Life, 1906-11-08 · page 11 of 30
Life — November 8, 1906 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page contains **humorous short anecdotes** rather than political cartoons. The accompanying **caricature sketches** (right side) show exaggerated facial expressions of a man in various states of distress or emotion—a visual complement to the jokes. The content satirizes **social expectations** around finding an ideal minister or companion. Multiple sections mock how people have contradictory demands: they want someone who is a "mixer," "talker," "card-player," and "dancer," yet also spiritually strong—an impossible combination. Other brief jokes address **domestic life frustrations**: wives who talk only about servants and children, changing household help, and a dark joke about a daughter dying young being a financial relief. The satire targets **middle-class pretensions and hypocrisy** about what people claim to want versus their actual shallow desires.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
WHAT'S THE MATTER? WHAT SORT OF MESSAGE 15 HE RECEIVING ? WHY THIS DELIGHT SO SEDDENLY FOLLOWED BY UNWELCOME NEWS ? TOR TUE BEST SOLUTIONS OF THE MYSTERY, TOLD IN NOT MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED WORDS AND RECEIVED BEFORE JANUARY, 1907, "LIFE" WILL GIVE FOUR PRIZES OF FIFTY DOLLARS KACH, INSTEAD OF TEN PRIZES OF TEN DOLLARS EACH, AS STATED IN A RECENT ISSUE. FURTIERMORE, ALL OTHER SOLUTIONS ACCEPTED WILL BE PAID FOR AT THE RATE OF TEN DOLLARS EACH. What Was It? OFFERED it; she spurned it; He took it, then returned it; She had it, though she lost it, And as he left she tossed it. To Meet Their Needs “S° YOU are not satisfied with your present minister?” asks the stranger. “Is he lacking in spiritual strength?” “No, but he is too old,” explains one of the congregation. “We want a young man,” says an- other. “We want a good mixer,” asserts another. ““A man who is not too strict about things,” suggests another. “One who doesn’t frown on smoking, for instance,” adds another. “Or an occasional highball,” speci- fies another. “Or a game of bridge, or hearts, or poker,” itemizes another. “Or a Sunday ball game, another. “He must know the latest stories,” declares another. “And the latest slang,” says another. “He must not oppose theatres and dancing,” from another. “And he mustn’t claim that flirting is always wrong,” i mentions is the voice of another. “‘He must dress attractively,” observes another. “T see, gentlemen,” the visitor speaks, interrupting a torrent of further specifi- cations. ‘I see. You cannot help being dissatisfied with the old man who now holds your pulpit. He is a preacher. You don’t want a preacher. You want a man who is a mixer and a talker and a story-teller and a card-player and a smoker and a sport and a dancer and a good dresser—or one who fills some of these requirements and doesn’t object if you fill the others. I know the man you want, but you can’t get him.” “Who is he ?” asks the leading deacon. “He’s a commercial traveler, and be- cause he is all that you say your preacher should be he gets as much salary in a week as you pay your minister in three months,”” By Comparison IMPLETON: I thought Mrs. Peterby was unusually interesting to-day. Mrs. DimpLeton: Why, she talked of nothing but her children and her serv- ants. “T know that. But usually she talks of herself.” Annoying RS. CHICAGO: My domestic affairs have been very upset. Mrs. I1utnors: Been changing help? “No; husbands.” AN ENGLISH father is worried about one of his sons. To an American friend he writes: “Charles is too stupid for the army and too bright for the Church.” “It is by along shot the hest of all the August magazines."—Senator Beveridge. SSUMING that the Senator ate a little in August and slept a little, and attended to business a little, how does he know? Too Good to Live Long “ Y POOR child,” mourned a New England mother. “She was too good to live long. I always felt I'd never be able to raise her.” “How old was your daughter when she died?” inquired a sympathizing village visitor. “Barely forty.” comicbooks.com