Life — December 21, 1905 — page 3: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Analysis of Life Magazine Page This page is primarily **advertisements** interspersed with a brief narrative article titled "The Initiation of Bacon." The article recounts President Roosevelt initiating Robert Bacon (First Assistant Secretary of State) into the "Kitchen Cabinet" by taking him on an impromptu adventure—wading through a canal in Georgetown during rain. The humor lies in Roosevelt's casual, vigorous personality: he impulsively decides to test Bacon's mettle by getting thoroughly soaked, treating it as a bonding ritual. The three large advertisements dominate the page: Peerless Motor Cars, Abbott's Angostura Bitters, and The Keeley Cure (a substance abuse treatment). The satire gently mocks Roosevelt's energetic, unconventional character and his informal governing style—suggesting he initiates subordinates through physical ordeals rather than traditional formality.