Librarian Vocabulary -- "the item is a product of its time"

I often find myself using this particular bit of librarian lingo. As I spend much of my time interacting with co-workers and other library students (I know you're very surprised) I forget that this is not something that people use in everyday conversation.

I will most often use this phrase when discussing books that were written in the past. Basically what it means is that the item in question will have images, phrases, words or ideas that are considered anything from rude to outright offensive and even perhaps bigoted. In spite of this, the item in question is not without merit. I know the idea that a book may contain both offensive material and an excellent story or other good points may be odd to think about, but consider the following example.

The Adventures of Tintin by Hergé.
Children always clamor to read this series of comics and I don't blame them. The illustrations dynamic and colorful -- and so are the characters. Tintin himself is everything I wanted to be when I grew up. He is many things, among them clever, curious, interesting, talented, adventurous, a reporter, a detective and a friend. Tintin is a more relatable type of Indiana Jones -- adventuring with his ever-present companions Snowy the dog and Captain Haddock rather than lovely women. Tintin and the rest of Hergé's cast of characters solve mysteries in every conceivable locale across the globe. The volume within this series that causes the most controversy is "The Adventures of Tintin in the Congo" and rightly so. The African people that Tintin encounters within this adventure are presented in a manner that is incredibly offensive (see image below for a more descriptive example).

A frame from the comic "Tintin in the Congo"

I would use the phrase "this series is a product of its time" in this case to make sure that patrons knew that this volume was a part of the series and to be aware that it had some offensive material in it. Hergé began writing and illustrating this adventure in the early 1930s. Does that excuse the offensive material? No, but readers need to be aware of how common these views were. Does this series still have merit? Well, as always, it must be a personal decision, but I believe so. And so, for that matter, do Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, who are making an animated movie of one of Tintin's adventures that is coming to theaters in December 2011. Read the comics before you see the movie!