Life, 1906-06-14 · page 17 of 24
Life — June 14, 1906 — page 17: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This satirical dictionary mocks early 1900s American institutions and figures through absurdist definitions. The two illustrated entries shown are: **C—A Critic**: The left image shows someone reading reviews, mocking both bad critics and the pretension of criticism itself. **D—A Decadent Dreary**: The right image depicts a gloomy figure, referencing the "Decadent" artistic movement popular in fin-de-siècle culture. The accompanying dictionary entries are biting political commentary: "Capitol" is a Standard Oil branch office (mocking corporate influence in government); "Democrat" is an "extinct animal" (suggesting the party's irrelevance); "Senate" is "a large body of cash, entirely surrounded by grafters"; and "Trust" is legalized extraction of money from people. These target corporate monopolies, political corruption, and the ineffectiveness of democratic institutions—hot-button Progressive Era issues. The final anecdote mocks women suffrage advocates as impractical idealists.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
-LIFE- AN ALPHABET OF By OLtver HERFoRD ’S A Critic—(Far be it from me With a time-honored craft to make free). All praise I accord A Good Critic—but Lord! What a Bore a Bad Critic can be! IS a Decadent Dreary Whose Works are depressing and eerie; If you ask his Excuse For Existence, or Use, I fear I can’t answer your Query. A National Dictionary. CAPITOL—A branch office of the Standard Oil Company, located at Washington. Brar—See Treppy, Watt STREET. Waite Hovge—A celebrated gy sium at the head of Penns) At various times it has heen used asa half- way house, a barroom and a stock ex- change. Desocrat—An extinct animal, which formerly wandered over parts of New England, the West and South. Was also ly seen in the largest cities, en now specimens are occasion- ally captured. s—See Repusiican Party. AMA cartoonist's model. Senate—A large body of cash, entirely surrounded by grafters. Basy—Obsolete. successful device for reducing the population. —A place where the raw ma- is made that is used by the rESs—A home for incurables, composed of men who haven't been able to earn a living in any other way. ‘Trust—A process of extracting lucre from people, sanctioned by the Govern- ment. Hoxe—A former habitation. Hett—The same. Gotr—The only religion practised on week d Rock LER—See TARBELL. Boss— Cook, Wire. Carnecie—A popular nuisance. Frrenps—A society of fanatics, started by Theodore Roosevelt. Derrew—An unpopular nuisance. Lawyer—An obstructionist. ScRGEON—See APPENDIX. Curistianity—A_ notable relic, ex- hibited every Sunday in the principal churches. Watporr—A bric-a-brac shop, for the display of plated, painted and tainted ware. Not for Them “QO YOU have a woman police force?” we ask of our friend who lives in an equal suffrage town out West. “How do they get along? They ought to make good det “There's just the trouble,” he says. “We can’t get one of them to go on the detective force.” “You can’t?” “No. When it was proposed that some of them join the plain clothes squad they threatened to resign at once.” comicbooks.com