Life, 1905-06-01 · page 10 of 52
Life — June 1, 1905 — page 10: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This is a satirical editorial cartoon criticizing sedentary office work. The illustration shows a portly, heavyset man slouched at a desk, and the accompanying text mocks his lifestyle: he "grows fat and flabby," eats starchy foods, and suffers digestive problems from lack of exercise. The satire targets the emerging desk-job culture of early 20th-century America. The piece argues that mental labor without physical activity creates health problems, though it ironically promotes "Shredded Whole Wheat Biscuit" as the solution—essentially claiming proper diet can compensate for sedentary work. This reflects Progressive Era concerns about modern industrial life's physical toll on white-collar workers.
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Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
The Man at the Desk leads a sedentary life. He grows fat and flabby. He eats starchy foods and takes on more fat. Being a brain worker, his mind should be clear and keen. But it isn’t. It grows sluggish , so does his liver. He gets that “clogged-up”’ feeling. g What he wants 1s not medicine, but food—the right kind of food— the kind that supplies the greatest nourishment with the least burden on the stomach—the kind that stimulates “ bowel exercis and keeps the intestinal tract in a healthy condition by making all the digestive functions do the work Nature intended they should do. Shredded Whole Wheat Biscuit is a food that completely fulfills the requirements of a perfect food for the indoor man and the outdoor man. gq Slightly toasted or warmed, and ienved with hot milk or cream, it is delicious for breakfast, for ev meal for every day in the year. @ It may also be served in hundreds of dainty and tempting ways in combination with fruits, oysters and preserves. Q To learn more about ‘* Shredded Wheat, Cookery ** send for our ‘‘ Vital Ques- tion Cook Book.’’ @ TRISCUIT is a Shredded Whole Wheat cracker, better than bread for toast, delicious with butter, cheese or preserves. “Tt’s All in the Shreds’” The Natural Food Company Niagara Falls, N. Y. To a Pig. ARDS and sages, through the ages B (Winning fame instead of wages , Have mussed up a million pages With their outeries, small and big, Singing wrongs that should be righted, Causes blighted, heroes slighted, — Yet no song have they indited To the Pig. Gentle Porcus, suoid mammal,— Does the thought that lard aed ham ‘Il Be your future, never trammel Your fond fancies, as you d Does it harrow to the marro As you pace your quarters narrow, Dreaming of the storied glory OF the Pig? For time was, ere man got at you, Using squalid means to fat you, That you were to be congratu- Lated on a figure trig, And most daintily you ate your Food, less mingled in its nature, Fine of face, full fair aed graceful Was the Pig. Oh, S. P.C. A., be gracious ; If your sympathies be spacious, Bar such treatment contumacious, — Teach that it is in/ra deg. For although some genius Mighty Has described the pen as mighty, You'll admit a sward were fitter For the Pig. —Burges Johnson in Harper's Magazine Romance in 1915. I F slang continues in its wild career as strenu ously as it has been going these last ten years or so, the following dialogue will be a fair sample of love-making @ la mode about the year 1915: He: Say, you're a peach; you're the whole | orchard— Sue: He: Sue: though! He: O, cut the joshing, I'm in my clothes. Say, I've a hunch—a regular poker- hunech—that I could make you as happy as a Sure, Mike! And there’s not an insect on you— There's one not far away from me, rat in a cheese. Are you on? Sue: I'm on the fence. He: Well, that’s better within a mile of the game. at all? Sue: Can't help it. You're plainer than a blood-and-thunder theatrical billboard. 1 Thanks! Sue: Keep the change, He: Let's quit sparring for than not being wind, Let's clinch— (He attempts to clinch. tempt.) Sue: No clinch for me, please! I— He: Now, listen; it’s a lead-pipe cinch that I'm stuck on you, Mayme. Why can’t we She evades his at- travel as a team ?— Sune: Scared we don’t match, He: Wouldn't give me the seventh-story throw-down, would you? Come, Mayme, be We'll be spliced soon—yes? no? my pardner! it!—New Orleans Harlequin, Sue: Can you see me If BALDNESS and FALLING HAIR were caused by DISEASE physicians would have long ago found remedy. Tonics and lotions ap- plied to the outside of the scalp do soften the hair—but that's all. By exercising the arms, we build up muscle—not by outside applications of medicine The arms, the body and the lower limbs can be exercised at will—but the scalp requires me- chanical aid Exercise makes the blood circulate. ercise makes it stagna uum ercise that It gently the rich blood to the scalp and the shrunken hair roots. This. causes the hair to grow, It is the simple, common-sense principle of physical culture applied to the scalp. Our Guarantee (backed by the Bank): We will send you by prepaid express, an ns Vacuum Cap, allowing you ample eto prove us virtue, and all we askof you is to deposit the price of the appliance i the Jefferson Bank of St. Louis during the trial period, subject to your enn order, If you do not cultivate a sufficient growth of hair to convince you that this method is efiective simply notify the bank and they will return your deposit. A sixteen-page book, illus- trated, will be sent you free. Evans Vacuum Cap Co. 654 Fullerton Building St. Louis feet. nervous feet, and of corns and bunivns. comfort discovery of the n. Foot= Ease makes tight-Atting or new sh easy. Iisa certain cure for f tly tak Un Lares, 2c.” Do not rece Cute. Sent by mail for 2c. i TRIAL Trial Package FREE. Address, NM. OLMSTED, Le Rov, N.Y- comicbooks.