Life, 1903-06-18 · page 15 of 24
Life — June 18, 1903 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains three separate satirical pieces: **"Child Labor"** attacks Pennsylvania's legislature for permitting child factory work. The sarcasm is heavy: the text praises children as "cheapest help" and calls exploitative labor a "wise provision of nature." The cartoon imagery (factory with small workers) illustrates the grim reality the text mockingly endorses. **"Friendship"** satirizes Secretary Root's claim that England is America's true friend because of trade profits. The punchline—"thicker than blood, even, is the dough"—suggests money, not genuine friendship, drives the relationship. **The remaining cartoons** appear to mock New Thought (a contemporary spiritual movement) and urban etiquette. The elevator scene joke contrasts a man's claim he gave up his seat "five years ago" with social expectations of immediate courtesy. All three pieces employ bitter irony to critique contemporary politics, commercialism, and social hypocrisy typical of early-20th-century *Life* magazine's satirical approach.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
“LURE * Child Labor. N declining to place any obstacle in the way of the employment of very little girls in factories, the Legislature of Pennsylvania stands up manfully for the fullest measure of industrial progress, Sociologists long ago discovered that the younger the operativeis, the less § it costs, in proportion to his avail- able working strength, to keep his body and soul together. That is to say, children are the cheapest help in the world. This is a wise provision of nature, and good for many millions of national wealth, provided all legislatures are as dis. cerning and as brave as the Legislature of Pennsyl- vania. Friendship. NGLAND ts our greatest cus- tomer. We sell her more goods and derive a greater income from her than we do from any one else. She 1s our true friend.—.r. Secretary Root. Blood is thicker than water, but thicker than = blood, even, is the dough. Te is called the De- spoiler, but he often robs us more by what he gives than by what he takes away. (ELEVATOR WORKING COSTUME OF A MoostER Port. INKS: I hear Mrs, Jinks has ]: NICKER: Do you ever give up Ne et ‘a i maeesig given up the New Thought. your seat on the elevated ? Witenes Gee Jinks: Yes, it was impossible for Bocker: I gave it up five years “ask monoaN!"* her to go into the silence. ago, comicbooks.com