Life, 1903-09-24 · page 9 of 20
Life — September 24, 1903 — page 9: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
**The Cartoon "Aaron's Rod":** This depicts a biblical reference—Aaron's rod from Exodus, which miraculously produced serpents. The sketch shows two figures in Egyptian dress (representing Moses and Aaron from the biblical narrative) performing magic before what appears to be Egyptian royalty seated on a throne. **The Satirical Point:** The caption's crude dialogue ("By jigs! snakes! The Queen: Nonsense, Egypt! You've been drinking. They are only the latest thing in sticks") mocks Egyptian royalty as gullible or intoxicated, while the "latest thing" quip suggests contemporary fashion or fads. **Context:** This appears to be satirizing both biblical literalism and perhaps contemporary fascination with Egyptology or archaeological discoveries popular in early 20th-century America.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
AARON’S ROD. Pharaoh: wy isis! sNawes! The Queen: NONSENSE, YGYYT! YOU'VE BEEN DRINKING. THEY ARE ONLY TUE LATEST THING IN STICKS. Patriotism. Literary Note. EFORE we enter on the busi- _ patriotism fall into the chaotic state of HE new Paragon Dictionary con- ness of teaching patriotism their handwriting, which by reason of tains over a billion definitions. in the public schools, should infirmity of pedagogical purpose is Ten thousand editors have been at work we not choose once for all neither vertical nor slanting. eight years inventing words for it. as between the various styles Shall it be the strenuous patriotism The Paragon is sold with a hydraulic of patriotism? of Mr. Roosevelt, or the reposeful crane, and is the only complete diction- Certainly it would seem well to patriotism of Mr. D. B. Hill, or an ary which women andchildren can con- avoid, if possible, having ourchildren’s eclectic patriotism ? sult as readily as the strongest men. comicbooks.com