Life, 1901-02-21 · page 19 of 20
Life — February 21, 1901 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon depicts a policeman questioning a young street boy about his whereabouts. The boy promptly replies he's "going back again"—suggesting he's been apprehended before and expects to be arrested again soon. The caption credits "Moonshine" as the cartoonist. This is social satire about juvenile delinquency and recidivism in urban America. The joke's dark humor lies in the boy's resigned acceptance of his criminal fate—he doesn't deny wrongdoing or protest innocence, but matter-of-factly acknowledges the cycle of arrest and return. It reflects Progressive Era anxieties about urban poverty, street children, and the criminal justice system's apparent inability to reform offenders, particularly among the poor. The surrounding page is primarily period advertising for whiskey, cocoa, and railroad travel—typical Life magazine commercial content from this era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
[ce eee ne See See eee eT eee ee | THE BETTER PART. Policeman; NOW THEN, YOUNGSTER, WHERE ARE YOU GOING} Boy (promplly): BACK AGAIXt — Moonshine. Purity and Solubility, A brea! cious Cocoa costs less than one cent. ‘No Really Good Judge - can or will pronounce any whiskey other than the best. None other than a | straight HAND-MADE SOUR | —— MASH, made by the James Crow formula, can by any twisting of language be called tne best. Gold medal at Paris Exposition 1900. H. B. KIRK & CO., Wine Merchants, N. Y. There is hardly a spot in the civi- lized world where is not enjoyed because of its deli- cate and unmis- takable flavour and fragrant aroma, ts re- markable blend- ing qualities make it especially deli- cious in cocktails, highballs or in any drink in which whisky is 2» used It tastes old because it is old CAHN, BELT & CO., Baltimore, Md. Ask for MARYLAND CLUB And see that you get it, * Flowers are blossoming agatn,"* IN_CALIFORNIA the air is pure and bracing. and the sun shines most all the time. No January ice, February snows, or bleak March winds, and you can reach it by the NEW YORK CENTRAL LINES and their direct connections, in only four days from New \ork or Boston. Ask the nearest New York Central ticket agent for rates and particulars. A copy of No, 5 of tho * Four-Track Sertes,? “America’s Winter Resorts.” will be seat free, 1, of w postage J Passenger River Rau hy Georg: Agent, New York Central & ‘Hudson road, Grand Central Station, New Yor! Throat Ease and Breath Perfume.