Life, 1901-12-05 · page 19 of 20
Life — December 5, 1901 — page 19: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
The main cartoon, "The Question Pertinent," satirizes parental hypocrisy. An adult man confronts a child about lying, claiming "When I was your age I never told a falsehood!" The child's response—"Wah-wah-when did you BEGIN?"—exposes the adult's obvious dishonesty, implying he started lying sometime after childhood. The humor lies in catching the father in a transparent lie while lecturing against lying. The page is primarily **advertising**, featuring period products: Jaeger sanitary underwear (23 years established), Beeman's pepsin gum (digestive aid), Nestor cigarettes, Old Crow whiskey, and the Overland Limited train service. These ads reflect early 20th-century consumer goods and travel. The satirical point targets the common parental contradiction of demanding honesty while adults routinely deceive.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
23 YEARS the Standard of Excellence ONLY TRUE SANITARY UNDERWEAR ALL WEIGHTS FOR ALL WARTS ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE FREE NEW York: {20 Be ad Street BROOKLYN: BOSTUN: PHILADELPHIA: CHICAGO: , BEEMAN’S j ( PEPSIN THE QUESTION PERTINENT. } ‘ GUM “WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE I NEVER TOLD A PALSRHOOD!"* Cares Indigestion “ —WA— WHEN y BEGIN—| 009" Moonshine. a BOO— WH—WAH—WHEN DID YOU BEGIN—BOO HOO- Moone a biskGees’ All Othera aro Initatisas, OVERLAND LIMITED The luxurious train of Pullman Drawing-Room Sleeping Cars, Dining Cars and Buffet-Library Car (with barber) which tuns from CHICAGO to SAN FRANCISCO crested ‘ ) | Every day in the year via Chicago & North-Western Union Pacific and CIGARETTES k| ay Southern Pacific Rys. OLD CROW RYE. straint WHISKEY SOLE BOTTLERS, NEW YORK. All agents sell tickets by this route. comicbooks.com