Life, 1905-02-16 · page 10 of 24
Life — February 16, 1905 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct cartoons satirizing American society and politics. The upper illustration depicts a chaotic scene labeled as a park, with numerous figures engaged in various activities. The caption quotes a character named "Mr. Buggs" refusing to attend because ice-skate rentals cost twenty-five cents—satirizing penny-pinching attitudes toward entertainment. The lower cartoon, titled "The Pig-Headed Man Complies with His Wife's Wishes and Dresses for Dinner," shows a domestic scene where a man reluctantly agrees to his wife's demands. This satirizes marital dynamics and masculine resistance to social conventions regarding proper dress. The adjacent text praises George Washington's character and leadership during the founding era, contrasting his patriotism with contemporary American materialism and cynicism—suggesting the magazine lamented declining national values.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
194 -LIFE- under these manifold misfortunes nobly and started a gov- ernment of their own, with George Washington as the boss. The fact that Gi Washington had married a widow gave him an expe ce in managing difficult and unex- pected situations; and that he ruled a country, where no one wanted to pay taxes and every one was willing to spend them, with satisfaction and economy, proves him to have been a great man. When we realize that there was no army worth talking about, no navy, no river and harbor bills, no Jand office, no consuls, and an empty treasury, ai and hence no chance to reward his faithful followers with Aeras¢ jobs and pensions, the love and respect in which he was held in those days show that patriotism and imagination e at ebb and that the press of the age lacked , adjectives and all the other elements of journalistic greatness. Only his virtues survive ; some to reproach statesmen with, some to stimulate Sabbath schools, some to bri bout and fli the face of effete Europe. His name is commemorated in a thousand cities and towns ; it glorifies millions of obscure citizens : it adorns banks, mills, trust companies and mines ; it br , cigarettes, soaps and tooth-washes ; and tion and digestion to one of New England's noblest products—pie. The final test of greatness remains. He is still first in the love, re spect and veneration of the nation in spite of a hundred statuary atrocities, ahorse and afoot, scattered through the Republic, and carved by artists whose genius finds its Mr. Bugg: SRES'T YOU COMING ON, MR. CENTIPEDE ? noblest expression in tombstones, and whose escape from “WELL, f SHOULD SAY NOT, WHEN L HAVE TO HIRE SKATES AT lynching is the wonder of the world Joseph Smith. rwexty-Five CENTS 4 PAIR THE PIG*HEADED MAN COMPLIES WITH HIS WIFE'S WISHES AND DRESSES FOR DIN comicbooks.com