Life, 1904-03-24 · page 15 of 20
Life — March 24, 1904 — page 15: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page documents a controversy over Life magazine's St. Patrick's Day cover, illustrated by renowned artist Maxfield Parrish. A Catholic reader (signing as "Catholic Standard and Times Pub. Co.") complains the cover caricature of St. Patrick is offensive to Catholics and Irish people, mocking a sacred religious figure. Life's editor responds dismissively, arguing the illustration is affectionate and humorous rather than insulting—depicting Patrick as "sweet, kindly and wise." The editor suggests the complainant lacks humor and intellectual capacity, a condescending rebuttal typical of the era's sectarian tensions. The small cartoon "Shaky as to Gender" appears unrelated—a joke about gender ambiguity in a child's appearance. This exchange reflects early 20th-century anti-Catholic prejudice in mainstream American media and the Irish community's sensitivity to stereotyping, while also revealing how institutions dismissed religious objections to mocking sacred figures.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
A Letter. IFE. PUBLISHING CO. arily the weekly source of pleasure to me, but your current issue pains me. There your ‘St re several things in the pages of Patrick's Number” which must be offensive to many of your readers, but there is nothing inside the cover of that issue to compare with the grossness of the cover i That color-work, it is une but the credit for that belongs to your What of the artist? Was it a fe that impelled him to with- 2?) What of the editor who acce pproved the design ? You appear, hold his sis o be a cad. Your cover design is not merely a gratui- tous insult to Catholics, but it must offend as well all rightthinking Christians who feel a veneration for the memory of the sainted dead. It must shock all Irishmen, regardless of creed. You are not hitting the Catholies ale he Protestant Episcopal Diocesan House of this city displays above its door a life-size statue of St. Patrick, and it is not a caricature. Protestant ministers of several denominations, also, have been Patrick as their own Parkhurst in last Monday's papers. Ys should not he surprised, therefore, if y find you have stirred up a larger mm nest than you anticipated. vide Tam truly sorry that you have blundered s0, because you Haye robbed me of a com- panionable visitor, I shall have to ask you to cancel my sul) i If itis your enstom to rebate a portion of the y nies, L would request you not to forward it to that ellent charity of yours, your Fresh Air I subscription under such cireum- the amount tor ply Func You might eredit the amount in your list Subscription to CaTHonic Staxparp axp Totes 1 Puttapenoira, March 1. It is a curious fact, in which readers of Lire will be interested, that Mr. Maxfield Parrish’s delightful picture of St, Patrick on the cover of a recent issue of Lire has given offense not only to Mr. Daly, bat to a number of NAG) SHAKY AS TO GENDER. Old Gentleman: LITTLE BROTUER mall Girt AND Ww you' “ avs wis Nanuet “METH NAME THC DOROTHY.” other Irishmen. Not being able our- selves to find anything offensive in the picture, we asked an Irish Catholic friend if he could exptain what the trouble was. He said that though most Irishmen had a sense of humor, when you did find an Irishman who lacked it, there was no man more pitiably incapable than he of compre- hending what humor was. It must be that our corr ndent above has this defect, and h: ne measur No doubt Roman Catholics take their saints more seriously and reverently than the rest of us do. We believe they pray to them. But suppose they do, why should that picture of St Patrick give offense? To be sure, it is “oA FINE Gt 1, MY DEAR—AND IS Tints YOUR YeTu, MA‘AM—Y—YeETH, THR. full of humor. To be sure, it is a gentle caricature of Celtic lineaments and so not accurate as a portrait, for St. Patrick was nota Celt, Butitisa picture of a good saint. It shows in a contemplative attitude a man who is sweet, kindly and wise ; his face bright with such thoughts as dweil in the minds of men who love their fellow- men. We offer Mr, Daly our condolences on his intellectual defects, which are doubtless congenital and not to be re- paired, But as for Mr. Parrish's S Patrick, he isa lovable man and a good saint. We have no apologies to make for bim. Editor of Lave. comicbooks.com