Life, 1883-07-19 · page 12 of 16
Life — July 19, 1883 — page 12: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
# "Red Handed Bill: A Legend of West 55th St" This satirical piece mocks the corrupting influence of cheap pulp fiction on urban youth. A working-class boy is sent on an errand but stops to read a five-cent dime novel about "Bill Vest, the Terror, Avenger and Scourge of the West"—likely a Buffalo Bill-type figure. The boy falls asleep dreaming of frontier exploits. The satire suggests that sensational Western adventure stories, widely available and affordable to poor children in early 20th-century cities, distracted them from responsibilities and filled their heads with fantasies of violence and lawlessness. The final image of the boy becoming "Red Handed Bill" implies the real danger: that such stories could inspire actual criminal behavior among impressionable urban youth rather than harmless frontier adventure. This reflects period concerns about mass-market literature's social effects.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
CRED HANDED Bik. A Legend of West 55" 5* Cwas o smail boy.with a bundle was sent, ; *A\nd told on his way bebe spty and intent, g hs he sterted ell right the dey was quite worm, ke , So he pavied te cool off, sure this warnehorm AY! im his pocket e novel he hed, A fies cent edition of — everything bad. Ct. war the life and exploits of famous BurVesr, j Tes Treanor, AES RomeOOURG Es of the Wes.” D chapter he reeds— then anather,—bel see! Down fells hisbook, und his head te his knee. = ake up little bey! It grows late,and you know ow mest sleep there youve an errand leg. RK WHEL Oe ve casei... pay eveRy gor igre v READ 7 ) . ave ganecarzenons (FQ) Mn thelipe ofevery swell boys hir name, RED Dosti BILL. ma: ot O: walls and an fences his glory his fame. e smiles inhis dreams ,ashesils there sostill, Hes ne longer a bey, bof SDR pepe tl comicbooks.com