Life — November 28, 1901 — page 1: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# "The Vegetarian's Thanksgiving" - Life Magazine, November 28, 1901 This satirical cartoon mocks vegetarianism, a growing dietary movement in early 1900s America. The illustration depicts a Thanksgiving dinner where two thin, gaunt men sit at a table with a live turkey and various vegetable dishes—an absurd contrast to traditional meat-based holiday meals. The exaggerated caricatures of the vegetarians appear malnourished and unwell, emphasizing the era's common mockery that plant-based diets were unhealthy or unmanly. The live bird present suggests the vegetarians' squeamishness about eating meat, while the sparse vegetable offerings underscore contemporary skepticism about vegetarianism's adequacy as nutrition. The decorative border features whimsical vegetables and figures, adding to the satirical tone. This reflects late-Victorian-era attitudes dismissing vegetarianism as eccentric or effeminate.