, the heads you see weren’t created for comical reasons, they’re called “gapers”, used in front of apothecaries or chemists shops (aka pharmacies) in parts of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, northern France and western Germany. Back in the day people needed literal translations to understand what the hell was going on, so the “gapers” were always displayed with an open mouth, so you could see them taking their pills or medicine. The reason for their exotic, Moorish appearance was to indicate the origin of most medicines, which usually came from markets in faraway places as well as the fact that most pharmacists used to travel before they opened permanent shops. Less than 50 of these symbols still exist on buildings, ones that survive are now part of museum collections, like these guys, now on display at the Zuiderzeemuseum in Enkhuizen in North Holland.
Next Christmas I should probably get a gaper for my fat uncle, who takes like 50 pills a day. Hope they’re not too expensive, you know, like American healthcare.
