Life, 1901-12-02 · page 38 of 44
Life — December 2, 1901 — page 38: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Cartoon:** "A Misunderstanding" depicts two farmers in a horse-drawn wagon. The first farmer asks the second to "drive a bit straighter," but the second misunderstands, thinking "drive" refers to motivation rather than steering—responding "I ain't drivin'—thought you was!" The joke relies on a double meaning: "drive" as both (1) operating the wagon's direction and (2) exertion/effort. It's a simple rural humor piece, credited to "Moonshine" (the cartoonist). The satire gently mocks rural dialect and miscommunication between farmers. **The Advertisements:** The rest of the page advertises Kodak camera accessories and Goerz binoculars as Christmas gifts—typical early 20th-century product placements in *Life*. This appears to be a page mixing light satirical humor with commercial content, characteristic of *Life*'s format during this period.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
QIAN Ws A MISUNDERSTANDING. First Farmer; cax’t Ye DRIVE A BIT STRAIONTER, OLD MAN? Second Farmer: pnive? 1 atx*t privix'—tnovant you was! Moonshine. A Plate Attachment For No. 3 Folding Pocket Kodak AND Goerz Trieder Binocular ADMIRABLE CHRISTMAS GIFTS for those who desire the best The new Plate Attachment for the No. 3 Kodak enables the owner to focus the picture on the ground glass, and to use plates as well as films, NAVE ONE FITEED TO YOURS Practical Reasonable We also fit our celebrated Gorkz Lens to Kodaks and all makes of cameras. GOERZ TRIEDER BINOCULAR for Theatre and Field Compact Durable LIGHT IN WEIGHT FINELY FINISHED They are unequaled for power and field view and satisfy the most exacting. Ata small increase in cost you can get the best either from your dealer or the manufacturer. WRITE FOR CATALOGUES TO YOUR DEALE? OR Cc. P. GOERZ OPTICAL WORKS, 52 E. Union Square, NEW YORK comicbooks.com