Life, 1905-11-16 · page 13 of 30
Life — November 16, 1905 — page 13: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains two distinct pieces of satirical content: **Top Image & Caption**: A domestic scene captioned with dialogue mocking a man named Bikkins for being infatuated with an overweight woman. The joke relies on body-shaming humor typical of early 20th-century satire—ridiculing his romantic choice as financially motivated ("likes to get as much for his money as possible"). **"Quite a Blow for the Loafer"**: A poem with illustration mocking an unemployed man (the "Loafer") who encounters a Gopher. The verse humorously suggests that even a Gopher outperforms this idle man, using animal comparison as social criticism of laziness. **"The Ideals"**: A dialogue contrasting two men's philosophies about honesty and material wealth, ultimately endorsing sincere poverty over corrupt wealth. These pieces collectively satirize laziness, greed, and moral compromise—common middle-class anxieties of the era.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
She: 1 WONDER WHY MR, BILKINS IS IN LOVE WITH SUCH A FAT GIRL? He: e's THE KIND OF A FELLOW WHO LIKES TO GET AS MUCH FOR HIS MONEY AS POSSIBLE. Quite a Blow for the Loafer. N honest, industrious Gopher One day, to his joy, found a loaf 0° This in my hole 1 will stow for y."" chuckled the Gopher. It chanced that an indolent Loafer Was watching, and cried he, *O, "for ght he, “There's no show for the Gopher, — That bread with a hoe I willgofor." Bread. The Loafer for sure came to woe, for He fled at a pace far from slow, for ‘The Gopher gave chase to the Loafer. I give you my word this is so, for It may seem peculiar, I know, for A Loafer to hoe for a loaf or A Gopher to go for a Loafer. The Ideals. AID one traveler to the other, * Highwaymen might shoot me as full of holes as a sieve, but I'd never hold up my hands. A man is a coward to do that." Said the other, “ Well, if anyone had a gun on me, I'd give him anything, or do anything he wanted. A man is a fool to refuse.” Just then the train stopped with a jerk, and a big man with a revolver said, Gentlemen, I'll trouble you for your valuables,” and both of them gave up their purses. Which of these two, thinkest thou, went down to his house justified rather than the other? He that bragged of a star he did not own, or he that stuck his nose in the dirt, and called it the best there is ? !—thev Bolton Hall, worth a ton of blarney. AN ounce of sincerit comicbooks.com