A Socialist Pipe (1878) “We hoot at the law!” These words are emblazoned on the banner held by this Socialist figure, who is unbowed by the Socialist Law. The Braunschweiger Volksfreund, a Socialist newspaper, used this “protest pipe” to express its unwillingness to knuckle under to the law. The figure’s posture is meant to suggest that even the lowliest citizen can ridicule the state and its code of law, while the barrel labeled “petroleum” suggests something more ominous. In the end, the authorities managed to curtail the publication of the Volksfreund.